Blog #7- Conclusion Ihde's "Technology and the Lifeworld"

As Don Ihde's literary work on technology relationships draws to a close, a comparison is created between Renaissance discovery and modern Big Science. Both involve numerous embodied instrumental technologies which allowed the scientists like da Vinci of a specific age to perceive the world in a altered manner. However the difference lies in the fact that today's scientific community is supersaturated with technology and demands more significant financial funding. As time passes and the world grows more modernized, technologies become even more ambiguous and non-neutral. This obsession with high and advanced technology and dependence society has created has made it theoretically and physically impossible to revert back to the past. So the only remaining option is to find some solution to save the only world the human race has ever been given. However, an answer cannot be reached until the idea of nature as a "huge pool of resources" for man to use at his will is completely abandoned. Ihde emphasizes the point that it is not logical nor fair to lay the majority of the blame on Western civilization. Rather all nations and areas of the globe have contributed to this technological takeover, therefore all must take due responsibility. The social, religious, and cultural values and ideas of the world's societies must be understood in order for world governments to cooperate to improve the situation. Overall, the bottom line is that nature is irreplaceable, and therefore holds priority over man-made technology. Although many philosophers are opposed to Heidegger's belief that only God can save the world, there is a unified consensus that some all powerful and universal body of authority is necessary. Change must occur at even the small microperceptual level in regards to human-technology relations, and macroperceptual alterations will follow. Ihde points out that the gap separating human beings and animals is quickly closing , and as a result society must even further take into account the needs of other species besides our own. The increased erosion and the pollution of nature in the environment should serve a a warning sign that something must be done to change, not control, the way humans use and exploit technology. It may take using technology itself to spark significant change in the world. The responsibility lies in the citizens of the world today to create and establish a valid and efficient solution in order to preserve the earth for the generations to come. However, as with any worldwide action, complete convergence of effort and a long period of time is necessary.