How to make sense of technology?

[Princess Arabia]

12 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

I have a video planned on the nature of technology.

Would love to hear your take on that.

[PenguinPablo]

On 9/22/2024 at 8:02 PM, Someone here said:

@Princess Arabia what's your IQ?

My best guess it's 130-140 But I could be wrong

Gifted for sure. Either way rather than reducing someone to a number... Just appreciate their mind.

@Someone here either way you are asking great questions. Personally the best way is to just dive deep into this topic for a few months until you have a deep strong foundation. You're not going to understand this from answers in a forum post lol.

@Keryo Koffa love this guy... Sorry OP but he schooled you 😂 

 

Edited October 6, 2024 by PenguinPablo

[Basman]

It's an inter-generational process of problem solving which distinguishes humans from other animals. Since we are capable of expressing complex ideas with a high degree of accuracy (plus being intelligent) we can effectively iterate on past ideas, discoveries and invention as opposed to having to start from scratch every generation such that we have a timeline of technology progressing.

Eventually technological progression becomes exponential as certain discoveries are made that are highly malleable and applicable like electricity or plastics and our knowledge accumulates. Society has also changed from subsistence to industrial to a service based economy, which incentivizes innovative solutions for increasingly complex issues. We've largely solved hunger for instance with modern farming techniques and logistics.

You could argue that cultural concepts is also a form of technology as our ability to create abstractions and draw distinctions in reality allow us to form new ideas of how to interact with the world. For instance, capitalism could be considered a technology that defines an environment where technological innovation is not only incentivized but institutionalized. Another crucial social technology is the concept of science, which is all about reproducing outcomes and iterating on one's understanding of the material world.

To illustrate a timeline of innovation, imagine a Stone Age human having the intuitive inclination that beating some small animal with a stick was effective. What if they then somehow made the stick pointy such that it could stab an animal? Now you have a very primitive spear, a literal pointy stick. Eventually, they figure out, "what if we tie a sharp rock (flint) to the end of our spears so they're sharper and sturdier?" Now they've innovated on the base idea of a spear. After gaining experience from use and getting an inclination of how to further improve the concept they start adding serrations to the tip and improving how the tip is attached to the stick. They figure out what wood makes the best shafts, etc. Since they ended up spending a lot of time throwing their spears since it gave them a lot of extra range, they eventually figure out that they can launch spears using a bigger J-shaped stick like a sling. Eventually, they figure out to make a small hole in the base of their spears to improve on that concept. Now they have javelins, an actual ranged weapon. This timeline could take generations but since the accumulated knowledge is passed on each time, it allows successive generations to iterate on an idea without having to start from scratch. They already know what rocks to use to make spearheads or what wood makes the best shafts, or how a javelin works. They can now use that knowledge to for example make a miniature javelin which ends up being the bow and arrow for even greater range and accuracy.