STS Module 2

Eulogio “Amang” Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology
General Education Unit

(Natural Science Department)
Science, Technology and Society

(GESCIETS)
MMMo
Science, Technology and Society
and the Human Condition
Table of Contents
Pages/s
Lesson 1: The Human Person Flourishing in Terms

of Science and Technology 1-16
Technology as a Way of Revealing 1-5
Human Flourishing 5-8
Lesson 2: The Good Life 17-32
Science, Technology, and the Good Life 17-18
Aristotle on the Good Life 18-20
The Ten Golden Rules in Living Life 21-23
Lesson 3: When Technology and Humanity Cross 33-47
How Technology Has Changed Our Lives 33-37
Technology Impact on the Society 37-38
Effects of Technology on Human Life 38-40
Lesson 4: Why the Future Does Not Need Us 48-65
Threats of GNR Technologies 49-50
Assessment of Technological Development Tools 50-53
Human Responsibilities on the Consequences of

Science and Technology 53-56
Subject Code: GESCIETS
Subject Title: Science, Technology and Society
Module 2: STS and the Human Condition
Lesson 1: The Human Person Flourishing in Terms

of Science and Technology
Overview
This lesson discusses technology as a way of revealing and the human

flourishing in science and technology. Through human interaction with nature,
knowledge about the reality (science) comes in and technology is thought and
created, thus, revealing what are in the real world.
Science and technology allow human to flourish or not, depending on how

human interpret and deal with them in everyday life. The ultimate goal of everyone
in life is for him/her to flourish. Proper knowledge and skill on how to deal with the
realm in relation to science and technology could greatly contribute to human
flourishing.
Learning Outcomes
After successfully studying this lesson, the students should be able to:
1. Analyze the human condition in order to deeply reflect and express

philosophical ramifications that are meaningful to the student as a part of
society.
2. Critique human flourishing vis-à-vis the progress of science and technology so

that the student can define for himself/herself the meaning of good life.
3. Acknowledge the attainment of human flourishing in terms of science and

technology.
Learning Content
Technology as a Way of Revealing
According to Heidegger (1977), technology must be understood as “a way of

revealing”. This means that everything we perceive or think of or interact with
“emerges out of concealment into unconcealment”. Reality is ‘revealed’ in a specific
way by entering into a particular relation with reality. And this is where technology
comes in, since technology is the way of revealing that characterizes our time.
Technology embodies a specific way of revealing the world, a revealing in which
humans take power over reality. Technology reveals the world as raw material,
available for production and manipulation.
The essence of technology is not something we make; it is a mode of being,

or of revealing. This means that technological things have their own novel kind of
presence, endurance, and connections among parts and wholes. They have their
own way of presenting themselves and the world in which they operate. For
Heidegger, to consider technology essentially is to see it as an event to which we
belong the structuring, ordering, and “requisitioning” of everything around us, and of
ourselves. Technology is not simply the practical application of natural science.
Instead, modern natural science can understand nature in the characteristically
scientific manner only because nature has already, in advance, come to light as a set
of calculable, orderable forces — that is to say, technologically.
An example of technology in which humans interact with nature and machines (technology)
(Source of image: Philippine Rural Development Project)
Heidegger reiterated that, there is something wrong with the modern,

technological culture we live in today. In our ‘age of technology’ reality can only be
present as a raw material (as a ‘standing reserve’). This state of affairs has not been
brought about by humans; the technological way of revealing was not chosen by
humans. Rather, our understanding of the world - our understanding of ‘being’, of
what it means ‘to be’ - develops through the ages. In our time ‘being’ has the
character of a technological ‘framework’, from which humans approach the world in a
controlling and dominating way.
This technological understanding of ‘being’, according to Heidegger, is to be
seen as the ultimate danger. First of all, there is the danger that humans will also
interpret themselves as raw materials. Note that we are already speaking about
“human resources”! But most importantly, the technological will to power leaves no
escape. If we want to move towards a new interpretation of being, this would itself be
a technological intervention: we would manipulate our manipulation, exerting power
over our way of exerting power. And this would only reconfirm the technological
interpretation of being. Every attempt to climb out of technology throws us back in.
The only way out for Heidegger is “the will not to will”. We need to open up the
possibility of relying on technologies while not becoming enslaved to them and
seeing them as manifestations of an understanding of being.
Heidegger suggests that there are two dominant ways of understanding

technology. One is instrumental; to view it as a means to an end, while the other is to
see it as human activity. Technology refers to the means that humans use to obtain
resources and modify the world around them. Function, related to technology, refers
to how tools, equipment, and facilities were used by humans in the past. Human
activity is a generic term for the study of the function and use of space. Heidegger
thinks through the essence of technology as a way in which we encounter entities
generally, including nature, ourselves, and, indeed, everything.
Essence of technology as a way in which entities are generally encountered, including

nature, ourselves, and everything. (Source of image: Philippine Rural Development Project)
The basic phenomenon that belongs together with being is truth, or

“revealing,” which is the phenomenon Heidegger brings forward in his discussion in
“The Question Concerning Technology.” Things can show or reveal themselves to us
in different ways, and it is attention to this that will help us recognize that technology
is itself one of these ways, but only one. Other kinds of revealing, and attention to
the realm of truth and being as such, will allow us to “experience the technological
within its own bounds.” What is dangerous is that technology displaces beings from
what they originally were, hindering our ability to experience them truly.
When Heidegger says that technology reveals things to us as “standing
reserve,” he means that everything is imposed upon or “challenged” to be an orderly
resource for technical application, which in turn we take as a resource for further
use, and so on interminably. For example, we challenge land to yield coal, treating
the land as nothing but a coal reserve. The coal is then stored, “on call, ready to
deliver the sun’s warmth that is stored in it,” which is then “challenged forth for heat,
which in turn is ordered to deliver steam whose pressure turns the wheels that keep
a factory running.” The factories are themselves challenged to produce tools
“through which once again machines are set to work and maintained.”
It was technological thinking that first understood nature in such a way that
nature could be challenged to unlock its forces and energy. The challenge preceded
the unlocking; the essence of technology is thus prior to natural science. “Modern
technology is not applied natural science, far more is modern natural science the
application of the essence of technology.”
An example in which nature serves as a raw material for technology advancement

(Source of image: UNTV)
Given this view of technology, it follows that any scientific account obscures
the essential being of many things, including their nearness. So when Heidegger
discusses technology and nearness, he assures us that he is not simply repeating
the cliché that technology makes the world smaller. “What is decisive,” he writes, “is
not that the distances are diminishing with the help of technology, but rather that
nearness remains outstanding.” In order to experience nearness, we must encounter
things in their truth. And no matter how much we believe that science will let us
“encounter the actual in its actuality,” science only offers us representations of things.
It “only ever encounters that which its manner of representation has previously
admitted as a possible object for itself.”
In order to understand the essence of technology we must also understand

things non-technologically; we must enter the realm where things can show
themselves to us truthfully in a manner not limited to the technological. But
technology is such a domineering force that it all but eliminates our ability to
experience this realm. The possibility of understanding the interrelated, meaningful,
practical involvements with our surroundings that Heidegger describes is almost
obliterated. The danger is that technology’s domination fully darkens and makes us
forget our understanding of ourselves as the beings who can stand within this realm.
While we have already seen how the essence of technology prevents us from
encountering the reality of the world, now Heidegger points out that technology has
become the world. Technology reigns, and we therefore forget being altogether and
our own essential freedom — we no longer even realize the world we have lost.
Ways of experiencing distance and time other than through the ever more precise
neutral measuring with rulers and clocks become lost to us; they no longer seem to
be types of knowing at all but are at most vague poetic representations. While many
other critics of technology point to obvious dangers associated with it, Heidegger
emphasizes a different kind of threat: the possibility that it may prevent us from
experiencing “the call of a more primal truth.” The problem is not just that technology
makes it harder for us to access that realm, but that it makes us altogether forget
that the realm exists. The understanding of man’s essence as openness to this realm
and of technology as only one way in which things can reveal themselves is the
guide for keeping technology within its proper bounds.
Things that present themselves technologically in Heidegger’s sense seem so

controlled by a pervasive unified horizon that the possibility of our grasping and
ranking these differences — whether from within a technological understanding or
from outside — remains obscure. In response, we might suggest that the distortion
and the overreaching that make elements of technology questionable are in fact
visible within technological activity itself because of the larger political and ordered
world to which it belongs. This is not a causally reductive relation, but a descriptive
and organizing one. To experience technology is also to experience its limits.
The key to understanding technology and to guiding it is, precisely to wonder

about the ordinary question of how to use technology well, not piece by piece to
serve isolated desires, but as part of a whole way of life (Blitz, 2014).
Human Flourishing
Human flourishing involves the rational use of one's individual human

potentialities, including talents, abilities, and virtues in the pursuit of his freely and
rationally chosen values and goals (Cruz 2019). It is an effort to achieve
self-actualization and fulfilment within the context of a larger community of
individuals, each with the right to pursue his or her own such efforts. The role of
technology in human flourishing lies in: “It changes us – and the world around us” –
in countless ways. It eases our labor, cures diseases, provides abundant food and
clean water, enables communication and travel across the globe, and expands our
knowledge of the natural world and the cosmos. The stuff of science fiction is now, in
many cases, reality, and it can make our lives longer, healthier, and more productive
than ever (2012 Baylor Symposium).
But technological advance is not without complication, and even ardent

proponents of technology recognize that our present age of innovation is fraught with
concern for unintended consequences. The 2012 Baylor Symposium invites
reflection about technology and how it contributes to and, at times, compromises
human flourishing.
Human’s pursuit of his freely and chosen values and goals to attain
human flourishing
Technology that eases our labor, for example, can detach us from a
meaningful sense of work. What can cure disease also can encourage us to view the
human body as something to be engineered, modified, and immortalized.
Techniques that produce more food from less land can have ruinous, long-term
effects on the environment. Likewise, even as technology makes possible instant
communication with others around the world, it often creates distance between
ourselves and people near to us; while it enables unprecedented mobility, it can
undermine the stability necessary for families and communities to thrive. And as
technology provides ever increasing knowledge, we quite reasonably wonder
whether such knowledge is being used to bring about a wiser, more just world (2012
Baylor Symposium).
Aristotle is the fountainhead behind every achievement of science,

technology, political theory, and aesthetics in today's world. Aristotle's philosophy has
underpinned the achievements of the Renaissance and of all scientific advances and
technological progress to this very day.
Aristotle, defended reason, invented logic, focused on reality, and emphasized
the importance of life on earth. The importance of reality, reason, and logic in
Aristotelian philosophy has enabled science and technology to develop and flourish.
Aristotle teaches that each man's life has a purpose and that the function of
one's life is to attain that purpose. He explains that the purpose of life is earthly
happiness or flourishing that can be achieved via reason and the acquisition of
virtue. Articulating an explicit and clear understanding of the end toward which a
person's life aims, Aristotle states that each human being should use his abilities to
their fullest potential and should obtain happiness and enjoyment through the
exercise of their realized capacities. He contends that human achievements are
animated by purpose and autonomy and that people should take pride in being
excellent at what they do. According to Aristotle, human beings have a natural desire
and capacity to know and understand the truth, to pursue moral excellence, and to
instantiate their ideals in the world through action.
According to Aristotle, there is an end of all of the actions that we perform

which we desire for itself. This is what is known as eudaimonia, flourishing, or
happiness, which is desired for its own sake with all other things being desired on its
account. Eudaimonia is a property of one's life when considered as a whole.
Flourishing is the highest good of human endeavors and that toward which all
actions aim. It is success as a human being. The best life is one of excellent human
activity. Human flourishing occurs when a person is concurrently doing what he
ought to do and doing what he wants to do.
Human person flourishing in science and technology
Aristotle heralds the role of reason in a proper human life. He examines the
nature of man and his functions and sees that man survives through purposeful
conduct which results from the active exercise of man's capacity for rational thought.
The ability to reason separates man from all other living organisms and supplies him
with his unique means of survival and flourishing. It is through purposive, rational
conduct that a person can achieve happiness. For Aristotle, a being of conceptual
consciousness must focus on reality and must discover the knowledge and actions
required if he wants to fully develop as a human person.
A human being is ordered to self-perfection and self-perfection is, in essence,

human moral development. The goal of a person's life is to live rationally and to
develop both the intellectual and moral virtues. There are attributes central to human
nature the development of which leads to human flourishing and a good human life.
According to Aristotle, the key characteristics of human nature can be discerned
through empirical investigation.
Human flourishing (also known as personal flourishing) involves the rational

use of one's individual human potentialities, including talents, abilities, and virtues in
the pursuit of his freely and rationally chosen values and goals. An action is
considered to be proper if it leads to the flourishing of the person performing the
action.
Human flourishing is positively related to a rational man's attempts to

externalize his values and actualize his internal views of how things ought to be in
the outside world. Practical reason can be used to choose, create, and integrate all
the values and virtues that comprise personal flourishing.
Human flourishing is the reward of the virtues and values and happiness is
the goal and reward of human flourishing.
***
The link for this part will be posted to our Google Classroom
Self-check Test
Assessment for Learning
***
References
Blitz, M. (2014). Understanding Heidegger on Technology. The New Atlantis,

Number 41, pp. 63-80.
Cruz, L. (2019). Human civilizations and the development of science and

technology. Baliuag University. Baliuag, Bulacan.
Department of Agriculture (2019). Philippine Rural Development Project.

http://prdp.da.gov.ph/la-trinidad-farmers-advance-mechanization-through-prdp
s-1-m-aid/
Heidegger, Martin (1977). The Question Concerning Technology (W. Lovitt, Trans.).
The Question Concerning Technology and Other Essays.
Younkins, E. (2003). Aristotle, Human Flourishing, and the Limited State. Montreal.
________. (2012). Technology and Human Flourishing. Baylor University.

Lesson 2: The Good Life
Overview
This lesson discusses the relationship of good life to science and technology.
In order to attain good life there is a need for the society to be kept abreast with the
“know-how” of good life. Therefore, this lesson further discusses the principles of
good life and the golden rules in living life.
Through the ethical standards of living life in order to attain good life, the
society is guided on how to deal with the contemporary issues in science and
technology.
Learning Outcomes
1. Examine shared concerns that make up the good life in order to come up with
innovative, creative solutions to contemporary issues guided by ethical
standards.
2. Articulate ways by which society can attain a good life in relation to science
and technology.
3. Interpret the ethical standards in living a life on this contemporary science and
technology in relation to good life.
Learning Contents
Science, Technology, and the Good Life
Science and technology are also the movement towards good life. Science
and technology are one of the highest expressions of human faculties (Dotson, T.
2012).
It is science that provides good life for everyone and at the same time, it is the
quest for good life that fuels science.
Living the good life means living a life that sets you free. A life that satisfies
and fulfils you, that adds happiness, joy and a sense of purpose to your life. But it
also means to live a life that is worthwhile – a life that makes a contribution, instead
of being solely self-centered.
In this vast world where numbers of inventions are rapidly growing, science
made the lives of many convenient. The scientific inventions pave way for
technological enhancements leading to more jobs, technological enhancements
making household chores easy and more legit explanations on myth and belief of the
society which makes us more educated and took away the innocence on salient
matters. The advent of technology through science gives us idea on genetic
engineering and other medical enhancements that are helpful in our lives as
humans.
A good life is not the use of more and more technology. People always remain
the primary focus of any technology decisions we make for ourselves or others!
Technology is just a means of convenience and productivity, it’s just a time saver, it’s
not the purpose, not the goal, and it’s a tool. Technology can be more than an
automation tool, technology can be more than an aid to time saving and
convenience; Technology can have a direct influence on the nature of happiness and
well-being itself. Technology can augment the human intelligence, judgment,
worldview and perception. It is a force that the human science community cannot
afford to ignore. Quality of life will not be improved by more and more technology as
a means of convenience, the only mean to improve the quality of life, is coming back
to our essence of existence: our True Self and our True Relationships, by combining
technology and humanity to improve our own worldview and our interaction to others’
worldview (Karbasi 2017).
Technologies should be recognized as impacting personal choice concerning

the good life. Yet, technological liberalism – the idea that technology permits an
extending of individual volition concerning the good without distortion – remains a
dominant collective belief. It is not enough to recognize that technologies can serve
as “radical monopolies” or “script” human action. They also influence human action
and choice in terms of cognition and affect. Technologies-of-choice can be viewed as
enabling the belief that one may act as an unencumbered self, even though they do
not unequivocally extend the human will. Consideration of the impact of technologies
on human volition suggests possible avenues of research into when and how
technologically reflexive decision making may actually occur as well as how societies
could create space for technologies more compatible with alternative notions of the
good (Dotson, T. 2012).
Technology leads to a good life as it is responsible for advancement in all

sectors of the economy. It is because it provides us a means to achieve something
faster and in an easier manner. Modern technology has led to the evolution of
several devices such as the smartphone, computers, etc. Computers are
increasingly faster, more portable, and higher-powered than ever before. With all of
these revolutions, technology has also made our lives easier, faster, better, and more
fun.
Aristotle on the Good Life
Aristotle argues that what separates human beings from the other animals is
the human reason. So the good life is one in which a person cultivates and exercises
their rational faculties by, for instance, engaging in scientific inquiry, philosophical
discussion, artistic creation, or legislation.
Aristotle’s views on living well begin with a consideration of ends and means.
The means depends on which is easier, quicker, likelier to succeed, etc. Thinking
about the goal we are aiming at, and the means we must employ to reach that goal
is practical thinking. But such thinking bears no fruit until it results in purposeful
action, which is acting with some end, goal, or purpose in mind. Purposeful action
contrasts with aimless or thoughtless action, which is action with no end in view.
Aristotle argued that as we mature, we act less aimlessly and more

purposefully. We try to develop a plan for living that unites all our various purposes.
Without a plan for living, we don’t know what we are trying to do or why we’re trying
to do it. Moreover, not just any plan will do—we need the right plan, which is one that
aims at the final or ultimate end. But what is the final end of human life, the end that
all of us ought to aim at?
For Aristotle, the final end of human life is to flourish, to live well, to have a
good life. All actions should aim at this end. Of course, in order to live at all we need
food, clothing, and shelter, but living is itself the means to the end of living well.
Aristotle says that living well is the final end for humans; it is not a means to anything
else. Aristotle thinks this is obvious because few people want to live poorly.
But now another question arises: don’t different people have different ideas
about what a good life is? For some it may consist of accumulating wealth; for
others, it is having power or being famous or experiencing pleasure. And if people
construe the good life differently, if they have different desires, how can there be one
right plan for living well? How can there be one final end that we all ought to seek?
To answer these questions Aristotle argued that not all desires are of the
same sort. There are acquired desires, which differ between individuals, and natural
desires, which are the same for all individuals. Acquired desires—say for
caviar—correspond to our wants, whereas natural desires—say for
food—correspond to our needs. Acquired desires or wants correspond to apparent
goods; things that appear good because you want them. Natural desires or needs
correspond to real goods; things that are good for you whether you want them or not.
With these considerations in mind, Aristotle states that the good life consists
in the possession, over the course of a lifetime, of all those things that are really
good for us. Moreover, what is really good for any one of us corresponds to the
natural needs that are the same for all of us. Thus what is good for one person is
good for another; in other words, there is a right plan for living well. So what are
these real goods that we should all seek to obtain in order to live well? According to
Aristotle, they are:
1) bodily goods – health, vitality, vigor, and pleasure;
2) external goods – food, drink, shelter, clothing, and sleep; and
3) goods of the soul – knowledge, skill, love, friendship, aesthetic enjoyment,
self-esteem, and honor
The first two types of good are limited goods—we cannot have more of them
than we need. Goods of the soul are unlimited goods—we can have more of them
than we need. But surely the knowledge of the good life isn’t sufficient to actually
living a good life.
Aristotle argued that the way to bridge the gap between knowledge of the
good life and actually living it was through the development of a good moral
character. And this entails developing good habits. A good habit allows us to perform
certain actions without effort. We can have a good habit of playing the piano,
studying hard, hitting golf balls, or thinking well. We can also habitually make good
choices to avoid overeating or drinking too much.
Virtues of the mind are intellectual virtues; while virtues exemplified by a

regular disposition to choose correctly are moral virtues. For Aristotle, moral virtue
plays a special role in living well. The reason moral virtue—the habit of making the
right choices—is so important is that our choices determine whether we live well. If
we make too many bad choices we will live poorly.
So we need to develop the good habits or virtues which help us obtain what is
really good for us, as opposed to bad habits or vices which lead us toward things
that merely appear good. Good habits or moral virtues are the principal means to
having good lives because they allow us to habitually make the choices that both
constitute and lead to good lives.
The most important moral virtues or habits are moderation, courage, and
justice. Moderation keeps us from overindulging in pleasure or seeking too much of
the limited goods. Courage is having the disposition to do what it takes to live a good
life, and justice is the virtue that allows us to have friends and enjoy the benefits of
cooperation.
The end, goal, purpose (or meaning) of human life is to live well. We do this
by accumulating, over the course of our lives, all the real goods that correspond to
our natural needs; and we increase our chances of having good lives by cultivating
good habits.
Aristotle's 11 guidelines for a good life
While most of us ask “What should I do?” when we think about ethics, many
philosophers have approached it by asking, “What kind of person should I be?”
These thinkers often turn to virtue ethics for answers. Aristotle, one of the most
influential philosophers of all time, developed a comprehensive system of virtue
ethics that we can learn from even today.
In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle proposed that humans are social,
rational animals that seek to “live well.” To that end, he proposed a system of ethics
designed to help us reach eudaimonia, a word that means living well or flourishing.
Eudaimonia is reached by living virtuously and building up your character
traits until you don’t even have to think about your choices before making the right
one. Such a person will be happy, but not in the same way as a hedonistic person.
They will strive for self-improvement and will live their lives to the fullest. They will be
the kind of person that others want to be like. Above all else, they will flourish.
Aristotle sees virtues as character traits and tendencies to act in a particular way. We
gain them through practice and by copying 'moral exemplars' until we manage to
internalize the virtue. We become temperate by practicing temperance, courageous
by practicing courage, and so on. Eventually, the virtue becomes a habit.
The virtues Aristotle listed in his Nicomachean Ethics are:
1. Courage: The midpoint between cowardice and recklessness. The

courageous person is aware of the danger but goes in any way.
2. Temperance: The virtue between overindulgence and insensitivity. Aristotle

would view the person who never drinks just as harshly as the one who drinks
too much.
3. Liberality: The virtue of charity, this is the golden mean between miserliness
and giving more than you can afford.
4. Magnificence: The virtue of living extravagantly. It rests between stinginess

and vulgarity. Aristotle sees no reason to be ascetic but also warns against
being flashy.
5. Magnanimity: The virtue relating to pride, it is the midpoint between not giving
yourself enough credit and having delusions of grandeur. It is a given that you
also have to act on this sense of self-worth and strive for greatness.
6. Patience: This is the virtue that controls your temper. The patient person must
neither get too angry nor fail to get angry when they should.
7. Truthfulness: The virtue of honesty. Aristotle places it between the vices of

habitual lying and being tactless or boastful.
8. Wittiness: At the midpoint between buffoonery and boorishness, this is the

virtue of a good sense of humor.
9. Friendliness: While being friendly might not seem like a moral virtue, Aristotle
claims friendship is a vital part of a life well lived. This virtue lies between not
being friendly at all and being too friendly towards too many people.
10. Shame: The midpoint between being too shy and being shameless. The
person who has the right amount of shame will understand when they have
committed a social or moral error but won’t be too fearful not to risk them.
11. Justice: The virtue of dealing fairly with others. It lies between selfishness and
selflessness.
The Ten Golden Rules in Living Life
1. Examine life, engage life with vengeance; always search for new pleasures
and new destines to reach with your mind.
Living life is about examining life through reason, nature’s greatest gift to
humanity. The importance of reason in sensing and examining life is evident in all
phases of life-- from the infant who strains to explore its new surroundings to the
grandparent who actively reads and assesses the headlines of the daily paper.
Reason lets human beings participate in life, to be human is to think, appraise, and
explore the world, discovering new sources of material and spiritual pleasure.
2. Worry only about the things that are in your control, the things that can be
influenced and changed by your actions, not about the things that are beyond
your capacity to direct or alter.
Most notably the belief in an ultimately rational order operating in the universe
reflecting a benign providence that ensures proper outcomes in life. The key to
resisting the hardship and discord that intrude upon every human life, is to cultivate a
certain attitude toward adversity based on the critical distinction between those
things we are able to control versus those which are beyond our capacity to manage.
The misguided investor may not be able to recover his fortune but he can resist the
tendency to engage in self-torment. The victims of a natural disaster, a major illness
or an accident may not be able to recover and live their lives the way they used to,
but they too can save themselves the self-torment. In other words, while we cannot
control all of the outcomes we seek in life, we certainly can control our responses to
these outcomes and herein lies our potential for a life that is both happy and fulfilled.
3. Treasure Friendship, the reciprocal attachment that fills the need for affiliation.
Friendship cannot be acquired in the market place, but must be nurtured and
treasured in relations imbued with trust and amity. According to Greek philosophy,
one of the defining characteristics of humanity that distinguishes it from other forms
of existence is a deeply engrained social instinct, the need for association and
affiliation with others, a need for friendship. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle viewed the
formation of society as a reflection of the profound need for human affiliation rather
than simply a contractual arrangement between otherwise detached individuals.
Gods and animals do not have this kind of need but for humans it is an
indispensable aspect of the life worth living because one cannot speak of a
completed human identity, or of true happiness, without the associative bonds called
“friendship.” No amount of wealth, status, or power can adequately compensate for a
life devoid of genuine friends.
4. Experience True Pleasure. Avoid shallow and transient pleasures. Keep your
life simple.
Seek calming pleasures that contribute to peace of mind. True pleasure is
disciplined and restrained. In its many shapes and forms, pleasure is what every
human being is after. It is the chief good of life. Yet not all pleasures are alike. Some
pleasures are kinetic—shallow, and transient, fading way as soon as the act that
creates the pleasure ends. Often they are succeeded by a feeling of emptiness and
psychological pain and suffering. Other pleasures are catastematic—deep, and
prolonged, and continue even after the act that creates them ends; and it is these
pleasures that secure the well-lived life.
5. Master Yourself.
Resist any external force that might delimit thought and action; stop deceiving
yourself, believing only what is personally useful and convenient; complete liberty
necessitates a struggle within, a battle to subdue negative psychological and spiritual
forces that preclude a healthy existence; self-mastery requires ruthless cador. One of
the more concrete ties between ancient and modern times is the idea that personal
freedom is a highly desirable state and one of life’s great blessings. Today, freedom
tends to be associated, above all, with political liberty. Therefore, freedom is often
perceived as a reward for political struggle, measured in terms of one’s ability to
exercise individual “rights.”
6. Avoid Excess.
Live life in harmony and balance. Avoid excesses. Even good things, pursued
or attained without moderation, can become a source of misery and suffering. The
idea of avoiding the many opportunities for excess was a prime ingredient in a life
properly lived. It is for this reason that they prized ideals such as measure, balance,
harmony, and proportion as much as they did, the parameters within which
productive living can proceed. If, however, excess is allowed to destroy harmony and
balance, then the life worth living becomes impossible to obtain.
7. Be a Responsible Human Being.
Approach yourself with honesty and thoroughness; maintain a kind of spiritual

hygiene; stop the blame-shifting for your errors and shortcomings. Be honest with
yourself and be prepared to assume responsibility and accept consequences. Very
few individuals are willing to hold themselves accountable for the errors and mishaps
that inevitably occur in life. Instead, they tend to foist these situations off on others
complaining of circumstances “beyond their control.” There are, of course, situations
that occasionally sweep us along, against which we have little or no recourse. But
the far more typical tendency is to find ourselves in dilemmas of our own creation —
dilemmas for which we refuse to be held accountable. Unfortunately, this penchant
for excuses and self-exemption has negative consequences. People who feed
themselves a steady diet of exonerating fiction are in danger of living life in bad faith
— more, they risk corrupting their very essence as a human being.
8. Don’t Be a Prosperous Fool.
Prosperity by itself, is not a cure-all against an ill-led life, and may be a source
of dangerous foolishness. Money is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for the
good life, for happiness and wisdom. Prosperity has different meanings to different
people. For some, prosperity is about the accumulation of wealth in the form of
money, real estate and equities. For others, prosperity is about the accumulation of
power and the achievement of status that comes with appointment to business or
government positions. In either case, prosperity requires wisdom: the rational use of
one’s resources and in the absence of such wisdom is prosperous fool.
9. Don’t Do Evil to Others.
Evildoing is a dangerous habit, a kind of reflex too quickly resorted to and too
easily justified that has a lasting and damaging effect upon the quest for the good
life. Harming others claims two victims—the receiver of the harm, and the victimizer,
the one who does harm.
Contemporary society is filled with mixed messages when it comes to the

treatment of our fellow human beings. Modern society is a competitive, hard-bitten
environment strongly inclined to advocate self-advantage at the expense of the
“other.” Under these conditions, it is not surprising that people are often prepared to
harm their fellow human beings. Our culture has naively assumed that “getting even”
is an acceptable response to wrongdoing — that one bad-turn deserves another.
What we fail to understand is the psychological, emotional, and spiritual impact
victimizing others has upon the victimizer.
10. Kindness towards others tends to be rewarded.
Kindness to others is a good habit that supports and reinforces the quest for
the good life. Helping others bestows a sense of satisfaction that has two
beneficiaries—the beneficiary, the receiver of the help, and the benefactor, the one
who provides the help. Simply put, kindness tends to return to those who do kind
deeds.
"Happiness depends on ourselves." More than anybody else, Aristotle

enshrines happiness as a central purpose of human life and a goal in itself.
Happiness depends on the cultivation of virtue. A genuinely happy life required the
fulfilment of a broad range of conditions, including physical as well as mental
well-being. The education of the whole person, includes one's moral character, rather
than merely learning a set of skills. According to Aristotle, this view of education is
necessary if we are to produce a society of happy as well as productive individuals.
***
Self-Check Test
***
References
Dotson, Taylor (2012). Technology, Choice and the Good Life: Questioning
Technological Liberalism. https://www.sciencedirect.com
Karbasi, Hertzel (2017). A good life is not the use of more and more technology.
https://medium.com/my-journey-to-change/a-good-life-is-not-the-use-of-more-
and-more-technology-badd251510ae
Messerly, John (2013). Aristotle on the Good Life. https://reasonandmening.com
Tamayao, Michael John (2012). Aristotle and His Nicomachean Ethics.

https://tamayaosbs.wordpress.com
Wikipedia (2019). The Good Life. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Good_Life

Lesson 3: When Technology and Humanity Cross
Overview
Technologies were invented and developed for the benefits of human

condition. Apart from this, there are negative consequences of technology to human
lives. This lesson discusses how lives can be changed by technologies. The
impacts and effects of technologies in human lives are also considered in this lesson
in order for the society to examine their rights and uphold such rights in engaging
technologies in everyday life.
Learning Outcomes
1. Examine human rights in order to uphold such rights in technological ethical

dilemmas.
2. Identify the positive and negative consequences of technologies to humanity.
3. Relate the benefits and drawbacks of technologies to human lives.
Learning Content
How Technology Has Changed Our Lives
Technology has changed our lives by increasing the speed of time. We

invented and developed the technologies to change our life to its best. Now,
technology is changing our lives every second.
In business, the use of Artificial Intelligence, cloud computing, machine

learning, predictive analytics and business intelligence tools, applications now
creating new methods to conduct, operate and manage the business. The rise of
cloud computing, cloud storage, Artificial intelligence and Machine learning is the
example, that we will be soon on the node that connects our body and capture the
data of human activities in real time.
Invention and development of technology have changed our life positively and
negatively. The new technologies and inventions are results of our curiosity,
creativity, and problem-solving techniques.
What else we will do on this earth if we’re not improving our self every day.
But it’s important that technological development should be environmental and
human-friendly. Technology is a flower for life, not a productivity killer.
Technology is in the air, water, food, education, business, office, electricity,

marketing, data storage, communication, cars, parking, traveling, foods, shopping,
and banks etc. It’s almost everywhere and in everything that is involved in our daily
life. We depend on technologies to help us. And technologies really help us in good
and bad ways.
1. Technology has changed the education:-
Technology changed the ways of education and learning methods. We are not
able in the past to get data, information, and knowledge so quickly with flexibility. The
school was very far from home. But today because of technology there are online
schools. Anyone can do degrees online by using the internet and computers. There
are various types of online courses for everyone with different contents. This is how
has technology changed the education. It is a positive change.
2. Technology changed the ways of communication
Today we have mobile phones, internet, computer and social media, video
conferencing tools, and mobile apps to communicate with anyone around the world.
It was not possible in the past. The benefit of communication change is that it’s fast,
easy and quickest method to communicate.
In the past, a letter takes 10 days to reach the destination such as money
order, greeting cards, and personal letters. But technologies changed that now you
can send an email. You can transfer the money from your mobile phone. This is
technology and it’s non-stop.
3. New kind of habits and digital addictions:-
With technology changes, we got new kind of habits and it’s tough for parents
to solve such kind of problems. It’s because they don’t know the solutions. Most of
the kids, teens are addicted to the internet. For them, technology is a toy. This can
be a good change, but what about creativity and their brain development. After 20
years, the Internet will be boring for them. Then they will use robots for their works
as today we’re using the internet or Google.
4. Lifestyle changes that happened after the use of technology:-

Technology has a positive and negative impact on our daily life. The craze
and disadvantages of taking selfies in the risky area are well known. We do online
shopping and there are varieties and price comparison tools.
Technologies have an internet of things that anyone can use in their daily life.
We are busier than productive. 30 years ago people have time for friends and
families. They live and enjoy their life in real time. At the same time, they are
emotional, care of nature and humanity.
Today, we do the same things on social media but without emotions. This is
the technological effect. And we’re responsible for this change. If it is good or bad,
depends on the users, how they’re using it.
5. Technology has changed our health:-
Technology has increased the pace of our life, but the quality is reduced.
Technology impacted our life positively and negatively. Today we have more health
care technologies then past. But the reason, behind the inventions of health
technologies, is the overuse of technology in daily life.
In old times people have less electric equipment for house and field work. In
old time people physical stamina is better than today’s fitness freaks.
They lived their life longer without technology but today after technology the
average human age is reducing. We’re greedy and we want more, faster and in
fewer efforts.
That’s why business is selling air purifier, mineral waters more confidently
other than inspiring humans to plant trees and grow natural sources. Even after the
technological development in medical science, doctors are not confident in sayings
about the life is safe for a patient after operation in certain cases.
6. Our critical thinking skills are almost dead:-
Today most of the people do not invent, they do business to solve people
problem. They can sell anything and every human being is targeted customers.
They are collecting data, what you search, where you click, what you buy, how you
react to certain copywriter’s text. This is impacting our life because they are creating
products based on our search results and technologies habits.
All are doing searches, everyone wants to read the easy explanation, people
don’t have time to think, and they do searches. Why think? When there are search
engines who give even instant suggestions to search this or that.
We‘re not able to think critically that’s why we are inventing artificial
intelligence for future generation. The positive is we can get knowledge and
information and data by using technology. But the negative is too much data,
overload of information and overuse of technology equipment making us addict to
the tech tools.
We can’t analyze, understand easily without seeing visual examples. This is
how technology is impacting our critical thinking. Today, people think and analyze
everything because today we’re living more risky life. We’re at the speed of filling
greed store and technology is the tools and root.
7. Technology is making difference in between business processes and
systems:-
Latest information technologies are impacting our work and in the way we do
business. Almost everything soon will be automated. New business models are
technology based. There is no single business around the world that is not using
technologies.
People are thinking more about passive incomes and more than one source
of income in fewer human efforts. That’s why cloud computing, marketing
automation, cloud storage, hybrid cars, and robots etc. very soon start changing this
world again. The reason is more profit in less time and without humans. It is because
everyone is in hurry to end the journey before competitors.
But then the next problem will come. There are already millions of people
around the world in different countries are facing an unemployment problem. And
after the use of such new technologies, the unemployment problem will grow even
more. But what are the solutions at that time? The solution is simple then again
someone from us will create the next technology for them. It continues the process.
8. Cloud computing technology and cloud storage are another change that is
happening currently:-
You don’t have to store your personal and business data on your hard drive,
pen drive or DVDs. You can upload it to clouds and access anywhere, anytime.
You don’t need to buy the business application and have to spend time on
installing on your computer and server. It’s already in the cloud, in which you and
your employees can use it anytime from anywhere.
But why cloud computing? Because we want to earn money with fewer efforts,
business owners want to solve day to day maintenance problems in the company
that’s why it is now growing in the internet market.
9. The negative and positive impact of technology on workplace productivity:-
Now it’s clear that technology affects our work habits. We want productivity
and it’s great for business. Technology has changed our daily business. You can
measure the quality of your products and services. You can speed up the production
process. You can reduce your marketing cost by using online marketing automation
applications. You can sell products on the internet and can get money from the bank
directly. You can research the market, you can analyze your competitors, you can
learn about technological equipment.
The negative of technologies in business productivity is only when you’re not

using correctly. For example, if you or your employees are busy watching YouTube
videos and using Facebook in office time then it will reduce the productivity level at
some point. If you have more IT infrastructure or fewer quality products then it costs
you time.
Another negative is that these new technologies are more advanced and
highly practical. If you don’t have enough budget, knowledge and don’t know how to
implement a particular technology in your business then it will be risky.
But generally, nothing is negative to use technologies in the workplace. The

best technologies with technically sound staff have not any productivity loss.
10. Technology has changed the behaviors and upgraded the human greed.
We are losing our patience. Our behavior is changed in a second. For

example, if the internet is slow then you can see your face how it is. If someone is
late to reply, then see your reaction.
Technologies changed our patience level from high to low and low to high
within the speed of second. As explained above that in old time’s people have more
patience than today. We behave very badly for small things e.g. to the people who
are less technical and don’t have high-quality mobile and money.
We changed our mind after seeing likes and comments. We stop doing the
most important work when we get new notification or message. That’s how we are
now affected by technology. Government investment in nature will give a great
return, and the returns are clean water, less pollution, fresh air.
Technology Impact on the Society
We are now more addicted to technologies, not for productive use. We don’t
use technology based on our work, home, business, and job duties. We use
whenever, whatever it is, no matter it is doing loss.
Such above changes are greed or human behaviours and technology speed
up the process of corruption, data privacy and security to solve it, use it and to
improve it.
Technology is influencing youth:- learning teaching, kids and teens behaviours

changing
The youth is totally depending on the technology for everything. Even from
school. A small information or practical knowledge is not produced by the teachers in
the class but by the use of the internet.
Technology is making children older. They are learning and watching the
things those were not possible to watch 25 years ago. This is how technology is
affecting our youth negatively.
Youth patriotism is well known on the internet and at the same time, some of
these people don’t care to save water, clean atmosphere and girl’s safety.
There are so many positives of technologies. And its technology that has
increased career opportunities for the youth. Anyone with some sort of skill can start
an online business. They can become a programmer, designer and able to provide
services remotely.
Technology has a positive and negative impact but it’s really important for our
teachers, teaching in colleges and schools of computer science to teach them
productive and environment-friendly uses of technologies.
Future is unpredictable for small business owners:-
Technology changed the speed of time. Now technology is updating every

second. It’s tough for small business owners and entrepreneurs to run their business
at this speed.
They only need the knowledge and courage to implement their ideas with full
dedication and hard work. Because technology is not limited to powerful it’s also for
common too. If he/she knows how to use it and have a tech guide.
The most powerful people in this world are those who have the knowledge,
wealth and the support of people. Anyone can become powerful by gaining
knowledge, earning wealth by doing business and helping people in solving their
problems. This is possible through the use of technologies.
That’s why the power is collected by only big companies. After that, they are
manufacturing driverless cars. They are building robots and investing in cloud
computing etc. And they have the power to change the world. They can do anything.
But nothing is permanent neither we or nor our technologies. We all are

human, but our thinking is inspired by technologies. That’s why it is called a robotic
human.
Don’t allow technology to control you, make a technological decision those

are helpful for low-income people and have positive effects on the environment.
Effects of Technology on Human Life
We have reached a point in course of history where it’s almost impossible to

imagine the world without smartphones, computers, and most importantly- the
Internet. In fact, we are bent on merging our reality with the fabric of artificiality, so
much that tremendous research is underway in the areas of virtual reality, artificial
intelligence, etc.
It’s not hard to see how innovation and technological advancement is a

double-edged sword. For instance, on one hand, the Internet has led to the rise of
social media which has allowed the people to voice their opinions and connect with
their loved ones quickly and conveniently. However, on the other hand, it has led to a
slew of problems such as addiction, social skills degradation, lack of focus, and
health concerns such as insomnia and restlessness.
The negative impact of technology can’t be overlooked just because it has

solved problems. In fact, ignorance will only cause these problems, which are
currently in the nascent stage, to snowball into powerful global epidemics. However,
before action is taken, it’s important to understand what these problems are exactly,
and how they are changing our lives for the worse.
The evolution of technology has dramatically changed society. An endless

number of people all over the world use and benefit from modern technology, and
the tremendous opportunities it provides play a significant role in almost all fields of
human life. Technology has simplified the access to many necessary tools people
need in education, industry, medicine, communication, transportation, and so on.
However, excessive usage of technology has its drawbacks as well.
Though, in most cases, the speed of fulfilling tasks accelerates with the help
of technology, many people do not realize that technology negatively affects society,
and its considerable development has complicated life in a number of different ways.
Technology has weakened the relations among family members. Busy with diverse
devices, family members cannot have such convivial atmosphere as they used to in
the past. Before the invention of these devices, family members would sit together
around the table and play games together.
People are so mesmerized by their smart phones or laptops that they are
blind to others around them. Consequently, spending less time with family and more
time with different gadgets can cause the loss of tight contacts with close relations.
Technology also has both positive and negative effects in the area of education.
Excessive usage of electronic gadgets is weakening people’s memory. Of course,
the substantial development of technology has its positive effects on education as
classes have become more dynamic between teachers and students with
technology.
Furthermore, students nowadays can communicate with their teachers and

learn all the essential information via the Internet. However, students of the new
generations seem to have several significant problems either with writing complete
sentences or spelling words because of the frequent usage of text messages.
Today’s students are also better at remembering where to look for information rather
than remembering the information itself. Besides memory problems, technology
usage can trigger serious diseases as well.
Health problems caused by modern technology have evolved into an

important problem, especially among teenagers. Adolescents pay a high price for
depending on social networks, computer games and TV, especially when it comes to
sleep. The Internet has become like the air to breath, the water to drink for children.
This dependence seems to be the cause of several serious health problems such as
sleep deprivation, vision problems, obesity, cancer and so on.
Addiction to technology has also made people lazy; that is, people have
begun to pay less attention to walking and more to sitting, listening, and playing
games. Though the automation of machines has reduced the risk to human life as
they perform risky jobs instead of humans, still robots themselves can create risky
circumstances that are hazardous for humans. For instance, in robotic surgery
people can face these risks because of instrument failures. If people do not use such
devices rationally, they can damage their lives in the near future.
Technology has both positive and negative impact on the environment, too.
On the positive side, technology improves the environment in terms of intense
methods of agriculture, building better houses, and so on. Nevertheless, sometimes
excessive land exploitation can decrease its fertility. Cars, factories, and power
plants also pollute the air by emitting huge amounts of carbon dioxide, which can,
eventually, trigger an ozone hole in stratospheric layer.
Additionally, usage of disparate mineral resources can also pollute the air. For
example, burning any kind of fuel fossils releases dangerous microscopic elements
into the air. . All these kinds of pollution caused by the development of technology
can lead to global environmental problems. To sum up, people can see numerous
positive effects of technology on different aspects of human life such as education,
agriculture, personal safety, and the environment; however, not everyone thinks
about its downsides.
Though modern technology indeed facilitates people’s tasks and duties, it

may weaken human bodies, ruin nature, and destroy good values regarding social
communication. Technology is the making, modification, usage, and knowledge of
tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems, and methods of organization, in order
to solve a problem, improve a pre-existing solution to a problem, achieve a goal,
handle an applied input/output relation or perform a specific function.
It can also refer to the collection of such tools, including machinery,

modifications, arrangements and procedures. Technologies significantly affect
human as well as other animal species’ ability to control and adapt to their natural
environments. The human species’ use of technology began with the conversion of
natural resources into simple tools. The pre-historical discovery of the ability to
control fire increased the available sources of food and the invention of the wheel
helped humans in travelling in and controlling their environment.
Recent technological developments, including the printing press, the

telephone, and the Internet, have lessened physical barriers to communication and
allowed humans to interact freely on a global scale. However, not all technology has
been used for peaceful purposes; the development of weapons of ever-increasing
destructive power has progressed throughout history, from clubs to nuclear
weapons. Technology has affected society and its surroundings in a number of ways.
In many societies, technology has helped develop more advanced economies

(including today’s global economy) and has allowed the rise of a leisure class. Many
technological processes produce unwanted by-products, known as pollution, and
deplete natural resources, to the detriment of the Earth and its environment. Various
implementations of technology influence the values of a society and new technology
often raises new ethical questions. Examples include the rise of the notion of
efficiency in terms of human productivity, a term originally applied only to machines,
and the challenge of traditional norms.
Self-Check Test
***
References
Johnson, Jon (2020). Negative Effects of Technology: What to Know.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com
Mukhtar, Sanam (2013). About the Impact of Technology Upon Society.

https://www.grin.com/document/205584
Sharma, Vijay (2017). How Technology Has Changed Our Lives.

https://www.klientsolutech.com
Lesson 4: Why the Future Does Not Need Us
Overview
This lesson discusses the threats accompanying the benefits of genetic

engineering, nanotechnology, and robotics (GNR). Due to these threats, there is a
need to look carefully at what kind of future these GNR technologies might deliver
us.
Awareness on the benefits and dangers these GNR technologies bring could
greatly lead to the proper assessment of these technological development tools in
order to gauge the dangers these technologies may cause and for scientists not to
work on technologies that cause threats to humanity.
Learning Outcomes
1. Evaluate contemporary human experience in order to strengthen and

enlighten the human person functioning in society.
2. Identify the threats accompanying the benefits of GNR technologies.
3. Assess the impacts of technological tools to enlighten society of the

responsibilities on the consequences of science and technology.
Learning Content
"Why the Future Doesn't Need Us" is an article written by Bill Joy in the April
2000 issue of Wired magazine. Bill Joy, cofounder and chief scientist of Sun
Microsystems, is one of the most influential figures in computing: a pioneer of the
Internet, godfather of Unix, architect of software systems such as Java and Jini.
Being a scientist of his stature, he had chosen to confront with such candor the
threats accompanying the benefits of 21st-century technologies. In the article, he
argues that "Our most powerful 21st-century technologies — genetic engineering,
nanotechnology, and robotics (GNR) — are threatening to make humans an
endangered species." After the publication of the article, Bill Joy suggested
assessing technologies to gauge their implicit dangers, as well as having scientists
refuse to work on technologies that have the potential to cause harm (Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc., 2020).
Threats of GNR Technologies
Developing technologies provide a much greater danger to humanity than any

technology before has ever presented. In particular, the focus is on genetic
engineering, nanotechnology and robotics (GNR). The 20th-century technologies of
destruction such as the nuclear bomb were limited to large governments, due to the
complexity and cost of such devices, as well as the difficulty in acquiring the required
materials.
First let us postulate that the computer scientists succeed in developing

intelligent machines that can do all things better than human beings can do them. In
that case presumably all work will be done by vast, highly organized systems of
machines and no human effort will be necessary. Either of two cases might occur.
The machines might be permitted to make all of their own decisions without human
oversight, or else human control over the machines might be retained.
If the machines are permitted to make all their own decisions, we can't make
any conjectures as to the results, because it is impossible to guess how such
machines might behave. We only point out that the fate of the human race would be
at the mercy of the machines. It might be argued that the human race would never
be foolish enough to hand over all the power to the machines. But we are suggesting
neither that the human race would voluntarily turn power over to the machines nor
that the machines would wilfully seize power. What we do suggest is that the human
race might easily permit itself to drift into a position of such dependence on the
machines that it would have no practical choice but to accept all of the machines'
decisions. As society and the problems that face it become more and more complex
and machines become more and more intelligent, people will let machines make
more of their decisions for them, simply because machine-made decisions will bring
better results than man-made ones. Eventually a stage may be reached at which the
decisions necessary to keep the system running will be so complex that human
beings will be incapable of making them intelligently. At that stage the machines will
be in effective control. People won't be able to just turn the machines off, because
they will be so dependent on them that turning them off would amount to suicide.
An example of 21st Century Technologies (Source of image: EdTechReview, 2020)
On the other hand it is possible that human control over the machines may be
retained. In that case the average man may have control over certain private
machines of his own, such as his car or his personal computer, but control over large
systems of machines will be in the hands of tiny elite—just as it is today, but with two
differences. Due to improved techniques the elite will have greater control over the
masses; and because human work will no longer be necessary the masses will be
superfluous, a useless burden on the system. If the elite is ruthless they may simply
decide to exterminate the mass of humanity. If they are humane they may use
propaganda or other psychological or biological techniques to reduce the birth rate
until the mass of humanity become extinct, leaving the world to the elite. Or, if the
elites consist of soft-hearted liberals, they may decide to play the role of good
shepherds to the rest of the human race. They will see to it that everyone's physical
needs are satisfied, that all children are raised under psychologically hygienic
conditions, that everyone has a wholesome hobby to keep him busy, and that
anyone who may become dissatisfied undergoes "treatment" to cure his "problem."
Of course, life will be so purposeless that people will have to be biologically or
psychologically engineered either to remove their need for the power process or
make them "sublimate" their drive for power into some harmless hobby. These
engineered human beings may be happy in such a society, but they will most
certainly not be free. They will have been reduced to the status of domestic animals.
Assessment of Technological Development Tools
Perhaps it is always hard to see the bigger impact while you are in the vortex
of a change. Failing to understand the consequences of our inventions while we are
in the rapture of discovery and innovation seems to be a common fault of scientists
and technologists; we have long been driven by the overarching desire to know that
is the nature of science's quest, not stopping to notice that the progress to newer and
more powerful technologies can take on a life of its own
Example of technologies to improve the rural areas
(Source: Philippine Rural Development Projects)
As this enormous computing power is combined with the manipulative
advances of the physical sciences and the new, deep understandings in genetics,
enormous transformative power is being unleashed. These combinations open up
the opportunity to completely redesign the world, for better or worse: The replicating
and evolving processes that have been confined to the natural world are about to
become realms of human endeavor.
Given the incredible power of these new technologies, shouldn't we be asking

how we can best coexist with them? And if our own extinction is a likely, or even
possible, outcome of our technological development, shouldn't we proceed with great
caution?
The dream of robotics is, first, that intelligent machines can do our work for
us, allowing us lives of leisure, restoring us to Eden. Yet in his history of such ideas,
Among the Machines, George Dyson warns: "In the game of life and evolution there
are three players at the table: human beings, nature, and machines.
Three players in the game of
life and evolution: Man,
Nature, and Machine.
(Example of technologies
where man, nature, and
machine are involved)
Source of images: Philippine
Rural Development Project,
and: Food Machinery
Corporation
A second dream of robotics is that we will gradually replace ourselves with our
robotic technology, achieving near immortality by downloading our consciousness.
But if we are downloaded into our technology, what are the chances that we will
thereafter be ourselves or even human? It seems far more likely that a robotic
existence would not be like a human one in any sense that we understand, that the
robots would in no sense be our children that on this path our humanity may well be
lost.
Genetic engineering promises to revolutionize agriculture by increasing crop

yields while reducing the use of pesticides; to create tens of thousands of novel
species of bacteria, plants, viruses, and animals; to replace reproduction, or
supplement it, with cloning; to create cures for many diseases, increasing our life
span and our quality of life; and much, much more. We now know with certainty that
these profound changes in the biological sciences are imminent and will challenge all
our notions of what life is.
Technologies such as human cloning have in particular raised our awareness

of the profound ethical and moral issues we face. If, for example, we were to
reengineer ourselves into several separate and unequal species using the power of
genetic engineering, then we would threaten the notion of equality that is the very
cornerstone of our democracy.
Awareness of the dangers inherent in genetic engineering is beginning to

grow. The general public is aware of, and uneasy about, genetically modified foods,
and seems to be rejecting the notion that such foods should be permitted to be
unlabelled. Genetic engineering gives the power—whether militarily, accidentally, or
in a deliberate terrorist act—to create a White Plague.
Sources of dangers in genetic engineering

Nanotechnology showed us that incredible progress was possible, and indeed
perhaps inevitable. If nanotechnology was our future, then we didn't feel pressed to
solve so many problems in the present. Nanotechnologies can become "engines of
destruction."
The enabling breakthrough to assemblers seems quite likely within the next
20 years. Molecular electronics—the new subfield of nanotechnology where
individual molecules are circuit elements—should mature quickly and become
enormously lucrative within this decade, causing a large incremental investment in
all nanotechnologies.
Unfortunately, as with nuclear technology, it is far easier to create destructive

uses for nanotechnology than constructive ones. Nanotechnology has clear military
and terrorist uses, and you need not be suicidal to release a massively destructive
nanotechnological device—such devices can be built to be selectively destructive,
affecting, for example, only a certain geographical area or a group of people who are
genetically distinct.
An immediate consequence of the Faustian bargain in obtaining the great

power of nanotechnology is that we run a grave risk—the risk that we might destroy
the biosphere on which all life depends.
Among the cognoscenti of nanotechnology, this threat has become known as

the "gray goo problem." Gray goo would surely be a depressing ending to our human
adventure on Earth, far worse than mere fire or ice, and one that could stem from a
simple laboratory accident.
It is most of all the power of destructive self-replication in genetics,
nanotechnology, and robotics (GNR) that should give us pause. Self-replication is
the modus operandi of genetic engineering, which uses the machinery of the cell to
replicate its designs, and the prime danger underlying gray goo in nanotechnology.
Stories of run-amok robots like the Borg, replicating or mutating to escape from the
ethical constraints imposed on them by their creators, are well established in our
science fiction books and movies. It is even possible that self-replication may be
more fundamental than we thought, and hence harder—or even impossible—to
control.
Self-replication - cause of danger in GNR technologies
Human Responsibilities on the Consequences

of Science and Technology
In truth, we have had in hand for years, clear warnings of the dangers
inherent in widespread knowledge of GNR technologies—of the possibility of
knowledge alone enabling mass destruction. But these warnings haven't been widely
publicized; the public discussions have been clearly inadequate. There is no profit in
publicizing the dangers.
The nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) technologies used in

20th-century weapons of mass destruction were and are largely military, developed
in government laboratories. In sharp contrast, the 21st-century GNR technologies
have clear commercial uses and are being developed almost exclusively by
corporate enterprises. In this age of triumphant commercialism, technology—with
science as its handmaiden—is delivering a series of almost magical inventions that
are the most phenomenally lucrative ever seen. We are aggressively pursuing the
promises of these new technologies within the now-unchallenged system of global
capitalism and its manifold financial incentives and competitive pressures.
This is the first moment in the history of our planet when any species, by its
own voluntary actions, has become a danger to itself—as well as to vast numbers of
others.
Now, as then, we are creators of new technologies and stars of the imagined
future, driven—this time by great financial rewards and global competition—despite
the clear dangers, hardly evaluating what it may be like to try to live in a world that is
the realistic outcome of what we are creating and imagining.
In our time, how much danger do we face, not just from nuclear weapons, but
from all of these technologies? How high are the extinction risks? The philosopher
John Leslie has studied this question and concluded that the risk of human extinction
is at least 30 percent.
In Engines of Creation, Eric Drexler proposed that we build an active

nanotechnological shield—a form of immune system for the biosphere—to defend
against dangerous replicators of all kinds that might escape from laboratories or
otherwise be maliciously created. But the shield he proposed would itself be
extremely dangerous—nothing could prevent it from developing autoimmune
problems and attacking the biosphere itself.
Similar difficulties apply to the construction of shields against robotics and

genetic engineering. These technologies are too powerful to be shielded against in
the time frame of interest; even if it were possible to implement defensive shields,
the side effects of their development would be at least as dangerous as the
technologies we are trying to protect against.
These possibilities are all thus either undesirable or unachievable or both. The
only realistic alternative is relinquishment: to limit development of the technologies
that are too dangerous, by limiting our pursuit of certain kinds of knowledge.
The two sides of GNR technologies - technologies for human

development and dangerous technologies
Knowledge is good, as is the search for new truths. We have been seeking
knowledge since ancient times. Aristotle opened his Metaphysics with the simple
statement: "All men by nature desire to know." We have, as a bedrock value in our
society, long agreed on the value of open access to information, and recognize the
problems that arise with attempts to restrict access to and development of
knowledge. In recent times, we have come to revere scientific knowledge.
But despite the strong historical precedents, if open access to and unlimited
development of knowledge henceforth puts us all in clear danger of extinction, then
common sense demands that we reexamine even these basic, long-held beliefs. It is
this further danger that we now fully face—the consequences of our truth-seeking.
The truth that science seeks can certainly be considered a dangerous substitute for
God if it is likely to lead to our extinction.
If we could agree, as a species, what we wanted, where we were headed, and

why, then we would make our future much less dangerous—then we might
understand what we can and should relinquish. Otherwise, we can easily imagine an
arms race developing over GNR technologies, as it did with the NBC technologies in
the 20th century. This is perhaps the greatest risk, for once such a race begins, and
it’s very hard to end it. This time—unlike during the Manhattan Project—we aren't in
a war, facing an implacable enemy that is threatening our civilization; we are driven,
instead, by our habits, our desires, our economic system, and our competitive need
to know.
One would think we might be driven to such a dialogue by our instinct for
self-preservation. Individuals clearly have this desire, yet as a species our behavior
seems to be not in our favor. In dealing with the nuclear threat, we often spoke
dishonestly to ourselves and to each other thereby greatly increasing the risks,
whether this was politically motivated, or because we chose not to think ahead, or
because when faced with such grave threats we acted irrationally out of fear.
The new Pandora's boxes of genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics (GNR)

are almost open, yet we seem hardly to have noticed. Ideas can't be put back in a
box, and they can be freely copied. Once they are out, they are out.
We are being propelled into this new century with no plan, no control, no
brakes. Have we already gone too far down the path to alter course? We aren't trying
yet, and the last chance to assert control—the fail-safe point—is rapidly approaching.
We have our first pet robots, as well as commercially available genetic engineering
techniques, and our nanoscale techniques are advancing rapidly. While the
development of these technologies proceeds through a number of steps, it isn't
necessarily the case—as happened in the Manhattan Project and the Trinity
test—that the last step in proving a technology is large and hard. The breakthrough
to wild self-replication in robotics, genetic engineering, or nanotechnology could
come suddenly reprising the surprise we felt when we learned of the cloning of a
mammal.
Clearly, we need to find meaningful challenges and sufficient scope in our lives if we
are to be happy in whatever is to come. But we must find alternative outlets for our
creative forces, beyond the culture of perpetual economic growth; this growth has
largely been a blessing for several hundred years, but it has not brought us
unalloyed happiness, and we must now choose between the pursuit of unrestricted
and undirected growth through science and technology and the clear accompanying
dangers.
But many other people who know about the dangers still seem strangely
silent. When pressed, they trot out the "this is nothing new" riposte—as if awareness
of what could happen is response enough. They only tell us, “There are universities
filled with bioethicists who study this stuff all day long”. They say, all this has been
written about before, and by experts. They complain, “Your worries and your
arguments are already old hat”.
Knowing is not a rationale for not acting. Can we doubt that knowledge has
become a weapon we wield against ourselves? The experiences of the atomic
scientists clearly show the need to take personal responsibility, the danger that
things will move too fast, and the way in which a process can take on a life of its
own. We can, as they did, create insurmountable problems in almost no time flat. We
must do more thinking up front if we are not to be similarly surprised and shocked by
the consequences of our inventions.
Each of us has our precious things, and as we care for them we locate the
essence of our humanity. In the end, it is because of our great capacity for caring
that we remain optimistic. There is a need to confront the dangerous issues now
before us.
***
Self-Check Test
***
References
Goodman, Paul (2020). The Advantages and Disadvantages of Technology.
https://soapboxie.com/social-issues/The-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-te
chnology
Joy, Bill (2000). Why the Future Doesn’t Need Us. https://www.wired.com/2000/04
Wikipedia Foundation, Inc. (2020). Why the Future Doesn’t Need Us.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
_______ (2020). Food Machinery Industrial Corporation. Bulacan, Philippines.

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Eulogio “Amang” Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology

General Education Unit

Science, Technology and Society

Lesson 1: The Human Person Flourishing in Terms

Technology as a Way of Revealing 1-5

Human Flourishing 5-8

Lesson 2: The Good Life 17-32

Science, Technology, and the Good Life 17-18

Aristotle on the Good Life 18-20

The Ten Golden Rules in Living Life 21-23

Lesson 3: When Technology and Humanity Cross 33-47

How Technology Has Changed Our Lives 33-37

Technology Impact on the Society 37-38

Effects of Technology on Human Life 38-40

Lesson 4: Why the Future Does Not Need Us 48-65

Threats of GNR Technologies 49-50

Assessment of Technological Development Tools 50-53

Human Responsibilities on the Consequences of

Lesson 1: The Human Person Flourishing in Terms

This lesson discusses technology as a way of revealing and the human

Science and technology allow human to flourish or not, depending on how

1. Analyze the human condition in order to deeply reflect and express

2. Critique human flourishing vis-à-vis the progress of science and technology so

3. Acknowledge the attainment of human flourishing in terms of science and

Technology as a Way of Revealing

According to Heidegger (1977), technology must be understood as “a way of

The essence of technology is not something we make; it is a mode of being,

Heidegger reiterated that, there is something wrong with the modern,

Heidegger suggests that there are two dominant ways of understanding

Essence of technology as a way in which entities are generally encountered, including

The basic phenomenon that belongs together with being is truth, or

An example in which nature serves as a raw material for technology advancement

In order to understand the essence of technology we must also understand

Things that present themselves technologically in Heidegger’s sense seem so

The key to understanding technology and to guiding it is, precisely to wonder

Human flourishing involves the rational use of one's individual human

But technological advance is not without complication, and even ardent

Aristotle is the fountainhead behind every achievement of science,

According to Aristotle, there is an end of all of the actions that we perform

Human person flourishing in science and technology

A human being is ordered to self-perfection and self-perfection is, in essence,

Human flourishing (also known as personal flourishing) involves the rational

Human flourishing is positively related to a rational man's attempts to

Assessment for Learning

Blitz, M. (2014). Understanding Heidegger on Technology. The New Atlantis,

Cruz, L. (2019). Human civilizations and the development of science and

Department of Agriculture (2019). Philippine Rural Development Project.

________. (2012). Technology and Human Flourishing. Baylor University.

Lesson 2: The Good Life

Science, Technology, and the Good Life

Technologies should be recognized as impacting personal choice concerning

Technology leads to a good life as it is responsible for advancement in all

Aristotle argued that as we mature, we act less aimlessly and more

Virtues of the mind are intellectual virtues; while virtues exemplified by a

Aristotle's 11 guidelines for a good life

The virtues Aristotle listed in his Nicomachean Ethics are:

1. Courage: The midpoint between cowardice and recklessness. The

2. Temperance: The virtue between overindulgence and insensitivity. Aristotle

4. Magnificence: The virtue of living extravagantly. It rests between stinginess