What does technology want?
The last sentence blew my mind.
This reminds me of a humorous response by Zhang Xiaolong on Zhihu to the question “If the world were just a piece of code, what bugs have you discovered so far?”
It is unrealistic to expect a variable in the code to check for bugs in the code.
Excerpt:
The meaning of freedom is not about acting on impulse, but about “freedom of choice.”
Life and technology both seem to be based on intangible flows of information.
Autonomy: self-repair, self-protection, self-maintenance (acquiring energy, disposing waste), self-control of objectives, self-improvement
We should treat technology elements as we treat nature. We cannot demand that technology obeys us, just as we cannot demand that life obeys us. Sometimes we should submit to its guidance and happily experience its diversity; other times we should strive to transform its original appearance to meet our own needs. We do not need to fulfill all the requirements of technology elements, but we can learn to utilize this force instead of resisting it.
Language is a tool that allows thinking to question itself; it is a mirror that tells the brain what it is thinking about; it is a control lever that transforms thoughts into tools. Language has mastered the unpredictable, aimless movements of self-awareness and self-comparison, thereby being able to control thinking and become a source of new thoughts. Without the rational framework of language, we cannot understand our own mental activities and, naturally, cannot ponder our behaviors.
Money brings more choices, not just more material possessions (although more material possessions are also the result). We are not happy because of more gadgets and experiences; what truly brings us joy is the ability to control time and work, the opportunity to enjoy real leisure, the escape from the uncertainty caused by war, poverty, and corruption, and the pursuit of personal freedom - all of which happen with the increase of wealth.
Human nature is malleable. We change our values, expectations, and self-perception through thinking. We have been changing our nature from the era of primitive human beings, and once a change occurs, we continue to transform ourselves more profoundly.
Technology is an extension of life, and their common needs are:
- Increase efficiency
- Increase opportunities
- Increase spontaneity
- Increase complexity and diversity
- Increase specialization
- Increase universality
- Increase freedom
- Promote symbiosis
- Increase aesthetics
- Enhance perceptual abilities
- Expand structure
- Increase evolvability
Freedom
Like other things, our free will is not unique. Choices under subconsciously free will exist in the primitive behavioral patterns of animals. Every animal has basic needs and makes choices to meet these needs. However, free will existed even before life. Some theoretical physicists, including Freeman Dyson, believe that free will exists in atomic-like particles, so free choice emerged in the high temperature of the Big Bang and has continued to expand since then.
Technology elements are the way the universe creates self-awareness. Carl Sagan made an impressive interpretation of this: “We are the stardust that thinks about the stars.”
Translated by gpt-3.5-turbo