"What is modern technology? It too is a revealing. Only when we allow our attention to rest on this fundamental characteristic does that allow which is new in modern technology show itself to us"(Heidegger p.320).
This quote from the reading struck me as somewhat because we live in a time where technology is all we know. Our generation specifically was born in raised in this technological era. Throughout this reading Heidegger is very critical about technology because it seems like humans do not fully understand the perplexity of technology yet. We humans get really excited when we create anything new technology wise and the problem with that is that we do not understand the power of. For example during World War II, the United States created the first atomic bomb in the world. We did not understand how strong that technology was until it was dropped on multiple cities in Japan. The destruction this bomb caused raised many flags among the American population. This is just one example of how technology can harm us if we do not fully understand it.
From reading this particular reading, I see where Heidegger is coming from. Heidegger has a point that we should study everything about a particular object until we know everything about it. Modern technology is not a bad thing by any means because it helps our society to grow and connect with one another. Modern technology helps us fight against poverty and hunger. I just think that sometimes the human race needs to slow down just a little bit to enjoy the little things in life. If we keep moving at this fast pace we will never enjoy the things that we currently have. In the end, modern technology is great but we have to slow down and know everything about that particular object.
The main question I have is do you agree with Heidegger's thoughts on technology? Why or why not?
I partially agree with Heidegger's opinion of technology but I also think that it is less of a matter of fully understanding technology than a matter of using technology in the right way. Your example about the atomic bomb is an interesting one because I believe that the U.S. knew exactly what the extent of the damage would be but chose to use the bomb anyways. In this way I think that the rapid advancement of technology needs to be geared towards the right motives and controlled by the right people. For example, advanced weapons technology is an important progression in our society today because more advanced weapons can be used as deterrents against attack by other nations. On the other hand though, the more obvious use of weapons is to initiate an attack. In this way, nations around the world continually develop more advanced weaponry without realizing the full ramifications that this technological advancement can lead to.
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