Technology
“noun: the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry.”
Technology is most commonly linked with the shiny bits. The invention of the automobile, computer, cell phone, and more recently AI. All definitions of the word technology refer to the application of knowledge for the benefit of humans; this is not exclusive to products that are designed to aggregate and accumulate money in the wallets of a few individuals. Humans are living breathing creatures that depend on nature to thrive.
There are plenty of debates around the timeline of humans on earth but let’s say modern humans began around 70,000 years ago; feel free to give or take a couple 10k years. The industrial revolution that started in the late 1700’s is roughly when our priorities shifted from technology for the “benefit of humans”, to technology that produces products that can be sold for a financial profit. We can all agree that healthy food and clean water are good for people, but there are plenty of sound arguments on whether or not cell phones are good for us. Roughly 70,000 years of technological development working with nature, and somehow around 250 years of greed can completely separate us from the source of our basic needs, mother nature!
It is time for a modern technological revolution. First let’s look at the common definition above that pops up in a quick Google search of “define technology”.
“the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry”. Starts off pretty good right, then you lose me on that last part. What the fuck? I picture some stuffy old corporate executive in a grey suite sitting at a board room table; “We need to add ‘especially in industry’, now the definition makes sense”.
I was listening to a recent interview with Charles C. Mann about the pre-Columbian Americas. His research into what is considered technology was very intriguing. He spoke about how in different cultures technology is defined differently. What they all have in common is the application of knowledge to the benefit to humans. Generations before us have tried many different ways to thrive on earth. Sometimes things worked out well, and sometimes they didn’t. We learn from these experiences and apply them to the future. This is technology. How do we then pass on these experiences to our future generations?
We are facing unprecedented changes in our natural environment. Some refer to this phenomenon broadly as climate change. This is a bit of an oversimplification that might be helpful to a political agenda, but it falls short with the average person. We are a keystone species on earth. We have an influence on nearly every section of our planet; ranging from the pollution of our air, to the planting of trees on a former mine. All of this is the application of knowledge; by definition, technology. We need technology to restore “our” natural habitat. There is a sweet spot between the tree hugger environmentalist who arrogantly separates humans from nature, and the greedy over consumptive modern man. Applying technology to restore healthy ecosystems heals natural cycles, and provides for the keystone species (you!).
I’m not nostalgic. I don’t want to go back to a certain time period. We are applying technology, knowledge that nature is an ever changing give and take. Our modern technology is the application of an ecosystem mindset. Aldo Leopold famously said “the first rule of intelligent tinkering is to keep all of the parts”. This is the elephant in the room, modern thinking asks “what good is that to me?”
Some examples of modern appropriate technology in ecosystem restoration are: techniques for direct seeding trees, forest fire fuels reduction strategies that plan for natural forest fires to take over, adaptive game management strategies that work on the timelines of nature and not bureaucracy. Yes some of these things will include shiny bits, but we cannot let the development of the shiny bits be the end result. The technology is the whole system.
Well the year 2022 is now winding down and we have a little over 70,000 years of technology to reflect on. What parts do we consider a success that we would like to pass on to the next generation, and what have we learned from our mistakes that we can now apply to new technology for the betterment of humans?
