Technium: technology is the seventh kingdom of nature - Blog ...

The Technium is the accumulation of inventions that humans have created, according to Kelly, and society is as dependent on it as it is on nature. This entity, ... Iralcontenido TherearetwoworldsontheEarth:theworldofhumansandtheworldofmachines.Bothwanttosurviveandevolve.Botharegovernedbyunknownforces,beyondfate,butnobodyknowswhattheyare.Agod,energy,information? Philosophyandscienceareconcernedwithhumanexistence,butuntilrecently,noonethoughtthattechnologycouldalsobeanorganism. Foralongtime,AmericantechnologistKevinKellyhasbeenlookingfortheanswertoonequestion.Whatistechnology’splaceintheuniverse?Whatdoestechnologymeaninourlives?Theanswer,aftermorethan20yearsstudyingandpublishingarticlesandbooksonthesubject,isthattechnologyisasystemwiththesamecomplexityasamicroscopicorganism.“Itistheecosystemofallinventedthings”,hesaidinanemailinterview. KellycallsthisentitytheTechniumandsaysthatitismadeupofmillionsofhomes,millionsoffactories,millionsofacresmodifiedforagricultureandtofeedlivestock,trillionsofmotors,thousandsofdamsandartificiallakes,hundredsofmillionsofautomobiles,quadrillionsofchips,millionsofcables…. Noneofthesethingscanworkindependently.Everythingisinterconnected.Justlikethelivingthingsinnature.Justlikehumancells.“Everybitrequirestheviabilityandgrowthoftherestofthetechnology”,writesKelly.“Thereisnocommunicationwithoutthenervesofelectricity.Thereisnoelectricitywithouttheveinsofcoalmining,uraniummining,oreventheminingofpreciousmetalstomakesolarpanels.Thereisnometabolismoffactorieswithouttheingestoffoodfromdomesticatedplantsandanimals,andnocirculationofgoodswithoutvehicles. Thisglobal-scalednetworkofsystems,subsystems,machines,pipes,roads,wires,conveyorbelts,automobiles,serversandrouters,institutions,laws,calculators,sensors,worksofart,archives,activators,collectivememory,andpowergenerators–thiswholegrandsystemofinterrelatedandinterdependentpiecesformsaveryprimitiveorganism-likesystem.” Anditispreciselythatconnectionthatgivesthemasortoflife.“Amobilephone,ashoe,orapenarenotalive”,saysKelly.“Butthenetworkoftechnologicalelementsasawholeevolvesovertimeunderthesameprinciplesaslife”.ThisiswhyKellybelievestechnologycouldrepresenttheseventhkingdomofnature. TheTechniumistheaccumulationofinventionsthathumanshavecreated,accordingtoKelly,andsocietyisasdependentonitasitisonnature.Thisentity,justliketheEarth,“hasitsownagenda”,itsownlaws,itsownevolution.Atthispointit’snotconscious,butwiththeevolutionofartificialintelligence,thedaywillcomewhenitstartstohaveitsowntendencies.Tendenciesthatdon’trespondtoanyreflection.They’rejustthere,justlike,forexample,thecurrentrealitythattheInternetisaplacegivenovertocopyingortracking.It’ssomethingthatisbeyondanydecisionorhumanprohibition,accordingtoKelly.That’sjustthewayitis,andwhatweneedtodoistrytomakethemostofit. Intermsofitsbehaviour,theTechniumisnotatalllikehumans.Itactsunderitsownlawsofevolution,basedontechnology.Andeventhoughpeoplemayintervenetodirecttechnologyinonedirectionoranother,thereissomethinginherentinitthatmakesittakeitsownpath.Thisiswhattheresearchercalls«Whattechnologywants» (thesameasthetitleofhisbookinwhichheexplainshistheory)andwhatitwantsisthis:toincreasediversity,freedomandthecapacitytochoose,expandspace,beubiquitous,becomesomethingbeautiful,increaseitscomplexity,alignwithnature,accelerateevolution,andplaytheinfinitegame. KellysaysthatheseestheTechniumas“thechildofhumanity”andfeelsthatitisthemissionofhumanstoeducateitandteachitcertainprinciples,becausewhenitreachesacertainlevel,acertainmaturity,itwillbemuchmoreautonomousthanitistoday.It’sstillachild,butitwillsoonbecomeanadolescentandwillultimatelyleavehome. TheTechniumalsohasadecisiveinfluenceonhumannature.Kellyremarksthatwehavetorecognisethathumansarebeingredefinedbytechnicaladvances.Andforthisreason,intheend,understandingtechnologywillhelpustodiscoverandunderstandhumanexistence. Imagestec_estromberg/Theophilos MarAbadPeriodista.CofundadoradelarevistaYorokobuydelaempresadecontenidosBrands&Roses.SubdirectoradelarevistaLingycolaboradoradelportaldetecnologíaTecnoXplora.Yocurre,aveces,queescribonanorrelatosdistópicos.Leetodosmisartículos(5) RELACIONADOS Manyusersofmodernmobilephonesarealreadyquitefamiliarwiththetwomostpopularoperatingsystemsintheworldofsmartphones:Apple’siOS... GabrielaGonzález You’veundoubtedly seentheseinitialsonsomeofthelatesthouseholdgadgets,likeharddisks,smartphones,desktopcomputers,andeventelevisionsets.Thepurposeof... MiguelA.Perez Oneoftheworstthingsthatcanhappentoanyoneistolosehoursofworkbecauseafiledoesn’tshowuporthe... GabrielaGonzález HereattheThinkBigblog,werecentlytalkedaboutthebesttimestobuyacomputer,explainingthedifferentmeasuresthatcouldhelp... DavidRodríguez 5G Hogardigital Innovación #PeopleFirst Educacióndigital Unapublicaciónde 5G Hogardigital Innovación #PeopleFirst Educacióndigital