GEC 17 SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, & SOCIETY

FIRST SEMESTER, 2022-2023

CHAPTER 10:
WHY DOES THE FUTURE NOT NEED US?

Chapter Outline
 Human and Society

 Relation of Technology with Humanity

 How Technology Is Transforming

the Human Experience

 Posthumanity Theory

Learning outcomes
 At the end of this chapter, the students should be
able to:

 rationalized the human experience in order to

strengthen and enlighten the human functioning in
society; and

 identify and examine what the future of humanity

and the future of technology

Overview

Experience of human in technology? Where are we now? Wearable technology. Sensors

all over the place. We have now the power to monitor, in real time, just about everything,
giving it to these new trends. We can improve every aspect of our life from our health, our
time, and various aspects of our family lives.
Human interests on technology allows them to expand the range of human experiences.
These are qualified experiences and what's more, they can share these experiences with
other human beings, injecting the technology into their lives, thus, the future of technology is
based on how the human will use it.
Technology, is a double edged sword, like most human things, involving gain and loss,
also merit and demerit. It links us to those far away, but confuses us from those that are
close, and hospitals save lives, but takes them on battlegrounds. Most of all, technology is
a choice. We use it for our own reasons. As stated above, those people want to monitor their
every heartbeat and others do not.

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But most significantly, what makes us incomparably better off is technology but in the
end, the true value of technology is not about replacing human experience, but mitigate
its deficiencies.

HUMAN AND SOCIETY

Most of the time in a simple hunter-gatherer society's human species lives. Agrarian
societies advanced less than 5,000 years ago and it is only in the last 200 years that a
‘modern'industrial society has come into being. Today this industrial society is quickly
converting into a global information society.
Is this societal progress a change for the better? There always been controversy over this
question, and presently the disagreement seems more intense than ever, possibly for the
reason that we are more conscious today that society is making. Because social change is
taking place at an ever increasing rate. One of the issues in this current debate is the quality-
of-life in modern society. Progress optimists have confidence in that we live better now than
earlier generations, while pessimists question that life is getting worse.

the positive view

Material Standard of Living. Several achievements of modern society draws
through the idea that life is getting better. One is the unparalleled rise in the
material standard of living; the average citizen lives more easily now than kings
did centuries ago.
Untimely Death is reduced. Another development that strikes the eye is the
unintended of an untimely death is greatly reduced; fewer people die in accidents,
epidemics, and murder. A number of social evils have been decreased, such as
poverty, inequality, ignorance, and oppression. A recent statement of this view can
be found in 'It's getting better all the time' by Moore and Simon (2000).

Improvement in Evolutionary View. This view of development is typically part of

an evolutionary view, in which society is seen as a human tool that is gradually
perfected. This idea established during the period of enlightenment in the 19th
century and lives today. The idea that we can progress society by ‘social
engineering’ is part of this belief and forms the ideological foundation many major

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 contemporary institutions, such as the welfare state and development aid
organizations. This journal of Social Indicators Research roots in that movement.

Reduced Suffering. This is a traditional religious view of earthly life as a phase of

penance awaiting paradise in the afterlife breaks the knowledge that life is getting
better.
These advancements are also together with the reduction in time, effort, and cost for
production of any material extending from the microchips to the state of the art
automobiles or from the classy devices to the mega structures coupled with ease in
design and development.

These development also invigorate economic development as effective use of

technology. Reduces the material production cost and the above changes that produce
savings in the economy and lead to national development.

the negative view

Problems and potentials often go hand in hand; problems can be twisted into
opportunities. Elements of the universe exhibits two faces, constructive side, and
destructive side.

Society had become more and more reliant on technology. So that we sometimes
lack the willingness to think before we act. We become intolerant if it takes more than a
seconds to download a copy of the morning newspaper. We expect instant response to
our email, and we expect someone to answer their cell phone whenever and wherever
we call. .
Science and technology gifts have been knowingly abused by the powerful
humanity, and time. There are natural side-effects of these gifts, but their deliberately
misuse, abuse, and outweigh and evils of the side-effects, which could have been
improved or at least minimized to a large extent otherwise. Human greed, selfish interest,
lack of planning and myopic vision has all led to the abuse of science and technology.

• Contemporary Social Problems. Life is getting worse is typically fuelled by concern

about contemporary social problems. One of the kind problems is deviant behavior, such
as criminality, drug use, and school refusal. Another group of problems seen to lessen
the quality of life such as social conflicts, labor disputes, ethnic troubles, and political
terrorism. The decline of the influence of the church, family and local community are also
seen to deprive the quality of life of modern people. A recent statement of this view is

found in Easterbrook (2003) “The progress paradox'.

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  Society Drifting away from Human Nature. This view of deterioration is often part of
the idea of society drifting away from human nature, because society has changed a
lot, while human nature has not. Not a piece of equipment, but rather an uncontrollable
force that presses humans into a way of life that does not really fit them in society view.
The idea that life is getting poorer fits a long tradition of social criticism and
apocalyptic prophecies. In this view, paradise is lost and doubtful to be restored.

The machines that do our work for us and will achieve immortality by downloading
ourselves into them is all about robotics. But Joy does not believe we will be human after
the downloads or the robots would be our kids. Genetic engineering will create new crops,
plants, and eventually new species including many variations of human species. Joy has
many fears about genetics but especially how easy it would be to mess up and create some
new epidemic. And nanotechnology has its “gray goo” problem--self-replicating nanobots
out of control.

Extravagance of desire is the

fundamental cause which has
led the world into its present
predicament. Fast rather than
slow, more rather than less -
this flashy "development" is
linked directly to society's
impending collapse.
- Masanobu Fukuoka

There are several attempts to explain the society collapse. This includes the
following words: Gibbons' classic Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire also Joseph
Tainter's Collapse of Complex Societies, and Jared Diamond's more recent Collapse:
How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed.

Tainter (1990), notes that societies need to protect certain resources such as food,
energy, and natural resources in order to sustain their populations. In their attempts to
solve this supply problem, societies may grow in complexity in the form of bureaucracy,
infrastructure, social class distinction, military operations, and colonies. Sometimes, the
marginal returns on these investments in social complexity become unfavorable, and
societies that do not manage to scale back when their organizational overheads become
too large finally face breakdown.

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 Four new factors that may contribute to the collapse of present and future societies
was also suggested by him such as human-caused climate change, but also build-up of toxic
chemicals in the environment, energy shortages, and the full utilization of the Earth's
photosynthetic capacity. Diamond draws attention to the danger of creeping normalcy,
stating to the phenomenon of a slow trend being concealed within noisy fluctuations, so that
a detrimental outcome that occurs in small, almost unnoticeable steps may be accepted or
come about without resistance even if the same outcome, had it come about in one sudden
leap, would have evoked a vigorous response.

Different classes of scenarios involving societal collapse

a. Local Societal Collapse: Individual societies can collapse, but this is doubtful to have
a determining effect on the future of humanity if other advanced societies survive and
take up where the failed societies left off. All historical cases of collapse have been of this
kind.

b. Global Societal Collapse: We suppose new kinds of threat (e.g., nuclear holocaust or
catastrophic changes in the global environment) or the trend towards globalization
increased interdependence of different parts of the world and create a vulnerability to
human civilization as a whole.

RELATION OF TECHNOLOGY WITH HUMANITY

When we talk about the relationships between technology and humanity, it is obvious
that we have to deal with the interrelations between a very complex phenomena: technology,
science, society, and systems of rights of a universal nature. A large number of powerful energy
sources-coal, petroleum, electricity etc. have enabled humanity to conquer the barriers of
nature as part of discovery and development. All this has facilitates the growth of fast modes
of transports, which in turn has transformed the world into a global village

the future of humanity

What was dissimilar in the 20% century? Surely, the technologies underlying the
Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) - Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical (NBC) - were
powerful weapons that had an enormous risk. But building nuclear weapons required, at least
for a time, access to both rare - indeed, effectively unavailable - raw materials and highly

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protected information; biological and chemical weapons programs also inclined to require
large-scale activities.

Technologies in the 215 century such as Genetics, Nanotechnology, and Robotics

(GNR) - are so powerful that they can spawn whole new classes of accidents and abuses.
Most dangerous for the first time are these accidents and abuses. These are widely seen within
the reach of individuals or small groups. They will not require large facilities or rare raw
materials. Knowledge alone will allow the use of them.

Therefore, we have the possibility not only to those weapons of mass destruction but also to
those knowledge and enabled mass destruction (KMD), this destructiveness hugely amplified
by the power of self-replication.

prediction of artificial intelligence

Good (1965). The idea of a technological singularity tied specifically to artificial
intelligence and stated:

“Let an ultra-intelligent machine be defined as a machine that can far surpass all the
intellectual activities of any man however clever. Since the design of machines is one of
these intellectual activities, an ultra-intelligent machine could design even better
machines; there would then unquestionably be an 'intelligence explosion, and the
intelligence of man would be left far behind. Thus the first ultra-intelligent machine is the
last invention that man need ever make... It is more probable than not that, within the
twentieth century, an ultra-intelligent machine will be built.”

Vernor Vinge elaborated the idea in The coming technological singularity, adjusting
the timing of Good's prediction:

"Within thirty years, we will have the technological means to create

superhuman intelligence. Shortly thereafter, the human era will be ended”
L

technology and its usability

Technology is good and it can change our society, but the way we use
it will measure if it is beneficial or not. Future technologies have to be planned to serve
people and society, they have to be user friendly. The society has to use future
technologies with good intentions.

The design and use of future technology. Human have a unique

capabilities of imagining the impossible and creating new ideas and this will determine

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the type of technology to be used tomorrow will determine through imagination and
creative thinking.

1. Computer technology future

2. Next generation wearable computer

3. Watch technology upcoming

4. The forthcoming of home technology

5. The coming of classroom technology

HOW TECHNOLGY IS TRANSFORMING

THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE

The sci-fi genre has imagined all sorts of groundbreaking inventions, but reality
holds as many captivating examples of advance technology that is changing people's/
human everyday lives which could impact them in the future. Technology is really
transforming the human experience, helping people to achieve things that would have
only been previously dreamt in fiction, though some of the new inventions should
potentially stay there.
a. Hearing colors/Hearing at Arm's Length

b. Eye-Camera/Smart Contact Lens/ Eyeball Jewelry Implant

C. Human compass

d. Password Pill

e. Electronic Throat Tattoo

f. Interaction with Devices

g. Robot Arm/Controlling Wheelchair

h. Bionic Limp

i. Artificial Vision System

j. Terminator Arm/Titan Arm

k. USB finger/Mind Uploading

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the new Pandora’s Box – also known as
“TECHNOLOGY”

The new Pandora's boxes of genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics are almost open, yet
we seem hardly to have noticed. Ideas can't be. put back in a box; unlike uranium or
plutonium, they don't need to be mined and refined, and they can be freely copied. Once
they are out, they are out. Churchill remarked, in a famous left handed compliment, that
the American people and their leaders "invariably do the right thing, after they have
examined every other alternative."

In this case, we must act more presciently to do the right thing at last may lose the
chance to do it at all. As Thoreau said, “We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us”;
and this is what we must fight, in our time.

The question is, indeed, which is to be master? Will we survive our

technologies?

According to Nick Bostrom (2004), there are four future scenarios for the Humanity and
Technology:

1. The EXTINCTION SCENARIO perhaps the least affected by spreading

the timeframe of consideration. If humanity goes extinct, it stays extinct. The
cumulative probability of extinction increases monotonically over time. One argue,
that the current century or the next times, will be a critical phase for humanity, if we
make it through this period then the life expectancy of human civilization could
become extremely high. Several possible lines of argument would support this view.
For example, one might believe that super intelligence will be developed within a
few centuries, and that, while the creation of super intelligence will pose grave risks,
once that creation and its immediate aftermath have been survived, the new
civilization would have vastly improved survival prospects since it would be guided
by super intelligent foresight and planning.

2. The RECURRENT COLLAPSE SCENARIO becomes progressively unlikely the

longer the timescale, for reasons that are apparent from figure. The scenario
assumes that technological civilization will hesitate continuously within a relatively
narrow band of progress. If there is any chance that a cycle will either break through
to the post human level or plummet into extinction, then there is for each period a
chance that the oscillation will end. Unless the chance of such a breakout meets to
zero at an appropriately rapid rate, then with probability one the pattern will finally
be broken. At that point the pattern might degenerate into one of the other ones we
have considered.

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 3. The PLATEAU SCENARIOS are the recurrent collapse scenario in the level of
civilization is theorized to remain confined within a narrow range; and the longer the
timeframe considered, the smaller the probability that the level of technological
growth will remain within this range. But compared to the recurrent collapse pattern,
the plateau pattern might be thought to have a bit more staying power. The reason
is that the plateau pattern is reliable with a situation of complete motionlessness
such as result from the rise of a very stable political system, propped up by greatly
increased powers of surveillance and population control, and which for one reason
or another chooses to preserve its status quo. Such stability is inconsistent with the
recurrent collapse scenario.
4. The CUMULATIVE PROBABILITY OF POST HUMANITY, like extinction, increases
monotonically over time. Contrast to extinction scenarios there is a possibility that a
civilization that has achieved a post human condition will later return to a human
condition. The reasons paralleling those suggested earlier for the idea that the annual
risk of extinction will decline significantly after certain critical technologies have been
developed and after self-sustaining more colonies have been created, one might
maintain that the annual likelihood that a post human condition would revert to a human
condition will similarly decline over time.

POSTHUMANITY THEORY

A clarification of what has been referred to as “post human condition” is overdue.

It is used to mention to a condition which has at least one of the following features:
1. Population bigger than 1 trillion persons.
2. Larger than 500 years life expectancy.
3. Large fraction of the population has cognitive capacities more than two standard
deviations over the present human maximum.
4. Near-complete control over the sensory input, for the majority of people for most
of the time.
5. Human psychological suffer become rare occurrence.
6. Any change of magnitude or profundity comparable to that of one of the above.

Post humanity- is a theory/concept that is of an advance level of technological or

economic development that would involve a radical change in the human condition,
whether the change was brought by biological enhancement or other causes.

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the longer term
The four families of scenarios we have considered such as extinction, recurrent
collapse, plateau, and post humanity, it could be controlled by varying the period over
hypothesized occur. A few hundred years or a few thousand years might already be plenty
time for the scenarios to have an opportunity to play themselves out. Yet such an interval
is a blip compared to the lifetime of the universe. Let is therefore zoom out and consider
the longer term prospects for humanity.

message to humanity
It is needless to say that like any other aspect of development, the technological
development is similar to a double edge sword which on one side can kill someone and
on the other side can lead to one’s own protection. However, the decision to use it
proficiently in proper perspective is one’s own decision and choice.
If technological advancements are put in the best uses, it further inspires the
development in related and non-related areas but at the same time its negative use can
create havoc in the humanity of the world. Technology has and will, change the moral
fabric of humanity; it is up to the present generation to heed warning and not allow such
societal travesties of immense proportions ever to occur again. Technological
advancements will continue to advance rapidly as we move into the new millennium. What
important is to ensure that these advances benefit humanity as a whole.

REFERENCES
Carr, N. (2008). Is google making us stupid? Retrieved from
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/ Is google making us
stupid/30686.

Bautista, D., Burce,N., Marasigan-Dungo, J., Garcia, C., Imson, J., Labog, R., Salazar, F.
and Lee-Santos, J. (2018). Science, Technology, and Society (pp. 83-89). Quezon
City, Manila: MaxCor Publishing House, Inc.

Genetic engineering will change everything forever- CRISPR. Retrieved from

https:///www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAhjPd4uNFY.

How far can we go? Limits of humanity. Retrieved

fromhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl=L4yYHdPSWs.

Humanity’s future challenges:Bio-technology, artificial intelligence and robotics.

Rertievedfrom https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hs70u6feUO4.

STM. The ethical dilemmas of robotics. Retrieved

fromhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6432307.

Technology and humans hand-in-hand for a better healthcare. Retrieved from

http://medicalfuturist.com/ten-ways-technology-changing-healthcare/.

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