What Technology WantsFrom the author of the New York Times bestseller The Inevitable— a sweeping vision oftechnology as a living force that can expand our individual potential This provocative book introduces a brand-new view of technology. It suggests that technology as a whole is not a jumble of wires and metal but a living, evolving organism that has its own unconscious needs and tendencies. Kevin Kelly looks out through the eyes of this global technological system to discover "what it wants." He uses vivid examples from the past to trace technology's long course and then follows a dozen trajectories of technology into the near future to project where technology is headed. This new theory of technology offers three practical lessons: By listening to what technology wants we can better prepare ourselves and our children for the inevitable technologies to come. By adopting the principles of pro-action and engagement, we can steer technologies into their best roles. And by aligning ourselves with the long-term imperatives of this near-living system, we can capture its full gifts. Written in intelligent and accessible language, this is a fascinating, innovative, and optimistic look at how humanity and technology join to produce increasing opportunities in the world and how technology can give our lives greater meaning. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 11 | |
| 21 | |
History of the Seventh Kingdom | 43 |
The Rise of Exotropy | 57 |
IMPERATIVES | 67 |
Deep Progress | 73 |
Ordained Becoming | 103 |
The Unabomber Was Right | 191 |
Lessons of Amish Hackers | 217 |
Seeking Conviviality | 239 |
DIRECTIONS | 246 |
Technologys Trajectories | 269 |
Playing the Infinite Game | 347 |
Acknowledgments | 361 |
Annotated Reading List | 363 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
accelerated Amish animals artifacts atoms automobile become better biological brain Burgess Shale cameras catalog cell phones chips choices cities civilization communication complex convergence create culture curve discovered discovery diversity Earth electricity energy engine evolution evolved exotropy expanding exponential fact farm faster force freedom genes genetic global Green Anarchy hominin human minds hunter-gatherer Ibid ideas imagine increasing industry inevitable infinite game innovation intelligence invention inventors Kaczynski Kevin Kelly knowledge Langdon Winner living machines million modern molecules Moore’s Law nature Niles Eldredge nology once organisms patent percent planet population possible Precautionary Principle progress Ray Kurzweil Sapiens self-organization sequence Simon Conway Morris society species Stephen Jay Gould Stewart Brand structure stuff tech technium technology wants things thousands tiny tion trajectory transistors trend tribes ubiquity unleashed Wendell Berry York