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I. Invention as the Mother of Necessity
At the outset I would join many others in congratulating technology for its wide-ranging, often spectacular, contributions to human existence. It
therefore involves the dilemma whether I am being ungrateful to a benefactor while critical of it. Yet I cannot help taking a holistic look at technology in both dimensions: its apparent glories and its real
worries. In the process I will adopt a primarily subjective stance regarding objective technology -- reflecting on some of the impacts of the advances in the realm of the measurable on the fate of the immeasurable
of existence. The Indian psycho-philosophical theory of gunas (primordial elements constituting everything in Nature) will be used as a framework to open up the subject. The perspective will be that of the Gita. The
other theoretical foundation of our analysis will be built around the concept of self v. self (the empirical v. the transcendental, or the vyavaharikav. the paramarthika vyaktitwa). The plight of the
third world getting caught in the technology whirl will also be briefly tackled. The role of greed, fear, aggression and similar values in stimulating technology will also be touched upon. The conversion of the
human being into a compulsive wanting machine, playing a puppet to innovation/invention, is the deep subjective concern I would like to address.
II. Marrying in Haste and Repenting at Leisure
Let me offer a few snapshots of technology-based life-style, which is becoming more and more common.
(A) Personal Computers: Some years ago it used to be a status symbol. Now it is nearly ubiquitous. Its glories have been sung in terms of unlimited
information processing powers in a trice. This would leave the user free to think, to escape drudgery, to explore numerous alternatives and thus reach excellent solutions or decisions and so on.
A recent report, however, exposes the worries from PC with the smart phrase 'cyber sickness'. The writer mentions about new ailments like Computer
Vision Syndrome (CVS) and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS), and quotes the finding of a pharmaceutical company that 60 per cent of all eye complaints come from computer users. He also states that seven out of ten people
with computer-concerned jobs have CVS in the west. (1)
(B) Cheating Calculators and Websites: An Australian newspaper has recently reported about the latest examination-cheating weapon -- a line of Japanese
calculators which allow pairs of students to invisibly beam answers to each other during examinations. Proliferating sale of ‘electronic essays’ and ‘term papers’ through rogue websites like the Evil House of Cheat
or School Sucks (in the US) is a growing menace in academic institutions. (3)
(C) Compulsions of Technology Investment: Dow Corning had developed and begun marketing a silicon gel product. A number of individuals within the firm
were apprehensive about the ambiguous but potentially harmful effects of the product. But their dissent was submerged in the corporate consensus, which wanted the product to be marketed to secure a reasonable return
on the investment in R&D and production of the item. However, later on, due to accumulating unfavourable evidence, government intervened, a lot of adverse publicity occurred, the old management was replaced and
the new management had to withdraw the product. (2)
(D) Technology Response to Technology Problems: Engineers are being exhorted to reduce the weight and increase the fuel efficiency of cars, while
conceding that the number of car users will go on increasing. Such technological breakthroughs are expected to solve both traffic congestion and air pollution problems. Similarly, in the field of information
technology the enticing picture of being able to have a pocket telephone with cable and radio inputs with one personal number is being projected. (4)
It is difficult to grasp how increased car use will not complicate and aggravate our problems, whereas the increase in human population is readily
treated as amongst the greatest concerns. Similarly, pocket telephones and such other adult toys will constitute nagging threats to the mental equilibrium and health of the possessor. How is it that such serious,
soon-to-follow dangers to the individual are glibly ignored? That such an on the move, 24-hour society is bringing mankind to the brink of insanity has been sensed in these words by non-technical authors: (5)
Americans are fired by work, frazzled by lack of time. Technology hasn't made their lives better. No wonder one quarter of them say they're
exhausted. They need to chill out before they hit the breaking point.
(E) Internet Networking :It has been reported that one of the cutting edges of cyberspace technology is to permit Internet users to have the same
surfing facility by remote controllers as TV viewers are at present enjoying. To have this project on by 2002 A.D. would mean launching 840 satellites in two or three years. But already the earth's orbit is full of
dangerous space debris. Besides, the project will also involve the complex problem of passing signals from one satellite to another. (6)The question is will this technological marvel contribute in any way to the
alleviation of poverty, ill health, and joblessness? Is it not likely to be a breeding ground for unimagined problems for future generations?
(F) Bio-technology or Genetic Engineering: The journey in this sphere had begun with hybrid seeds and hybrid cows for greater output. It is now
culminating in animal and human cloning. At some point such laboratory breakthroughs will be commercialised or militarised -- because these are the two dominant impulses in the world to day. Recently two women
authors had observed thus: "When Dolly, the cloned sheep, preened for her first photographs last week, the public learned that all sorts of genetic mischief, including mammal cloning, is now possible". (7)
It is a fact commonly forgotten that most of the technological feats the common man encounters today have had their origin in times of wars. In 1985, when the world was politico-militarily bipolar, a Nobel Laureate,
bio-physicist Maurice Wilkins, had admitted that about "half the world's scientists and engineers are now engaged in war programs, that the whole American space program was very largely based on military needs,
and that the true extent to which the whole of science throughout the world is being driven along by military needs is not fully realised yet". (8)
So what we see now is: innocent children dying in hidden minefields, hotels being planned on the moon, brisk marketing of human organ transplants etc..
Whatever may therefore be the promises of genetic engineering today, going by historical trends of earlier technological developments of science, the future springing from this new thrust area is unlikely to be
benign as a whole whatever may be the promises of genetic engineering today.
(G) TV Entertainment: Within three decades of its mass use, the TV has come to be called an 'idiot box'. It has become a menace, causing degrading
homogenisation amongst children and youngsters across the world in terms of violence, promiscuity, conspicuous unsustainable consumption and so on. These harmful effects outweigh the much-proclaimed benefits of TV
like information, entertainment, education etc.. In fact, the present generation (our children) has forgotten the habit of reading for self-education or even enjoyment because everything comes cooked and dressed up
on the TV screen. Shallow restlessness is a natural outcome of this trend.
(H) Human Health :Instead of being one of the most sacred callings of the human race, health care has become a high-tech commercial profession. So much
has technology invaded this field that we have to-day only narrow specialists with no ability to understand the patient as a whole. It often turns out be a dreadful experience for a patient to be subjected to
countless costly and complicated tests, often ending up in a whimper. Recently a cardiac patient was taken to the USA from a very reputable Calcutta nursing home. The Calcutta doctors, based on their experience with
the patient, advised their American counterparts to go slow and steady with their hi-tech processes. The latter did not heed, and the patient died very soon due to the rush of hi-tech tests inflicted upon him. His
system gave way even before any treatment could start.
(I) Fertilised Infertility: Scientists from the Centre for Earth Science Studies have recently reported that the 'rice-bowl' of Kerala (Kuttanad) has
been nearly ruined. For over a period of 30 years, following the construction of a bund, ostensibly to prevent seawater salinity, the unanticipated side effect has been the steady deposition and accumulation
of residues from chemical fertilisers in stagnant waters. This has harmed the ecology of the area to an extent that not only has the annual paddy output not increased at all, but fish in lakes and palm trees (used
for toddy tapping) along with fields have begun to die. Local people are being forced to migrate out of the area due to the erosion of their sources of living. (9)
The few cursory examples provided above should prompt us to think seriously about the wisdom contained in the witty saying quoted in the sub-title of
this section.
III. Nectar to Start With, Poison to End With
The first line of verse 37, and the second line of verse 38 in chapter 18 of the Bhagavad Gita, read as follows: (10)
- yat tad agre vishamiva, parinamey-amritopaman
- parinamey vishamiva, yad tad agre amritopaman
The first quote refers to that pleasure which initially is poison-like but finally nectar-like, while the second one speaks about that pleasure which
initially is nectar-like but ends up by being poison-like. We have people who could be dominated by the propensity to seek well-being or happiness by adopting either of these two characteristic motives. Of course,
by far the majority amongst us lean towards the second option. Whether divinely-ordained or genetically-conditioned, contemporary humanity reveals, more than ever before, the common tendency to choose short-term
gain, and incur long term pain. What is the psychological explanation of this phenomenon?
The Indian theory of triune, elemental psychological energy-forces (called gunas) seems eminently fitted to interpret this predicament.
Qualitatively the most refined and excellent of the three is sattwa guna which constitutes illumined understanding. This is how verse 14.11 of the Gita on this mode of Nature (guna) is interpreted by Sri Aurobindo: (11)
The intelligence is alert and illumined, the senses quickened, the whole mentality satisfied and full of brightness, and the nervous being calmed
and filled with an illumined ease and clarity, prasada. Knowledge and a harmonious ease and pleasure and happiness are the characteristic results of sattwa.
The second, rajo gunaor rajas, combines an essential positive ingredient with several associated dangerous features. Verse 14.2 on this guna is thus explained by Sri Aurobindo: (12)
Rajas … is the kinetic force in the modes of Nature. Its fruit is the lust of action, but also grief, pain, all kinds of suffering; for it has no rightpossession of its object, … and even its pleasure of acquired possession is troubled and unstable because it has not clear knowledge … All the ignorant and passionate seekings of life belong to the rajasic mode of Nature.
The third, tamo gunaor tamas is the poorest of three, being opposed to both sattwaand rajas. As Sri Aurobindo puts it: (13) "Tamas is inertia of nescience and inertia of inaction, a double negative".
This guna theory is the result of long experiment and sustained experience of the ancient seer-psychologists of India. All manifestation in Nature, including that of human personality, is some combination of these three gunas. It
is the preponderance of one over the other two which explains variations in behaviour, attitudes and dispositions. If sattwa is the most dominant guna then a leader, for example, will act with
illumined dynamism, will guide himself and others towards long-term gain (or nectar) by resisting short term gain (which truly is poison in the long run). If, on the other hand, the leader, or for that matter anyone
in any role, is dominated by rajas, he acts with blind dynamism lured by short term gain (with long term pain). The preponderance of tamas of course leads to the inertia of inactivity.
My view of the galloping speed of technological innovation (I prefer not to use the term progress) is this then: it symbolises the vehement dominance
of the blinding rajo guna.Rajas is narcissistic, fascinated by its own dazzling charm. It lacks objective detachment, which flows from sattwa. In our epoch, in this age of calculative commercialism (not of noble chivalry, not of sagacious serenity), the world seems to be ruled and managed by the predominantly "rajasic temper" of nations, leaders, institutions, and so on. Commercialization of any aspect of our existence, springing from this rajasic drive, seems to have always led to a qualitative decline in human values -- be it in sports, music or art, education or health care. Science and technology too have become the tools of the rajasic commercial spirit. Hence, brilliant and laudable though their achievements may in themselves be, their cumulative impact on man and earth has repeatedly substantiated the truth contained in the warning :‘Marry in haste and repent at leisure'.
Cooper has recently written about the "relative chaos" created by technology which "disrupts the possibility of life-as-a-whole",
and also about the "threats to intimacy offered by technology". (14) Of course what is poison to many could be nectar for a few. Thus we have avid takers of rajas-inspired chaos who write
dictionary-sized books about how to thrive in chaos. (15) We also have ardent votaries of 'virtual worlds', created on computer screens, where "houses are lived in, roses are smelled, and hugs can hold together
friendships". (16) Rajasic narcissism seems to make these writings blind to the fact that such virtual realities merely prove the withering of the cherished realities of human society. Little is it realised that virtual realities are vacuous and unsustainable. Mechanical or electronic mediation cannot replace direct human relationships. Virtual environments for the individual will tend to become sterile and lifeless as soon as the initial excitement about them ebbs.
IV. I Need Your Greed For My Greed
The Hitopadesa (Counsel For Well-being) narrates the story of a wily and hungry tiger, grown old and rather immobile, enticing a gullible man with a golden chain in its paw. It feigns having completely abandoned its violent habits and is only waiting to really do good to that person by handing over the chain for which it has no use. The man hesitates for a while. But his greed overcomes his sense of prudence. So he goes near the tiger and stretches his hand to get the chain. The tiger clutches at his hand, drags him into its jaws and finishes him off. (17) This parable is profoundly suggestive of the real nature of the techno-commercial age in which we now live.
It is true that human desires and greed have always been there with us. But to have brazenly legitimised it and to have turned it into the principal
engine for managing human society seems to have been a post-Enlightenment phenomenon. This period has yielded much to be proud of and to cherish by the human race. Yet, and this is not recognised by the
rationalistic protagonists of the Enlightenment, this very period has witnessed episodes like the spread of colonialism world-wide, slavery in the New World, and the decimation of helpless indigenous peoples,
apartheid, two disastrous World Wars, the holocaust, the dropping of atomic bombs in Japan, imperialism, a burgeoning arms-trade that foments local wars, spiraling violence and social disruption, ecological
destruction, and so on. Given such a record of the post-Enlightenment period, reinforced by new technologies, is it not clear that it is greed, which has acted as the key motive force behind all such disasters?
The historian-thinker, Arnold Toynbee, has leveled the charge that modern scientific-technological civilisation has given virtually free rein to
material greed. The root of this phenomenon is traced by him to the original Judaic monotheism, amplified later by Christians and Muslims, which implied that nothing else but the one Creator-God was divine, and that
the whole of non-human creation was placed by Him in the hands of human beings to do as they wished. (18) This world-view has eliminated all awe and reverence for Nature. As a result, alongside the ascending curve
of technology, the technology-ethics gap has been widening, and human dignity and happiness have suffered. (19) Clearly, Toynbee’s insights challenge the often-facile glorification of enlightenment rationality by
its votaries (to the extent that some of them deny the word greed itself).
What theoretical insight did the ancient Upanishadic sage have to offer in this regard? Let us take, for example, the first verse of the Isha Upanishad: (20)
Isha vasyam idam sarva,
Yat kincha, jagatyam jagat;
Tena tyaktena bhunjitha,
Ma gridha, kasya svid dhanam.
[All this -- whatever exists on the earth -- should be seen as covered by the Lord. Enjoy with detachment. Do not covet anybody's riches. ]
The type of educational philosophy, the kind of moulding of consciousness for human development implied in this verse is:
- Everything on earth, as much as one's own self, is a manifestation of Supreme Divinity -- cultivate and nurture this awareness by constant effort.
- There is no reason therefore to dominate over or be aggressive or acquisitive about anything. The truth being oneness and identity of all, what to
possess or to grab?
- Only take that much which serves your reasonable needs. The earth has enough to meet that for all. Beyond this learn not to be covetous or greedy.
Evidently the ashram-dwelling releasers of a few thousand years ago had precisely formulated the preventive recipe for the human predicament which
thinkers like Toynbee have started articulating today. Significantly, two of the latest writers on genetic engineering have also voiced concerns similar to Toynbee’s about a strong strand in Judaism, Christianity
and Islam which treats creation to be meant for humans to exploit. Again, like Toynbee, they look hopefully towards Hindu and Buddhist philosophy for a corrective approach. (21)
It should therefore be clear from the above that Vedantic monism, instead of Judaeo-Christian monotheism, provides a more holistic and therefore sustainable philosophy for educating the human mind in the next millennium. The monistic orientation may alone help science and technology to recoup its sense of balance and proportion. At first sight this might seem impossible or irrelevant. But since no better alternative is available, in theory and principle, efforts are called for widespread determined arousal of monistic consciousness. If the divisive, dualistic consciousness, underpinned by monotheism, has taken a few centuries to penetrate into our cells and tissues, we need to be patiently farsighted to gradually replace it by the unitive, monistic consciousness. Abatement of sci-tech fuelled greed could be achieved by such efforts only.
We have in India a psychology of the self, which corresponds with and matches the philosophy of monism. Briefly, this psychological theory tells us
that it is necessary to interpret the human personality in terms of two levels: the lower or unripe or empirical self, and the higher or ripe or transcendental Self. The Swetaswatara Upanishad conveys this two-level concept through the metaphor of a tree on which two exactly identical golden birds are seen. One of them is restlessly hopping from branch to branch, continually nibbling at fruits bitter and sweet. The other sits contentedly on the top calmly gazing as a witness at the restless companion jumping between transient pleasure and pain. (22) At some point in time however, the lower bird looks upward, glimpses the bird atop which is exactly like itself, yet so composed and steady. Then it recovers its sense of identity with the higher bird, flies up to it and merges with it in perfect consummation. Hierarchy after all is not so abominable as it is made out to be in certain intellectual quarters.
Psychologically speaking, the bird perched on the lower branch symbolises our deficit-driven, perpetually hungry self. The bird on the higher branch,
on the other hand, is the self-contained, poorna Self. It represents the non-contingent, bliss-in-itself substratum of the human personality. This Self is verily the fountainhead of dignity of which Toynbee speaks. The lower bird, greedy and hungry forever, is prone to meanness and pettiness. The Biblical pronouncement that 'The Kingdom of Heaven is within', or the Gita declaration: "atmany eva atmana tusta" (23) (the atman or higher Self is contentment in itself) -- these are the calls which can save us from the clutches of the inveterately greedy rajasic lower self. Modern technology reveals the relentless sway of this self. The lower self in fact feeds on the rajo guna, much like an effect-cause relationship. The restless, externally-driven temper of rajas is the key psychological factor behind the exploding technology cloud. It is the self-contented, sattwa-nourished higher Self which can protect science from degeneration at the hands of technology. Let us remember these beautiful lines from Shelley's Stanzas Written in Dejection, Near Naples:
Science can be treated as humanity's quest of 'knowledge for the sake of knowledge' in the outer realm. But technology is suspect because it almost
always uses 'knowledge for the sake of greed'.
Cooper is right in saying that attempts to immunise "reflective moral judgments" against contamination by sentiment are incoherent. (24) I
fully agree with him when he comments further on that the felt horrors about bio-engineering of animals, and that 'objective' judgements about them can arise only from "proper feelings" in people with
"whom there is nothing wrong". (25) Elsewhere I have discussed at length the psychological theory and process of chittashuddhi or antarshuddhi(purification of heart, feelings and emotions) as
the ground for wholesome, holistic and objective decision-making. (26) This is so because each human being is subjective at the core, struggling to be objective but ending up in failure to be so. Unless we face this
fact, the contaminated (and greed constitutes a psychological pollution) lower self will continue to manifest a subjective element which is degenerate, and we shall miss the goal of creating an objective outer
environment which can be uplifting for the individual -- despite all the claims of technology. The nettle has to be grasped right at the heart: the issue of self v. self.
The rousing reception accorded today to the marketplace, globalisation, privatisation, liberalisation and all that is a direct sequel to the
deification of self-interest -- an euphemism for greed. Saul is correct to argue that "Everything, from school education to public services, is being restructured on the self-destructive basis of
self-interest". (27) The marketplace is the new all-powerful clockmaker God, aided solidly by his archangel, technology. (28) Later in his book, Saul goes on to say that invoking the "marketplace" as
the Holy Spirit serves only to restrict ourselves "to the narrow and short-term interests of exclusion"; (29) the often loud and misleading talk about the powers and benefits conferred by technology amount
to little more than "minor technical manipulations" (30)and that when "globalisation" (and trade) is proclaimed as "pure Destiny", its protagonists care little about its effects on jobs
and living standards. (31)
Having pushed the purely ‘economic model of man’ to the pinnacle, it became inevitable that technology would serve single-mindedly the bidding of
governments and institutions for turning every aspect of the social environment as a-human as possible. From the viewpoint of Vedantic spiritual psychology this implies building our society exclusively on the
foundation of the lower or empirical self which is constitutionally deficit-driven.
Mainstream modern psychology seems to have helped considerably the economic (or lower or deficit-driven) model of self to attain supremacy by
resolutely denying the trans-empirical, higher Self. This spiritual Self is self-fulfilled, whole and complete in itself. This is the psychological meaning of the declaration: ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is within’. The
furious pace of technology-driven commerce is turning humans into thoroughly exteriorised beings. The crowding of our lives with exponentially-burgeoning technology is creating a debilitating, exhausting
centrifugality of consciousness. Such an exteriorised, centrifugalised existence tends to lose its charm very soon, driving us to seek forever fresh inputs of technology that invade a daily life. This chaotic,
anchor-less environment is the real psychological fallout of technology for the lay individual.
The Isha Upanishad caveat about not coveting others’ wealth can be heeded only if the individual is not wholly engrossed in the rajasic, deficit-driven lower self. At least some part of his/her consciousness should be imbedded in the awareness of the autonomously whole (poorna)
higher Self within. If technology is dragging the individual farther and away from this higher Self, then it should begin to quietly retract its fatal dash. A bit of Shelly's sage must occupy every individual’s
inner space.
Early in this century Rabindranath Tagore, India’s mystic Nobel Laureate in literature, had spoken about Simplicity as the source of truth, power and
beauty. Simplicity removes the obstructions that block inner vision and fosters transparence. Both are essential for the sake of Truth, which though intangible, "is more real than the gross and the
numerous". (32)Explaining the ‘philosophy of poverty’ underlying his school at Shantiniketan, Tagore had told his American audience that "Poverty brings us into complete touch with life and the world, for
living richly is living mostly by proxy, and thus living in a world of lesser reality. This may be good for one's pleasure and pride, but not for one's education". (33) Hence his audacious advice that everyone
should have some limited period of his/her life reserved to be spent like that of primitive man -- in direct touch with Nature and the natural. (34)
During a lecture in China in 1924, Tagore had emphasised that "simplicity is the product of centuries of culture; that simplicity takes no account
of its own value, claims no wages, and therefore those who are enamoured of power do not realise that simplicity of spiritual expression is the highest product of civilisation". (35) Sattwa guna, higher
Self and Simplicity are complementary in creating the only sustainable environment for humanity -- a spiritual one. The highest humanism, the loftiest dignity has been attainable only through spiritual simplicity.
V. Technoxication? - Beware
In 1989 the United States launched the Human Genome Project which is going to cost more than three billion dollars and take perhaps fifteen years to
complete. Its purpose is to identify the entire human genetic code. (36)
This is a spectacular sci-tech research project by any standards. The highest quality of scientific dedication inherent in such an effort is
unquestionable. Yet an outstanding feature of this endeavour is that it is entirely focused on the material, physical existence of humans. It talks of ‘human enhancement’ by planned alteration of genetic codes. Of
course, new diseases and ailments of the affluent sci-tech era may also be more effectively tackled by the findings of such research and their application. Yet, the entire range of such hopes and aims appears to
totally ignore the role of human will to transcend his/her physio-sensual boundaries, and step into the realms of non-egoistic, non-body centered-levels of psychological perfection. Objective genetic manipulation,
not subjective consciousness elevation, seems to be regarded as constituting the next round of human evolution. The greatest modern Indian philosopher-sage, Sri Aurobindo, had said this: (37)
To be shut up for ever in his ego is not his ultimate perfection; he can become a universal soul, one with the Supreme Unity, one with others, one
with all beings. This is the high sense and power concealed in his humanity.
This statement is of capital importance because it conveys a view of evolution altogether different from what the human genome project is driven by.
The Aurobindovian framework tells us that dynamic Nature has been manifesting herself successively through this sequence: "matter -- to life -- to mind -- to spirit" (above mind). Increasingly refined and
perfect unfoldment of consciousness is the keynote of this evolutionary journey. To the extent that the human body is a better mould than that of the plant or the animal to allow mental consciousness to flourish,
Nature's progressive intent is unmistakable. But the present confused, stumbling, problem-creating mind-set of humanity cannot be the final or supreme intent of evolving Nature. Until the arrival of the human form
on earth, Nature has been profusely creative in putting forth millions of physical forms. However, once the human form emerged, it appears that Nature ceased to create further new forms. The human form seems to be
the culmination of the physical aspect of evolution. Henceforth evolution is intended to take place in the subjective realm of higher and higher consciousness in the direction of the Spirit. (38) This consciousness
is termed by Sri Aurobindo as 'yogic consciousness'. He explains that it is:
not only to be aware of things, but of forces, and not only of forces, but of the conscious being behind the forces. One is aware of all this not
only in oneself but in the Universe. (39)
Granting that the therapeutic aspect of human genetic engineering is of some positive relevance to the physical life of humans, does the thrust of
human advances in genetic technology show any sign of incorporating the line of the Aurobindovian theory of evolution? What is the meaning of ‘human advancement’? -- that indeed is the supreme issue. Some authors
like Singer and Wells do warn that: (40)
when we try to improve upon evolution, we may find that for some quite unexpected reason we have only made matters worse.
But they do not go beyond pointing out the danger of such sci-tech endeavours. No positive view of the evolutionary trend in Nature-in-itself can be
gathered from what they say. This difficulty arises because evolution for them seems to carry no sacredness, no wisdom, no amelioration. Evolution, for this school of thought, is "utterly indifferent to the
well-being or ultimate fate of our species". (41) Anderson is more categorical in his views than Singer and Wells, and unlike them also mentions spirituality: (42)
Our disagreements about what constitutes ‘humanhood’ are notorious. And our insight(s) into what, and to what extent, genetic components might play
a role in what we comprehend as our ‘spiritual’ side are almost non-existent. We simply should not meddle in areas where we are so ignorant.
This is a counsel of prudence beneath a coating of apparent conservatism.
Cooper, taking technology as a whole, complains of "technological society’s lack of a centre", its substitution of "relative chaos"
for the "gradually evolving norms of earlier societies", and the resultant danger it poses to "life-as-a-whole". (43) Kwame Gyekye, while pleading the case for social transformation with the aid
of technology, rightly cautions that this will be unattainable "unless technology moves along under the aegis of basic human values", unless it "be guided by other -- perhaps intrinsic and ultimate --
human values". (44) If, without heeding such human values, technology tends to trigger a social transformation which is primarily chaotic and anchorless, making for perpetual uncertainty, insecurity and
emotional alienation, then what kind of evolutionary stage is it building up for humanity?
Between them, then, Singer and Wells, Anderson, Cooper and Gyekye -- all represent voices of sanity in an era when large segments of world population
are tipsy with the effects of technoxication. And yet one looks in vain to them for a bright horizon of hope and light for the individual in search of a profound life -- a life of powerful self-endeavour to propel
the lower self towards the higher Self, and not one of impotent genetic engineering which knows not what Self is.
If human advancement were to be defined in terms of the growth of his/her capacity for alignment with the Universal or Cosmic and Transcendental
Forces, beyond the egoistic-empirical ones, and be thus truly empowered to both become and do good, then genetic technology would have the correct benchmark to be measured against. My own view is that genetic
engineering is inherently incapable of passing this test for it simply cannot lay its hold on something that is higher and beyond mere reason and measure -- Spirit or Consciousness. The table cannot show the light,
light shows the table. The fragmented intellect cannot realise holistic Consciousness. The moment this attempt is made, it results in splits and splinters. That is why when asked about God (who is nothing but Pure
Consciousness), Buddha response was silence. This I believe, is the nature of the psycho-philosophical principle behind Anderson's skepticism about the role of genetic engineering in human advancement. The chances
are strong that this line of technology will breed made-to-order, tailor-made robots in a robotised environment.
The simple, yet basic question is : can genetic engineering ever reduce greed, cruelty, envy, lust and increase contentment, gratitude, humility,
compassion and the like? What then will be left for character-making education by and for each individual? Adams voices his worry on this score, although he speaks in relation to technology as a whole. He is
concerned with the sustainability of "demand economics" (an euphemism for greed?) fostered by new technologies. He speaks about explicit direction of economic activity "by and towards positive human
values". For once he does mention ‘greed’. (45) But his argument is not forthright enough as we are suggesting here: should human advancement, supported by self-education, dissociate itself from the list of
negative-values like greed etc., and embrace the list of positive human values mentioned above? How does technology visualise its position in this values matrix?
Bhagwan feels that in regard to developing countries "The dark side of the picture is currently more in evidence than the bright side". He
cites the examples of the ruination of the peasantry of the Philippines, Caribbean and Madagascar, whose export crops like rice, sugar, vanilla etc. have been displaced by bio-technologically engineered industrial
substitutes in the advanced economies. Possibly in future highly populated developing countries may end up by being net importers of technology-intensive food from the rich economies. (46)Bhagwan also points out
that while the ‘green revolution’ has been lauded for its short-run positive results through laboratory-bred high-yielding cereal crops, it has also severely endangered the existence of hundreds of natural,
indigenous, low-yielding varieties of those crops. The dangers of the ‘bio-revolution’ in the wider plant and animal kingdoms, causing manifold greater man-made loss in bio-diversity, are serious enough. So, Bhagwan
doubts the wisdom of the establishment in developing countries which are lured by the immediate hopes of dramatic productivity increases through the bio-revolution. (47) Another instance of ‘marrying in haste and
repenting at leisure’ indeed!
We have a growing body of such critical literature regarding bio-technology, genetic engineering and scientific research in general. (48) All of them
however seem to confine their focus to the diverse social implications of sci-tech. An implicit acceptance of the awesome march of sci-tech, a kind of resignation to its inevitability, seems to ring through this
body of literature. The psychological impact of sci-tech invasion into the daily life of the citizen is not addressed. Nor are the still deeper philosophical issues like the meaning of human birth, the meaning of
true humanness, the ultimate human destiny being given any attention in these writings. It is to some such neglected issues that this paper has attempted to draw attention.
VI. Conclusion: Globalizing Spiritual Ambitions
Sci-tech has done a marvellous job of globalizing material ambitions and in penetrating the remotest places on earth. A greedy global village seems to
be our crowning achievement at the close of the second millennium. Let us hope and pray that we can go beyond half-hearted sociological critiques of this state of society, and begin to devote our energies towards
globalizing spiritual ambitions from the very beginning of the 3rd millennium. To prepare for this paradigm shift we should be ready to take our lessons from the Tagores, Gandhis and Aurobindos -- who had made it the business of their lives to progress within rather than progress without. And in this they were no less systematic, rational and meticulous than any scientist in his laboratory. Only that their laboratory was first within and next only without. They never shunned the without, but proceeded towards it after, or at least alongside, achieving elevation within. And they were God-centered, not in the sterile theological sense, but with abiding being-level consciousness. So let us listen to them.
First we glean a few utterances from Gandhi:
- "Who can deny that much that passes for science (and art) to-day destroys the soul instead of uplifting it, and instead of evoking the
best in us, panders to our basest passions". (49)
- "If the circulation of blood theory could not have been discovered without vivisection, humankind could well have done without it".
(50)
- "I quite understand that your "mass production" is a technical term for production by the fewest possible number through the
aid of highly complicated machinery. I have said to myself that this is wrong. My machinery must be of the most elementary type which I can put in the homes of millions". (51)
To the technoxicated mind all this might seem simply bizarre and utterly gullible. Harmful as they are, such reactions are not unnatural. Mad people
are not known to accept that they have gone mad. Many nationalistically minded citizens of India feel inferior about India’s lack of innovative capability and the apparent technological backwardness of the common
man's daily life. This defensive mentality had perhaps been anticipated by Gandhi, and therefore he had responded to a reader as follows: (52)
It was not that we did not know how to invent machinery, but our forefathers knew that, if we set our hearts after such things, we would become
slaves and loss our moral fiber.
Accordingly, a few days later he had emphasised to another reader: "We therefore, say that the non-beginning of a thing is supreme wisdom".
(53) Why? Because each link in the sci-tech chain makes the next step almost inevitable. But since the universe is a highly complex and subtle system, sci-tech tampering with it tends to breed problems beyond man's
normal rational reckoning. Eluded of any final solution sci-tech rushes along a spiral of ever complex problems and calls this progress.
Let us now turn to Tagore once more. In one of his early morning discourses at the Shantiniketan Ashram in 1908 he had spoken thus: (54)
No matter how many railway trains we run and telegraph lines we lay, in the field of power we remain infinitely far from God.
If we dare to compete with Him, then our endeavour, transgressing its limits, becomes cursed and faces annihilation. No scientist, no technologist
has the ability to plumb completely even a grain of dust within which He resides. Therefore the person who would compete with God in the sphere of power is like Arjuna shooting arrows at the disguised Mahadeva
-- arrows that do not touch him. Defeat there is inevitable.
These warnings had issued from a sage-level consciousness, which could gaze across the fragmentary and transient towards the whole and the eternal. For
over-confident sci-tech to continue to brush them aside as poetic prattle would be an unpardonable act of irreversible recklessness. Ninety years after Tagore had uttered these words at a winter dawn in a small,
quiet, simple corner of the earth, we realise to-day their prophetic accuracy in so many facets of our existence.
True, human beings cannot live without ambitions, desires and aspirations. The question is: what is the quality and direction of such propulsions? If
they are exclusively material, and therefore outer-directed, the individual will continue to live in a chaotic, unintelligible, exteriorised environment. This has been the long-term psychological trend underlying
the development of sci-tech. His/her whole life is now spent in a furious race simply to cope with the torrent of sci-tech objects invading from without. On the other hand, if the primary human ambitions and
aspirations could be re-directed, beginning with those who already have more than enough for material sustenance, towards becoming aware of the stable interior core of being, then should commence the revival of the
individual's lost mastery of his/her outer environment. The loss of paradise without has been caused by the loss of paradise within. Here we turn once more to Sri Aurobindo for a precise formulation. (55)
Man … is a spirit veiled in the works of energy, moving to self-discovery, capable of Godhead. He is a soul that is growing through Nature to
conscious self-hood; he is a divinity and an eternal existence… The natural half-animal creature that for a while he seems to be is not at all his whole being, and is not in any way his real being.
Bio-technology, genetic engineering, cyber communication and all that must be judged, therefore, against the above definition of the human being -- a
definition which is the only true hope for a sustainable world. Discovery of, stabilising in, and working from one's spiritual identity has to become the top universal agenda of all human beings -- not confined just
to a few specialist seekers as has been the case in human history so far. Globalisation of this kind only is truly worthy of human labour.
A contemporary physicist, Goran Wall, strongly perceives the need for such a shift because "From the ecological point of view, the present
resource use in society faces a dead-end technology leading to nothing but annihilation in the long run". Why has our civilization reached such a dead end? Wall answers, sensitively and sensibly, that this
calamity has been caused by "its lack of spirit and soul". Though massive propaganda deployment of intellectual and other varieties of capital "Gradually the soul of society is reduced to greed,
competition and entertainment. …A sick soul in a healthy body can never work, it will also make the body sick". (56) Such failure of the currently fashionable 'intellectual capital' mantra lies in what Sri
Aurobindo discerns about man :"a particular intelligence limited by his reason" which is "incapable of largeness". (57) As a result, his absorption in what he takes up for the time being prevents
his seeing where it will hurt him or will go against cosmic purpose.
Arnold Toynbee had asserted without mincing words that "Karma, not scientific and technological progress, is the factor in human life that
produces welfare and happiness, or alternatively, misery and sorrow". (58) And karma is a keyword in all schools of Indian thought dealing with the ethico-moral development of the individual. For one's own true welfare, as well as for that of society, each individual must improve his/her own karma by increasing one's self-mastery. Does sci-tech contribute to or detract from self-mastery, dignity, humility and ethicality in the individual? Pointing out the increasing disparity between technology and ethics, Toynbee answers this question by declaring that "Human dignity cannot be achieved in the field of technology in which human beings are so expert. It can be achieved only in the field of ethics". (59)
Unfortunately the rajasic, lower-self, deficit-driven dominant leadership around the world today has been turning a deaf ear to such wise
insights from both realisers of past and present, as well as thinkers of past and present. Consequently, civilisation continues to remain a "disease" (60) with the slow virus of misdirected karma eating into its vitals. There is not much hope then right now for an individual to fulfil the promise of Nature’s evolution latent in the human form.
Yet, long-term trust and faith in Nature's irresistible ascending evolutionary force is something we must go on cherishing through all our interim
despondencies. Let us listen to Sri Aurobindo for voicing this assurance: (61)
Every state of existence has some force in it, which drives to transcend itself. Matter moves towards becoming Life. Life travails towards becoming
Mind. Mind aspires towards becoming ideal Truth. Truth rises towards becoming divine and infinite Spirit.
Sci-tech must nurture enough humility to be able to absorb this message and modify and moderate its course. The eighteenth century Enlightenment
Projects to achieve human perfectibility through secular science, accompanied by equating religion with magic, (62) leads well meaning critics to avoid discussing the "good or bad" of techno-science and
choosing only to ask "who is responsible for the production and distribution" of technology. (63) The quality of this 'who' -- by what standards to measure it -- is not dealt with. That religion is
spirituality, not magic, is a truth which only realisers can tell because they know what they are talking about. The philosopher who considers himself as a mere ‘translator’ of diverse discourses, (64) not as a
realiser, is apt to forget that the same tests for qualifying as a critique of techno-science also apply to one who wishes to critique religion. (65) The Goswamis are right to say that "with technology there is
more diversion" today, which strengthens separation rather than unity in society. (66) Evolution towards involved Divinity for unity will be the correct direction to follow. This may entail a slowing down for
sci-tech.
References
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(2) G. Healy; 'Exam Scammers Gain High-Tech Edge on Universities', The Weekend Australian, February 28, 1988.
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(11) Ibid., p.205.
(12) Ibid., p.206.
(13) Ibid., p.206.
(14) D.E. Cooper; 'Technology: Liberation or Enslavement?' in Philosophy and Technology ed. R. Fellows (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995),
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(15) T. Peters; Thriving on Chaos (New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill, 1989)
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(17) The Hitopadesa; trns. V. Balasubramanyan (Calcutta: The M.P. Birla Foundation, 1989), p.54.
(18) A.J., Toynbee, and D. Ikeda; Choose Life (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1987), pp.38-9.
(19) Ibid., p.342.
(20) Shankara's Commentary on Isha Upanishad, trns. Swami Gambhirananda (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1983), p.4.
(21) M.J. Reiss and R. Straughan; Improving Nature? (Cambrridge :Cambridge University Press, 1996), pp.80-1.
(22) Shankara's Commentary on Svetasvatara Upanishad, trans. Swami Gambhirananda (Calcutta :Advaita Ashrama,
1986) 4.6, p.145
(23) The Message of the Gita, op.cit, II.55.
(24) D.E. Cooper; 'Intervention, Humility and Animal Integrity' in Animal Bio-Technology and Ethics, eds. A. Holland and A. Jhonson (London :Chapman
and Hall, 1988), p.148.
(25) Ibid., p.149.
(26) S.K. Chakraborty; Management By Values (New Delhi :Oxford University Press, 1991), pp.62-4, pp.142-3.
(27) J.R. Saul; The Unconscious Civilization (Australia: Penguin, 1997) p.36.
(28) Ibid., p.19.
(29) Ibid., p.140.
(30) Ibid., p.142.
(31) Ibid., p.146.
(32) Rabindranath Tagore: Personality (New Delhi: Macmillan, 1985) p.25.
(33) Ibid., p.121.
(34) Ibid., p.122.
(35) R. Tagore: Lectures and Addresses (New Delhi: Macmillan, 1988) p.50.
(36) Ethical Issues in Scientific Research, eds. E. Erwin, S. Gindin and L. Kleiman (New York: Garland Publishing, 1994) p.303.
(37) Sri Aurobindo; Collected Works (Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 1972) Vol.14, pp.98-9.
(38) Sri Aurobindo; The Hour of God(Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashrama, 1982), pp.35-37.
(39) Sri Aurobindo; Collected Works, op. Cit., vol.24, pp.1149-50.
(40) P. Singer and D. Wells; 'Genetic Engineering' in Ethical Issues in Scientific Research, op. cit., p.313.
(41) Ibid, p.312.
(42) W.F. Anderson; 'Human Gene Therapy', in Ethical Issues in Scientific Research, op. cit., p.347.
(43) D.E. Cooper; 'Technology: Liberation or Enslavement?', op. cit., p.18.
(44) K. Gyekye; 'Technology and Culture in a Developing Country' in Philosophy and Technology, op. cit., p.141.
(45) R. Adams; 'Functional Markets and Indigenous Capability For Sustainable Development' in New Generic Technologies in Developing Countries, ed. M.R.
Bhagwan (Great Britain: Macmillan Press, 1977) pp.210-1.
(46) M.R. Bhagwan; 'The Major Issues Under Debate' in ibid, pp.300-1.
(47) Ibid, p.303.
(48) For example, A. Davison, I Barns and R. Schibeci, 'Problematic Publics: A Critical Review of Surveys of Public Attitudes to Bio-technology' in
Science, Technology and Human Values, vol.22, no.3, Summer 1997, 317-348; H.P. Sagal; Future Imperfect (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1994), 33; O. Renn, T. Webler and P. Wiedemenn (eds.), Fairness and
Competence in Citizen participation, (Dordrecht : Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1995); L.J. Frewer, C. Howard and R. Shepherd, 'Public Concerns in the U.K. about General and Specific Applications of Genetic
Engineering', Science, Technology and Human Values, vol.22, no.1, Winter 1977, 98-124; D. Vaughan, The Challenger Launch Decision (Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1996); S. Jasanoff, Science at the Bar
(Cambridge MA :Harvard University Press, 1995).
(49) Mahatma Gandhi; Collected Works, (New Delhi: Government of India Publication Division, 1994), vol.34, p.319.
(50) op. cit., vol.29, p.325
(51) op. cit., vol.48, p.166
(52) Selected Works, ed. S. Narayan (Ahmedabad :Navjivan Trust, 1969), vol.4, p.151.
(53) Ibid., p.190.
(54) Human Values: The Tagorean Panorama, trans. S.K. Chakraborty and P. Bhattacharya, (New Delhi: New Age International, 1996), pp.85-6.
(55) Sri Aurobindo; Collected Works, op.cit, vol.14, p.98.
(56) G. Wall; 'Energy, Society and Morals'; Journal of Human Values, July-December, 1997, p.202, p.204.
(57) Sri Aurobindo; Hour of God, op.cit, p.54.
(58) Choose Life, op.cit, p.54.
(59) Ibid., p.342.
(60) Mahatma Gandhi; Selected Works, op.cit, pp.118-22.
(61) The Hour of God, op. cit., pp.34-5.
(62) R. Sassower; Technoscientific Angst (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1977), p.10.
(63) Ibid., p.129.
(64) Ibid., p.128.
(65) Ibid., p.16.
(66) A. Goswami and M. Goswami; Scientific and Spirituality (New Delhi: Project of History of Indian Science, Philosophy and Culture, 1977), p.38.
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