HUMAN EVOLUTION AND TECHNOLOGICAL EVOLUTION: A HISTORY OF INSTRUMENTALIZATION, DEVALUATION AND BETRAYAL

Abstract

The principle of evolution applies to every creature in the world and permits us to understand the various stages through which progress is achieved. The emancipation of the human race portrays an evolutionary process through which the human intellect is uplifted above and beyond the realms of ignorance and naivety. It is a project of enlightenment, and just like any other project, the results we obtain are directly derived from the actions that precede them. In fact, we only achieve the objects of our desires. Our quest for a proper understanding of the human race goes through the various domains that characterize our educational systems around the world. Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Economics etc., all permit us to perceive the human intellect from different perspectives. But it would appear that technological evolution, which has also played a key role in the emergence of the human society, has not been properly appraised; at least, this is the accusation put forward against human culture by French Philosopher, Gilbert Simondon. (Simondon: 1958). He thinks that technic has suffered prejudicial judgment from human culture, which has condemned it even before understanding its true mode of existence.[1] From his view point, the conflict that has emerged between man and the machine, or better still, between culture and technic is caused by a misunderstanding of the technical being. The goal of this paper is to find a point of agreement between man and the machines that characterize his daily life, in view of a better world.