New Polity
Technocracy and the Vital Force in Man | Matthew Crawford
Apr 10, 2025
Matthew Crawford, bestselling author of 'Shop Class as Soulcraft,' explores the tension between technocracy and the human spirit. He contrasts the technocratic view of humanity with a Christian perspective that sees life as a gift. Crawford emphasizes the importance of social intelligence and embracing uncertainty in a mechanized world. He shares personal anecdotes and poetic reflections on nature, highlighting how experiences like watching dolphins surf connect us to existential meaning and the vitality of life.
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Quick takeaways
- Technocracy's subtle despotism fosters a childish dependence on technology, undermining human action and accountability in society.
- Recognizing gratitude as a vital part of human experience counters entitlement, emphasizing trust in a meaningful reality rather than mere makeability.
Deep dives
The Impact of Technocracy on Humanity
Technocracy is critiqued for its subtle form of despotism that stifles human action rather than overtly oppressing it, leading individuals to a state of perpetual childhood. This form of governance is described as a distributed entity, making it challenging to pinpoint accountability, resembling a rule by 'nobody'. The speaker highlights a critical incident with a self-driving car that illustrates the limitations of technological approaches to human behavior, where the machine's strict adherence to rules caused it to malfunction. The incident exemplifies a larger issue: the view that humans must be made more like machines, reducing the inherent complexities of human interactions and social intelligence.
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