This seems like a silly article to me, in that the author (and his subject, Kevin Kelly) assumes we all have a very similar definition of the concept "technology".
The article doesn't make sense for some sets of technology, for example, the pre-European-contact Polynesian's biological and superstition-based technology set. Those Polynesians had a technology based on plants, animals and biological raw materials and skills in manipulating them. They didn't have metals, metalworking or even fired-clay-pottery, but they managed to find and colonize virtually all habitable Pacific islands. Would taking up that set of technologies put us on some kind of irresistable train ride to ruination?
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[ 4.2 ms ] story [ 14.6 ms ] threadThe article doesn't make sense for some sets of technology, for example, the pre-European-contact Polynesian's biological and superstition-based technology set. Those Polynesians had a technology based on plants, animals and biological raw materials and skills in manipulating them. They didn't have metals, metalworking or even fired-clay-pottery, but they managed to find and colonize virtually all habitable Pacific islands. Would taking up that set of technologies put us on some kind of irresistable train ride to ruination?