John Locke, while trying to determine how we learn, theorized that the world, or the environment around us, acts upon our instinctually driven senses to create memory. The mind then uses these memories and instinct, to create simple ideas. Then using these simple ideas together and with memories and instincts the mind perceives more complex ideas, even though it cannot sense them directly. I can, and will, accept this theory, although instinct is a rather vague term. And if this theory holds water, I think it is clear that consciousness could not exist without environment, though life can exist without consciousness, and is, therefore, a product of the environment. So if we wish to control and shape our own consciousness, which we must do to further ourselves or simply survive (as we no longer can in nature), we should shape our environment.
So, what in our environment affects our consciousness? There are many different things in our environment inanimate objects and the like, that are more or less constants and have no effect upon us. I want to discuss things that affect our species and are affected by our species. Natural forces such as weather, gravity and predators that are somewhat constant have already been over come by our species or are beyond our control. The more powerful and pressing forces in the human world I wish to speak of are those created by man himself that have now taken on a life of their own.
In Webster’s third international dictionary life is defined as having the capacity to perform certain functional activities, such as metabolism, growth, reproduction, and responsiveness or adaptability. Metabolism being defined as the changes in cells by which energy is provided for the vital processes and activities and new material is assimilated to repair and replace waste.
The first of these forces that I would call life, even if not in a traditional sense is technology. Technology, though created by man, has now taken on a life of its own. Not that individual components of technology are alive alone, but large genres of technologies, if you will, are alive as a single organism. For example a robot welding arm is not alive because it does not meet the before mentioned definition, but I claim that a factory that uses these arms to make more of them does, and is alive. Just as the heart is not completely alive, but the body that it is a part of is. So, does technology grow, reproduce, respond/adapt, and have a metabolism?
Growth-Technology does grow in the sense that there is more of it and more of its natural habitat all of the time. And through these increasing numbers, and especially growing habitat, technology creates a niche for itself that will help increase its chances for survival. For example, a car does not sprout and grow in a conventional way, but it is molded and assembled by other machines. And people could not make a car without the assistance of machines. So the “growth” of technology is made possible as much by machines as it is by humans. Just as the growth of fungus is made possible by farmer ants gathering organic matter, but without the life of the fungus there can be no growth.
Reproduction- Technology reproduces at a very rapid rate, as the numbers of its individual units are constantly increasing and new strains of technology are born increasingly often. During the arms race, for example, the number of bombs increased dramatically. But more importantly, they developed into ballistic missiles instead of just being explosives dropped from an airplane. Missiles soon sought heat, then movement, and eventually became smart bombs. So we see a pattern of rapid reproduction that has not only caused the growth of the original technology, but has also created a new, more fit form of the original, new forms with senses.
Responsiveness or Adaptability- On the surface it would seem that man shapes technology according to his needs. But mankind has now grown dependent upon modern technology to sustain his own life, with only a rare person being an exception to this generalization. This is because man has evolved with technology so long, he has lost the traits that would keep him alive in nature: strength, diverse diet, the ability to make simple weapons, knowledge of hunting and gathering, knowledge of agriculture on a common level, etc. Now he is as dependent on technology as it is upon him, and we now find ourselves in a state of symbiosis with machines. In this state of symbiosis technology simply evolves along the path of least resistance, as do all life forms, filling niches that exist or that form in the environment around it. And further more it survives out of the fitness of its own form not because we allow it to
Metabolism- Chemical changes by which energy is provided for the vital processes of technology are seen in its consumption of energy. The burning of fossil fuels and the use of batteries are examples of changes that provide for the vital processes and activities in technologies. The assimilation of new materials can be seen in any kind of repair, the acquisition of new information or programs by a machine and the constant consumption of energy by all technologies. That having been said I will now claim that technology is in fact alive and, if not for its dependence upon man, well.
The next phenomenon I wish to discuss as life is the corporation. I will not be as careful to qualify this example. So I would ask you to keep in mind the form of my first argument and the state of symbiosis I described, because it translates directly to this example.
A corporation must consume and produce, weather waste or product, to grow and continue its existence. It responds and adapts to the market around it, with the help of humans that need its help to survive them selves, and grows if the proper environment exists. Like a seed that spouts if conditions that can support life exist. It then grows through a will of its own, as people made it to compete and grow, if it can, in the manner of all life. It may eventually multiply, or just grow and gain various functions, as a conglomerate does. To do this it must not only consume raw goods, but it must consume other businesses to make room in the marketplace. Just as a predator protects his territory from others of his kind to increase his chance for survival. Either it forms its environment around it or another changes its environment and the first falters and dies. It eats, or it is eaten. So we now see a force with a will of its own. That will desires only increasing profit margin with no care whatever for the well-being or rights of those who created it or that serve it. Further more, they create a state of war with their constant competition, and a bad environment with it. And, beyond that, it creates a state of chaos that can only be controlled by the government, such as monopolies being broken apart.
The last force that I see, which has taken on the living form, is government. A government, once created, also must consume money, raw goods, etc. to continue its own survival. And, when the population increases (giving it more to feed off of), the government grows. Furthermore it takes on a will of its own once created, as it must compete with other governments for its own survival. In fact any government exists in a constant state of war as do all creatures whose survival, or well being in this case is threatened. So existing in a state of war as it does the government will need to grow to compete with its rivals. Thus drawing on the citizen for more and encouraging them to become more and more efficient producers. Which is not so great for the citizen, but at least it provides protection.
So, what is the effect of these forces on humans? Well, let us use this overview that I have just created to look a problems that are facing our government, as I see that as the most powerful of the forces being discussed. Like, special interest dollars in our campaign system for example. Which is one of the largest problems leading to corruption of our government. This special interest money comes from a small minority but has a greater impact on the outcome than that of the vast majority, a fundamental breakdown in democracy. Caused by of a lack of education and unity in the lower incomes of society, this allows a small minority to make decisions. But their interest is to make a profit margin, as they are serving a corporation, not to better the state or the people. So when we need education more and more to stabilize our government, we will increasingly direct our resources to feed big businesses.
Eventually this causes the government to become dependent upon growing corporations for contributions and taxes, but they do not grow dependent upon the government. And in the long run the government is replaced by private business. Tyranny replaces democracy, and the citizens become slaves to this ruling conglomerate.
Here you might say that no government can survive without the support of the people, but this becomes more complex with the growth of technology. A small group of soldiers could easily defeat and subjugate a large group of citizens by using technology that they have no access to. This threat continues to grow as, more rights are striped from the citizens and new technologies are developed by the government and the powerful private sector.
For instance we use this overview that I have just created to look a problems that are facing our government, as I see that as the most powerful of the forces being discussed. Like, special interest dollars in our campaign system for example. Which is one of the largest problems leading to corruption of our government. This special interest money comes from a small minority but has a greater impact on the outcome than that of the vast majority. This is because of a lack of education a lower level of society, another problem that should be fixed. So this small minority is making the decisions, but their interest is to make a profit margin, as they are serving a corporation, not to look out for the well being of the state or the people. So when we need education the most to stabilize our government, we will always direct our resources to feed big businesses.
So we see that these forces are not so easily controlled without much foresight and planning. And I would conclude that we are facing our greatest crises ever as a species if we do not strive to protect the individual rights of people, diversity within the government and the private sector, and the equality of each person’s influence in the course of human events. For if we do not control our environment it will begin to control us. Sometimes you eat the banana, and sometimes the bar eats you.
By: Isaac Armour
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