Does technology give man freedom?

An interesting idea was mentioned in class discussion on Wednesday. Technology gives humans freedom, the idea that man is free because of technique. This may be true in a sense, but the greater underlying reality is that modern technology is robbing man of freedom. Man has become dependent on technology for the necessities of life. As Jacques Ellul said in the text, “Freedom is completely without meaning unless it is related to necessity, unless it represents victory over necessity.” In this modern age, technology does not necessarily give man freedom because the absence of technology would disrupt modern life. Technology has moved man from freedom to dependency.

For example during Medieval times, people survived without eletrical power. Typical day-to-day life continued and functioned efficiently. In today’s society if an electrical power outtage occurred, people’s lives would become disrupted. For example, traffic lights would not be operational which would lead to car accidents. Employees would not be able to work in offices, professors could not teach in classrooms, etc. And on a larger scale, whole industries would have to be shut down. The examples can be endless. Man has become so dependent on electricity that he could not accomplish much without it. Man has become so connected to technology that the absence of it would disrupt the necessities of life. This is unfortuante because technology builds upon itself. The absence of one technology would impact another form of technology and subsequently form a chain reaction. In a simple example, the technological product of a surge protector would be useless without electricity.

To conclude, Stephen Kline stated in the text, “Without sociotechnical systems, we humans might not exist as a species, and if we did, we would be relatively powerless, few in number and of little import on the planet.”