TechnoMan: The Story of Technology & How to Survive It

By Anthony North

From fire to the internet, technology has always impacted upon us, but is it now taking away our humanity? Following a short history of tech, Anthony North asks the difficult questions.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Anthony North
• Release date: Apr 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9780463872338

Anthony North

Thinker & Storyteller****7,453 Words to Save the UK and I,Writer are now FREE. Scroll down to find them.*****1955 (Yorkshire, England) – I am born (Damn! Already been done). ‘Twas the best of times ... (Oh well).I was actually born in the year of Einstein's death, close to Scrooge's Counting House. It doesn't mean anything but it sounds good. As for my education, I left school at 15 and have had no formal education since. Hence, I'm self-taught.****From a family of newsagents, at 18 I did a Dick Whittington and went off to London, only to return to pretend to be Charlie and work in a chocolate factory.When I was ten I was asked what I wanted to be. I said soldier, writer and Dad. I never thought of it for years – having too much fun, such as a time as lead guitarist in a local rock band – but I served nine years in the RAF, got married and had seven kids. I realized my words had been precognitive when, at age 27, I came down with M.E. – a condition I’ve suffered ever since – and turned my attention to writing.Indeed, as I realized that no expert could tell me what was wrong with me, I began my quest to find out why. Little did I realize it would last decades and take me through the entire history of knowledge, leaving me with the certainty that our knowledge systems are inadequate.****My non-fiction is based on P-ology, a thought process I devised to work with patterns of knowledge, and designed to be a bedfellow to specialization. A form of Rational Holism, it seeks out areas the specialist may have missed. I work from encyclopaedias and introductory volumes in order to gain a grasp of many subjects and am not an expert in anything, but those patterns keep forming. Hence, I do not deal in truth, but ideas, and cover everything from politics to the paranormal.When reading my work I ask only: do I make sense? Of course, an expert would say: a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. I agree. And an expert has so little knowledge of everything.I also write novels and Flash Fiction in all genres.

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TechnoMan:

The Story of Technology & How To Survive It

By Anthony North

Copyright: Anthony North 2021

Cover image copyright: Yvonne North, 2021

Smashwords Edition

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission

Other books by Anthony North

In 2019 I began publishing 14 volumes of my fiction, inc 7 novels in most genres, & 21 works of non-fiction covering cults, politics, conspiracies, religion, disasters, science, philosophy, warfare, crime, psychology, new age, green issues & all areas of the unexplained, inc ufology, lost worlds and the paranormal. Hopefully appearing at the rate of one a month, check out the latest launch at my bookstore at http://anthonynorth.com or buy direct from Smashwords for all devices at: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/anthonynorth

In addition to the above, you may like my ‘I’ Series – 8 volumes of flash fiction (horror, sci fi, romance, adventure, crime), 4 volumes of poetry & 5 volumes of short essays from politics to the unexplained. Available from same links as above. Also check out my bookstore for news of my books out in paperback.

CONTENTS

Chapter One - Thrice-Tech Man

Chapter Two - Knowledge and Morality

Chapter Three - Early Technology

Chapter Four - Science and Technology

Chapter Five - Towards Industry

Chapter Six - Have Machine, Will Travel

Chapter Seven - Bright Sparks

Chapter Eight - Frankenstein Tech

Chapter Nine - Age of the Geek

Chapter Ten - My Body, My Mind

Chapter Eleven - The Mother of Invention

Chapter Twelve - Those Dark Satanic Factories

Chapter Thirteen - A Media World

Chapter Fourteen - The Hare or the Tortoise

Chapter Fifteen - The Problem of Science

Chapter Sixteen - Man and Machine

Chapter Seventeen - The Specialist

Chapter Eighteen - Piggy in the Middle

Chapter Nineteen - Vandals of the Past

Chapter Twenty - The Natural Umbilical Cord

Chapter Twenty One - Worker or Mystic

Bibliography

About the Author

Connect With Anthony

Chapter One - Thrice-Tech Man

We are a technological species. Yet prior to the late 20th century, only two inventions can be seen as fundamentally altering the way we live. The first of these was the wheel. The wheel released man from the burden of legs. Carrying him and his wares, the wheel gave man independence over the environment, allowing him to travel far and wide. And since that day, practically every innovation in transport and mechanical engineering has been a mere adaptation of the initial response to the wheel.

The second epoch-making invention was the printing press. Prior to this, in the west education was the preserve of the Christian oligarchy, with texts being laboriously copied. Because of this, texts were rare. And in this way, Christianity could maintain a dogmatic hold upon society, denying the populace of education and filtering out any knowledge that argued with the Christian creed. But from the 15th century onwards, the printing press began its slow process of disseminating knowledge to the masses and educating the populace. It led to the Renaissance, Reformation, the Enlightenment and the modern world. Whereas the wheel had released man from the environment, the printing press freed the mind from dogma.

However, in the late 20th century, a third invention arrived to cause a further fundamental change in society. In the computer a whole new world is opening up. Computers are everywhere, controlling everything from the washing machine to the written word. Within a few years everyone will have access to as much computing power as it is possible to use. The greatest chess champion has been over-awed by the sheer computing abilities of artificial intelligence.

And as the Internet comes into its own, knowledge and communication is available to all, creating an alternative universe in the fantasy and reality of cyberspace.

The majority applaud this third technological revolution as a major evolutionary advance that will enhance mankind. In the computer, man has reached the highpoint of evolution, even approaching a new level of intellectual prowess. Seeing nothing but benefits, with the computer, man is advancing his own brain to such heights that a new morality is rising to echo this new intellect. But perhaps we should sit back a moment and see if this is really the case.

One important phenomenon of this new technology is the computer game. Today, teenagers devote thirty or more hours a week to such games, leading many parents to wonder if they are healthy or whether they form a new kind of addiction. Concerns are particularly felt over the level of violence in many of these games. However, of late, suggestions are being made of benefits in computer games - benefits that are causing an actual evolution of the human mind.

It seems that computer games intellectually stimulate children, encouraging literacy and co-ordination, preparing young adults for future formal learning. Others suggest that computer games actually teach children to think differently. Normal thought processes require concentration on one problem at a time. Computer game children are different, learning to concentrate on more than one problem in parallel.

Chapter Two - Knowledge & Morality

For a technological world, the above changes in thought processes constitute an evolutionary advance. Through computing, man IS evolving, or appears to be. The new mind is finely tuned to deal with the sheer mass of information involved in the computing revolution. The human mind could well be evolving into a data-processing mind to equal the data-processing computer. But whilst this can be seen as an important psychological advance, we should perhaps remember that information is not knowledge. Knowledge does not come from storing and accessing information, but from analysis and intuition born from the information available. Turning information into knowledge is a specifically human ability, above simple data-processing.

Knowledge provides important psychological idiosyncrasies that define what mankind is. With a mind that concentrates on one problem at a time, we indulge in mentation, forever analyzing information into systems of philosophy.

On the grand scale, this can range from the good ideals of John Locke's ideas on democracy that led to the democratic systems of today, to the less savoury mentation such as Adolf Hitler's rantings in 'Mein Kampf.' And on the lesser scale, it involves conscience and the split second decisions that decide whether a person will steal from that shop, or not. But whether for better or worse, this mentation is what defines humanity. In this sense, it defies science, in that rather than simply asking if we can