BATAAN HEROES MEMORIAL COLLEGE

GE 106 SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY

MODULE 2 SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY AND THE

Topic No.1 Technology as a Way of Revealing

LEARNING OUTCOMES:
1. Differentiate the essence of technology and modern technology;
2. discuss and illustrate the dangers of modern technology; and
3. explain why art is the saving power of modern technology.

HUMAN CONDITION

THE ESSENCE OF TECHNOLOGY  The Greek understood techne in the way that
it encompasses not only craft, but other
1. INSTRUMENTAL DEFINITION
acts of the mind, and poetry.
Technology is a means to an end
2. ANTHROPOLOGICAL DEFINITION TECHNOLOGY AS POIESIS: DOES
Technology is a human activity. MODERN TECHNOLOGY BRING FORTH
OR CHALLENGE FORTH?
Bothe definitions are correct. However,
neither touches on the true essence of  Heidegger, in The Question Concerning
technology. Technology, postulated that both primitive
crafts and modern technology are revealing.
HEIDEGGER’S VIEW ON TECHNOLOGY However, he explained that modern
technology is revealing not in the sense of
 Technology as a Way of Revealing
bringing forth.
 Heidegger stressed that the true can only be
 Revealing of modern technology is not a
pursued through the correct. Simply what is
bringing-forth, but a challenging-forth.
correct leads to what is true. In this sense,
 Modern technology challenges nature by
he envisioned technology as a way of
extracting something from it and
revealing – a mode of bringing forth.
transforming, storing and distributing it. It
 Bringing forth can be understood through
makes people think how to do things faster,
the Ancient Greek philosophical concept,
more effectively, and with less effort.
Poiesis, which refers to the act of bringing
 Challenging forth reduces objects as
something out of concealment. By bringing
standing-reserve or something to be
something out of concealment, the truth of
disposed of by those who enframe them-
that something is revealed.
humans.
 The truth is understood through another
 This is evident in the way people exploit
Ancient Greek concept of Aletheia, which is
natural resources with very little concern
translated as unclosedness, unconcealedness,
for the ecological consequences that
disclosure, or truth.
come with it.
Technology is a form of poiesis- a way of  In the information age- greater control of
revealing that unconceals aletheia or the information to profit from its value gives
truth. rise to concerns about privacy and the
protection of human rights.
 In philosophy, techne resembles the term
 Rise and depletion of petroleum as a
episteme that refer to the human ability to
strategic resource
make and perform. Techne also
encompasses knowledge and understanding.  Introduction and use of synthetic dyes,
artificial flavorings, and toxic materials
 In art, it refers to tangible and intangible
aspects of life.
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into the consumer stream that bring carries with it the danger of misconstruction or
about adverse effects on human health. misinterpretation.
 Use of ripening agents in agriculture that
poses threats to food safety and health
security.
 THE DANGERS OF TECHNOLOGY
ENFRAMING AS MODERN
 Lie on how humans let themselves be
TECHNOLOGY’S WAY OF
consumed by it. The responsibility of
REVEALING
humans is to recognize how they become
 Heidegger distinguished the way of instruments of technology.
revealing of modern technology by  According to Paulo Coelho, it is boastful for
considering it as a process of enframing. humans to think that nature needs to be
 Enframing, according to Heidegger, is saved, whereas Mother Nature would remain
akin to two ways: even if human cease to exist.
1. CALCULATIVE THINKING-  As a mere tenant on Earth, people must not
humans desire to put an order to nature allow themselves to be consumed by
to better understand and control it. technology lest they lose the essence of who
- tends to be more commonly utilized, they are as human beings. In this sense,
primarily because humans’ desire to humans are in danger of becoming merely
control due to their fear of irregularity. part of the standing reserve or, alternatively,
- Calculative thinking is the more may find themselves in nature.
technical kind of human thought, in  Recognizing the dangers of technology
which people gather information and put requires critical and reflective thinking on it
it together in order to put it to some use. For instance,
specific use.  Social media has indeed connected
2. MEDITATIVE THINKING- people in the most efficient and
humans allow nature to reveal itself to convenient way imaginable, but it also
them without the use of force or inadvertently gave rise to issues such as
violence. invasion of privacy, online disinhibition,
and proliferation of fake news.
 Enframing, is a way of ordering (or framing)
ART AS THE SAVING POWER
nature to better manipulate it. Enframing
happens because of how humans desire for  Necessary reflection upon and confrontation
security, even it pulls all of nature as a with technology are required in order to
standing reserve and an instrument of proactively address the dangers of
technology, to be exploited in the ordering of technology.
nature.  “But where danger is, grows the saving
 The role of humans take as instruments of power also” – Friedrich Holderlin (1977,
technology through enframing is called p.14)
destining.  Heidegger proposed art as the saving power
 In destining, humans are challenged forth by and the way out enframing: “and art was
enframing to reveal what is real. However, simply called techne. It was a single,
this destining of humans to reveal nature manifold revealing” (1977, p.18)
Art encourages human to think less from calculative standpoint where nature is viewed as an ordered system.
Instead, it inspires meditative thinking where nature is seen an art and that without any force and violence.