Are we becoming dehumanized by technological utopianism?
Every age has its myths.
One way to describe and understand myth is: they are the stories we tell ourselves to motivate and rationalize our thoughts and actions.
In archaic times, recent scholarship suggests, primitive societies were primarily driven by scapegoat myths. As civilization evolved and advanced, the myths were rewritten to appeal to more refined sensibilities, while retaining a ritual sacrificial practice at their core.
During the Christian age in the West, ecclesiastical doctrine displaced the ancient myths as the predominant motivating principle in people's lives -- bringing its share of problems -- crusades, inquisitions, witch-hunts and the like.
In our present age of scientific enlightenment and technological progress, we tell ourselves new self-validating myths -- that modern education and industrialization will lead us to a utopia -- a far cry from the darkness, superstition and ignorance of the past. And so, we are impelled inexorably onwards, towards scientific innovation, technological progress and self-illumination.
When religious fanaticism rears its ugly head, as it often does in various forms -- fundamentalism, terrorism, theocracy, chauvinism and the like -- we rightly denounce these as the misguided remnants of a benighted past.
And yet, even as we are impelled inexorably towards a utopian Promised Land in which all our needs will be fulfilled at the press of a button while we tread across space and time as effortlessly as the deities of the ancient myths, one cannot help but wonder if what awaits us is not really a utopia of liberty and abundance but, rather, a soul-crushing, dehumanizing form of enslavement brought on by relentless mechanistic technological progress.
As the inexorable tide of modernity washes us towards what may appear, from a distance, to be the shores of a progressive, enlightened future, in which we will have destroyed and exposed the superstitions of the past while all our material needs are instantly gratified, one wonders if we will pay for this future with our very souls! Will we end up as dehumanized, mechanistic beings with no sense of individuality or identity, while we progressively relinquish our humanity and privacy to corporations and governments in the name of security? Will we have lost touch with what it has meant, in the past, to be human, even as we progress towards a world of instant gratification and deliverance from want and need?
It is a delicate balance -- to retain our humanity as we move towards a technological utopia -- but it is a balance that one cannot afford to neglect, because we do so at the expense of our very souls! Ultimately, this balancing act will prove to be critical -- it will make the difference between a true technological utopia and a nightmarish Orwellian dystopia in which we live slavish lives at the mercy of authoritarian power-brokers!
Horizon Cybermedia was created to tread the fine line between the promise of technology and the soul-enriching potential of the arts and humanities.
I am here, now, to proclaim that Horizon Cybermedia is still alive! In fact, watch for its imminent resurrection in an exciting new format, with fresh, new content!
Meanwhile, check out American Castle: The Secret World of William Randolph Hearst and ExplorationTheSeries.com for an ongoing dose of soul-enriching, life-affirming content and stay tuned for much, much more to come!
Wishing you the very best,
Uday Gunjikar
Founder and CEO,
Horizon Cybermedia, Inc.
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