Techne and Psyche

by Richard Reeve on August 28, 2009

in @CCSeed

Crashing Wave
Image by Clearly Ambiguous via Flickr

“Considered on its own merits, as a legitimate human activity, technology is neither good nor bad, neither harmful or harmless.  Whether it be used for good or ill depends entirely on man’s own attitude, which in turn depends upon technology.  The technologist has something of the same problem as the factory worker.  Since he has to do mainly with mechanical factors, there is a danger of his other mental faculties atrophying.  Just as  an unbalanced diet is injurious to the body, any psychic imbalances have injurious effects in the long run and need compensating.” Carl Jung, The Effect of Technology on the Human Psyche, CW XVIII, par. 1406.

Finding the right attitude for relating to the serious potential and limitations that make up this space has not been easy for me.  When I consider the mistakes I’ve made in this space, the missteps, the experiments that should not have been made in the first place, most have come from assumptions that falsely equate certain expectations within this space to those off line.  It’s a certain confusion that equates more emotional investment in the exchanges that take place than is merited.  I’m saddened by some of the connections that are no longer, but often as if a concrete relationship has ended. And that brings up some really interesting material for the student of human nature.  What does it mean that such emotion can be experienced one side of the computer screen? How might the emotional attachment of hundreds of millions of users become a vehicle of mass manipulation?

These are some of the thoughts I have while riding my own emotional wave this side of the computer screen while attempting to sort my way through the labyrinth of the new tech.  I decided to share about this experience as I don’t see it talked about much.  Then again, maybe it’s just me.

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  • It's not - just you.

    I'm doing my own re-evaluating, re-ordering and re-considering.
    I am longing for the concrete and real & am saddened to when what I think was such a deep connection reveals itself to be superficial through technology.

    Are we really a collective, a community?

    I am thinking constantly of context.

    And very happy & relieved I experienced the concrete with you.
  • Recognizing the limitations brings us into possession of the capabilities. It's peculiar that the road to awareness is so often paved with loss...
  • I had never read this Jung quote before, but he states quite clearly my longstanding belief about technological development and the human psyche.

    I think this approach becomes even more interesting when applied to our interpersonal relationships as well as our relationship with tools.
  • It's an interesting duality that emerges, a quasi-humanity that in each and every case gets clarified when I've had a chance to meet folks off line. Certainly a woodman 150 years ago would have a tangible relationship with his axe as it becomes an extension of his capabilities. Likewise these tools.
  • Computers are an especially interesting case, now that I think about it. The woodman has a relationship with a physical implement. Every time he picks it up, feels its weight, he is faced with an imperative. There is a confrontation with power and responsibility even as the tool merges with his being. A computer's functionality is internal. It is sublimated somehow. A series of algorithms manifested in circuits and plastic parts. I think the potential danger with computers is that it is so easy to use them mindlessly. There is no weight, no sharp edge. The action is hidden, the result is hidden. And the potential for myriad activities streaming from one machine means it is easy to become overwhelmed, to ignore, deny or become blind to one's responsibility.
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