Science, Tech, and Human Flourishing

• Lecture 4 discusses the human person flourishing in terms of science and technology.
• It focuses on technology as a way of revealing, referencing Martin Heidegger.

Lesson Objectives

• Analyze the human condition to reflect on philosophical ramifications for students in society.
• Explain what technology reveals.
• Examine the role of modern technology in human flourishing.
• Explain the role of art in a technological world.

Human Flourishing

• Living a happy, fulfilling, and meaningful life, beyond just wealth or success.
• Includes feeling good mentally and emotionally, having good relationships, finding purpose, and growing as a person.

The Essence of Technology

• Definitions of technology include:
  • Instrumental: Technology as a means to an end.
  • Anthropological: Technology as human activity.
• The essence of technology is not technological.

Technology as a Mode of Revealing

• Aletheia: Unconcealment, truth, disclosure.
• Poiesis: Bringing forth.
• Techne: Craft, arts, acts of the mind, poetry.
• Technology is a way of revealing, or a mode of bringing forth.
• The truth is revealed by bringing something out of concealment.

Aristotle's Four Causes

• Material Cause: What something is made of.
  • Example: Wood reveals the material aspect of a table.
• Formal Cause: The shape or structure of something.
  • Example: The form of a table is unconcealed through its shape, revealing the idea of a table.
• Efficient Cause: The agent or process that brings something into being.
  • Example: A carpenter brings the table into the open, showing it as a tool with purpose.
• Final Cause: The purpose or reason why something exists.
  • Example: The purpose of a table allows its essence to be unconcealed..

Key Insight

• Aristotle's four causes explain why a thing is the way it is.
• Heidegger focuses on how a thing is revealed or unconcealed.
• A table is unconcealed when recognized and used for its intended function.

Technology as Poiesis

• A form of revealing that unconceals aletheia, or the truth.
• Modern technology is characterized by 'challenging forth' and control over nature.
• Distinguishes between 'bringing forth' and 'challenging forth'.

Bringing Forth (Poiesis)

• Harmonious with nature, allowing natural processes to reveal themselves.
• Examples: Organic farming, sustainable forestry, handcrafted furniture, small-scale solar water heating, traditional crafts like pottery.
• Examples in the Philippine Context:
  • Banaue Rice Terraces
  • Traditional Nipa Huts
  • Small-Scale Organic Farming in Rural Areas

Challenging Forth (Gestell)

• Involves forcing nature into a resource, treating it as a standing reserve.
• Examples include: Factory farming, fracking, genetic modification in agriculture, deep-sea mining, AI surveillance, strip mining, massive hydropower plants.

Challenging Forth (Gestell) in the Philippine Context

• Large-Scale Mining Operations: Mining in the Philippines treats the earth as a resource, reducing land to a standing reserve.
• Industrial Fishing: Forces ocean resources into a system of human control, reducing marine life to commodities.
• Metro Manila Urbanization and Reclamation Projects: Natural landscapes are shaped for urban needs, turning land and water into a standing reserve.
• Coal Power Plants: Coal plants exploit natural resources for energy consumption.

Bringing Forth (Poiesis) vs. Challenge Forth

• An old windmill versus new wind turbines.

Hybrid Examples: Blurring the Line

• Geothermal Energy:
  • Bringing Forth Aspect: Uses earth's natural heat, working with a renewable resource.
  • Challenging Forth Aspect: Large-scale plants drill deep, treating earth's heat as a resource.
• Smart Cities and IoT:
  • Bringing Forth Aspect: Smart technologies work in harmony with natural resources.
  • Challenging Forth Aspect: Increasing connectivity treats the environment and human behavior as data to be optimized.

Hybrid Examples in the Philippine Context

• Hydroelectric Power Plants:
  • Bringing Forth Aspect: Small-scale projects harness river power without significant ecosystem alteration.
  • Challenging Forth Aspect: Large dams impose significant changes and reduce rivers to energy reserves.
• Solar Energy Projects:
  • Bringing Forth Aspect: Small-scale installations work with the sun's energy non-invasively.
  • Challenging Forth Aspect: Large farms require clearing land, potentially exploiting the environment.

Enframing as Modern Technology's Ways of Revealing

• Nature is framed and controlled.
• Enframing: Ordering or framing nature to better manipulate it.
• Calculative Thinking: Putting order to nature to understand and control it, gathering and using information for specific uses.
• Meditative Thinking: Allowing nature to reveal itself without force or violence.

Human Person Swallowed by Technology

• Questions why technology is not a human activity.
• Alleges concerns with modern technological culture.
• Focuses on losing essence and authentic human encounters.
• The possibility of relying on technologies without becoming enslaved must be investigated.

The Dangers of Technology

• Humans can be consumed by technology and become instruments of it.
• It is boastful to think nature needs saving, as nature can continue without humans.

Art as a Way Out (Saving Power)

• Technology often makes us treat everything as useful objects.
• Art and nature reveal deeper truths.
• Art reminds of the beauty and truth and helps reconnect with surroundings.
• Art is a ''saving power'' because it rescues from a purely practical mindset.

Part 2 - Forget 'developing' poor countries, it's time to 'de-develop' rich countries- Jason Hickel

• Second portion of the lecture analyzes "de-development," referencing Jason Hickel.

Lesson Objectives

• Critique human flourishing, vis-à-vis science and technology, to define the good life.
• Analyze limitations of economic growth as a strategy for poverty reduction.
• Evaluate the environmental impact of overconsumption in wealthy nations.
• Compare sustainable living practices in Cuba and Costa Rica.
• Reflect on the concept of de-developing rich nations for global sustainability.

The SDGs and Growth

• Objective: Eradicate poverty by 2030
• Main strategy: Economic growth.
• Problem: Growth has not reduced poverty, despite a 380% global economy increase since 1980.

The Problem with Growth

• Trickle-down economics are not working.
• There are 1.1 billion more people in poverty.
• Environmental overshoot: at 50% more than Earth's capacity.
• Global hectares usage: Ghana & Guatemala use 1.8, US & Canada 8, Europeans 4.7.

Revisiting Development

• Highlights overconsumption in rich countries.
• Supports 'catch down' instead of poor countries 'catching up'.
• Life expectancy and GDP per capita:
  • US: 79 years, USD 53K
  • Cuba & Costa Rica: 79 years, USD 6K

A New Vision for Progress

• Suggests resistance by the global north to “de-development”.
• 70% of people in middle- and high-income countries believe overconsumption is putting the planet and society at risk.
• Advocates buying and owning less, so as not to compromise happiness.
• Rejects GDP as a sole measure of progress

The Future of Development

• Adopting measures like shorter working weeks and basic income.
• Emphasis on slowing down to avoid climate disaster.
• Focus on a higher level of consciousness and sustainable living.
• Buen vivir (good living) should be implemented among Latin Americans.

De-development

• Reducing Overconsumption in Rich Countries: Hickel states that rich nations should "catch down" to more sustainable levels of development.
• Focus on Sustainability: Reduce environmental impact, less consumption, and lower GDP growth, balance ecological considerations over constant economic expansion.
• Alternative Measures of Progress: Instead of GDP, use life expectancy, happiness and ecological sustainability.
• Equitable Resource Distribution: Redistribute resources from overdeveloped to underdeveloped nations.

Traditional Development Framework

• Focus on Economic Growth: GDP growth means progress and can reduce poverty.
• "Catch-Up" Development: Poor countries need to "catch up" to industrialized economies.
• Trickle-Down Economics: Economic wealth expands to benefit all.
• Technological and Industrial Advancements: Focus on technological and industrial growth over ecological limits.

Key Differences

• Growth vs. De-development: Traditional frameworks rely on economic growth, while de-development calls for scaling back consumption and production in rich countries.
• Sustainability: De-development focuses on ecological sustainability.
• Global Equity: Hickel's framework emphasizes redistributing resources from wealthy to poorer nations.

Application of De-development Theory in the Philippine Context

• Considers key issues:
  • Economic Growth vs Environmental Sustainability
  • Debt and Dependency
  • Agriculture Practices
  • Social Inequality
  • Cultural and Indigenous Rights

Application of De-development Theory in One’s Personal Life

• Personal lifestyle choices:
  • Minimalism and simplifying possession
  • Sustainable living practices
  • Reducing screen time and social media use
  • Mindful consumption
  • Work-life balance
  • Community engagement
  • Alternative transportation
  • Prioritizing experiences over material goods

Heidegger, Hickel, and Human Flourishing in Today's Modern World