A Hollywood agent is sitting at his desk.
The Devil suddenly appears in a cloud of sulfurous smoke and brimstone.
Beelzebub says to the startled man: “I will make the greatest actors become your clients – Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt. You will be the richest, most powerful man in Hollywood.
“In return, I want to possess your everlasting soul.”
The agent thinks about this for a moment, then says:
“OK… what’s the catch?”
The point of this anecdote is to introduce the myth of Faust, and its parallel with technology.
The story of Dr. Johann Fausten dates back to 1587. Faust makes a pact with the Devil. In exchange for Faust’s soul, the Devil will provide him with every conceivable wealth and pleasure. In the end, Faust has to pay the terrible price.
The Faust theme was picked up by Marlowe (1604), Goethe (1808), the filmaker FW Murnau (1926), Thomas Mann (1950), Berlioz, Gounod, Liszt, and many others. It is an appropriate metaphor for technology: we receive benefits, but must also suffer undesirable consequences.
I emphasize that technology is not, per se, evil. The bad part arises from unexpected consequences. Every type of technology has had its drawbacks.
Take, for example, petroleum. In my opinion it is the technology with the greatest impact since Gutenberg, both positive and negative. Juan Pablo Perez Alfonzo, Venezuelan Minister of Energy, called it “el excremento del diablo”.
Oil has transformed our society, enabling people to live further away from their place of work. It provides for the economical transportation of goods, the comfort of heating, and, in many places, the production of electricity. Needless to point out the down side: pollution, global warming, corruption of our values, the rise in influence of a radical ideology from a backwater region, and the threat to world stability.
Why is it that we can’t anticipate and mitigate the downside of technology? Time after time, we fall hook, line and sinker to its seductive appeal.
More cases in point:
Cellular telephones – extremely convenient; save lives in emergencies; increase productivity; give Hollywood a whole new repertoire of plot devices, etc. On the other hand, we have car accidents; radiation from cell towers; and rude people in restaurants.
Internet – the world’s knowledge at your fingertips; McLuhan’s Global Village; new, cheaper ways of doing commerce; democratization of media and politics; disintermediation the likes of which the world hasn’t seen since Luther. On the other hand: viruses and spyware; facilitation of pedophilia; Nigerian 419 scams; spam; smileys :o). (Neutral: dismantling of the big record labels).
Atomic energy – cheap power; an alternative to petroleum. On the other hand: unmanageable complexity; radiation waste that poisons us for centuries; nuclear weapons; people who say “newkular”.
The following is an interesting case of the unquestioning adoption of technology. It’s pretty minor in terms of impact, but it perfectly encapsulates how technology insidiously insinuates itself.
Anyone who has bought or used a recently manufactured vehicle will be familiar with the remote-control key. It’s a wonderful feature. You can lock your car while walking away, saving a few seconds of fiddling with old-fashioned keys in the lock. A lone woman approaching her car at night, on a deserted street or parking lot, can remotely unlock the car and swiftly enter, reducing the chances of being assaulted while groping to put the key in the door lock.
The car makers thoughtfully added a bit of feedback – the lights blink and the car horn toots to confirm that the signal was received.
Have you ever walked past a car at the precise moment the owner (from a safe distance) clicks on his little key fob? The sound of the horn is startling and unpleasant, not to mention rude.
Last summer I stopped at a motel in Edmunston, NB. It was hot. I can’t sleep with the noise of an air conditioner, so I left the window open. Unfortunately it faced the parking lot.
Throughout the evening, every 20 minutes, some jerk would click on his fob, and “Toot toot” we would all be subjected to the thoughtless intrusion of his car horn. This kept me awake till 2:00 AM. I was in a rage. When I confronted one guy in the hallway; he said defensively “I have to lock my car!”
It is possible to disable the horn. But it is set on by default, and most people can’t be bothered thinking about it or locking their car the old-fashioned, silent way when it is appropriate. Their convenience supercedes other’s.
What’s curious is that it does not seem to have occurred to many people that this is very rude. It takes years of usage before an Emily Post or a Dear Abby lays down some rules of etiquette.
Technology isolates us. In our cars, we seethe and rant at other drivers in ways we would never consider if we were person-to-person. Email lacks body language; things are easily misinterpreted, and degenerate into flame wars that would never happen in person.
I don’t know if there is a solution. I guess thinking about it is the first step. Like Yin and Yang, technolgy and its impact are inextricably intertwined.