THE EVOLUTION OF TECHNOLOGY AND HUMANITY 1

The Evolution of Humanity and Technology in the Upcoming Future

and What It Means for Humanity

Noah R. Corby

University of North Carolina Charlotte

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Abstract

This paper deals with the connection between humanity and technology and its

application as a part of human life. While there have been advancements made that are seen as

improvements to the human condition, some take issue with technologys perceived detriment to

human kid in terms of our humanity; that is, the key social and mental attributes that make

humans unique. Medical procedures that may seem beneficial in correcting physical flaws may

lead to normalization of humans, as well as artificial wombs that could remove physical

human involvement in child growth and birth, and technological dependence may cause us to

lose our free will, citizenship, and individuality. Additionally, questions on how humans will treat

and view advanced artificial intelligence and robots turns a reflective lens on if humanity can

apply their own morals to artificial beings. This paper will take an in-depth look at these claims

and see if humanity is eroded due to technology or improved and how they will coexist in the

future.

Keywords: Humanity, Technology, moral, ethical, future

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The Evolution of Technology and Humanity in the Upcoming Future

And What It Means for Humanity

With the ever-increasing advent of technology and its role in our daily lives, there are

questions to be had about the true impact it has had on us as humans. With our ability to correct

disfigurements with medical technology, communicate across the globe, and increase our ease of

life, it is easy to see technology as a straight benefit. However, some will question if the reliance

on technology will lead to us losing our defining characteristics, our humanity. Do medical

advancements mean we will continuously change what is not considered socially normal? Will

we lose our ability of direct communication, will our ethics and morals be so blurred we will be

unable to apply them to ourselves, and possibly to sentient AI? The symbiotic relationship

between humanity and technology could lead to boundless potential for humanities future, but

also opens the ethical and moral questions regarding the use and treatment of technology.

Medical Technology

One of the major areas where technologys rapid advancement has generally

recognized as a positive has been the medical field. Medical advancements allow for peoples

lives to be altered in ways that allow them to live somewhat normally or save them altogether.

However, the concept of normal is what makes us comfortable with these alterations being

done, and for this technology to evolve. In the work Surgically Shaping Children: Technology,

Ethics, and the Pursuit of Normality, Erik Parens explores the use of technology in order to

correct flaws considered to be abnormal by society on children, such as cleft lips or dwarfism-

related limb issues. One story is that of LilyClaire and her parents regarding surgery to correct

her bow-leggedness due to dwarfism. So, all we are saying for sure, I continue, is that she
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will have straighter legs and that might stave off future problems. That is correct, but I believe

she will need it. Our doctor repeats his view that we will probably eventually have to make the

correction to avoid damaging misalignment and wear and tear on LilyClaires cartilageat that

moment, I am enticed by the idea of straighter legs, thinking it really is one of those things that

matters in the real everyday world of being LilyClaire on the playground, in the face of staring,

curious strangers. It seems just then that straight legs really would make things easier (Parens,

2006). LilyClaire was only 7 years old when her parents and doctor were discussing the

possibility of breaker her legs in several places to correct them in the future, and while this may

seem almost barbaric to do to someone with what would be normal legs, to her own mother

this was an enticing thought, to finally have her child have a normal aspect about her,

something to make her like the rest of the kids. Deciding on whether to go through with the

procedure causes a large sense of confusion for LilyClaires mother, as It is clear to me that if I

am being driven by the insatiable desire for normalcy, I am lost in my attempt to do the right

thing (Parens, 2006). The drive to have their child have a normal aspect to her leads to parents

torn between making the right call when it is an entire area full of unknowns, these procedures.

These are all done as well in the pursuit of normality, which is viewed as the desire to be

loved, a desire realizable through the background of norms that establish and are established by

self-regard, recognition, and community (Parens, 2006). The questions that this desire raises

leads to several difficult questions not only for parents and their children, but for all of humanity.

What constitutes as normal? Do our differences not make us unique, and is that ability to be

different yet similar not a key aspect of humanity? How far will we go to make our kids and

ourselves appear normal, and how do the kids feel? Technologys advancements could very

well allow us to go from correcting bow-legs to correcting height, eye, and hair color, and even
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say facial features or other physical attributes that may not be abnormal now, but could be later

in the future as our standards regarding normal change. Humanity must find some stance to

take: do we embrace the changes technology will allow us to make, to change and advance

ourselves in these areas, or do we be precautious regarding losing part of our uniqueness?

Further ethical questions are raised when dealing with the combination of technology and

reproduction. To some it may be taboo, while to other it is a natural progression of including

technology into humanity. Ectogenesis: Artificial Womb Technology and the Future of Human

Reproduction discusses the potential future dilemma of artificial wombs being used to carry

children rather than female wombs. When discussing the notions of pregnancy in the work,

questions pertaining to what exactly is expected and needed for pregnancy is brought up. Must

women be pregnant? Do fetuses belong in womens bodies? Would other alternatives undermine

the role of women in society and impede our struggles for liberation? (Gelfand, Shook, 2006).

Pregnancy as a concept to us has changed, with methods such as invitro fertilization and sperm

donations removing a massive physical requirement for men in the process. However, even with

those methods, the result is still a woman who is pregnant, who carries the child and then gives

birth to them. Ectogenesis causes us to reconsider this seemingly core pregnancy concept by

having woman be physically removed except for the egg required. To some, this makes

pregnancy and the creation of other humans nothing more than an assembly line process,

removing the humanity from it. However, for women who may not be able to carry children,

ectogenesis might give them a way to have a child that is their own rather than go childless or

adopt. Beyond the moral dilemma, there are concerns as well in terms of legal issues that could

arise with ectogenesis. The availability of ectogenesis may seriously affect attitudes and

policies concerning employee/employer rights. Hard battles have been fought with the goal of
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ensuring that women will not be penalized or terminated for missing work due to pregnancy.

With ectogenetic technology available, employers might strongly encourage women to utilize

ectogenesis and threaten penalties for a womans failure to do soshould there be regulations or

legislation prohibiting employers from penalizing employees who choose to naturally gestate a

future child? (Gelfand, Shook, 2006). A major hurdle women still face is receiving fair

treatment in terms of maternity leave and job security. If women then have no need to get

physically pregnant anymore, employers could turn that into removing those rights and

punishing those that do get physically pregnant. This raises several questions such as: Is that

morally acceptable? If there is no need to get physically pregnant anymore, should women be

expected to? Should employers not be allowed to punish those that do, like respecting religious

rights? Or is it ethically detestable? Humanity has changed how they perceive many aspects of

sex, sexuality, and conception over several hundred years, but pregnancy has always been

consistent. Are we willing to change that and accept what may come with that?

Humanitys Moral and Ethical Uniqueness

As was mentioned in the previous section, humanity has several traits and moral

and ethical beliefs that many contribute to what makes humanity unique; different from our

other animal counterparts. The inclusion of technology into our lives, however, causes questions

to be raised in regards to whether our humanity has been changed, for better or worse, by our

dependence and incorporation of technology.

In Globalization, Technology, and Philosophy, David Tabachnick and Toivo

Koivukoski discuss the impact technology has had on humans in terms of connecting us around

the globe and removing the earthly tethers of time and space. Humans have had to determine

what they would do and when within the confines of the time they had on Earth and where they
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were, but with technology those limits have been altered severely. We can communicate to

massive audiences with just a camera and an internet connection, as well as use different

technologies to learn techniques or trades that wouldve taken years before. Specifically human

aspirations and realizations heretofore have emerged in the relation to the limits imposed on us

both by our given nature and the natural order itself. By gaining control of the very substance of

our being and by attuning the rhythm of our physiological processes to the tempo of the new

technologies, we are not merely altering the accidental qualities of some inviolable human

essence, but tampering with the very core of our humanness (Tabachnick, Koivukoski, 2004).

Lack of control over time and place gave birth to key aspects of the human condition, namely our

motivations to make the best out of our limited time on Earth and our constraints based on where

we may be physically, and to aspire to overcome them. Technology removes these limits and in

turn, it sets up a potential for future generations to potentially lose that key aspect of our

humanity.

While Tabachnick and Koivukoski touch upon the impact technology has on humanitys

aspirations, Richard Feist, Rajesh Shukla, and Chantal Beauvais examine technologys influence

on our values in Technology and the Changing Face of Humanity. recent technological

advancements come with lethal effects. These are detrimental to our value systems, our social

and political endeavors, our ideas and thought processes. They seek to redefine and reorient our

beliefs, customs, ideas, and institutionsWe live in a culture of high-definition television, the

internet, pharmaceutical advertisements, and sound bites, and, unfortunately, all these things

seem to conspire to invade our cognitive and subjective spacecontemporary technologies aim

to reshape the moral and metaphysical ideals that inform human subjectivity. This objective is

pursued, consciously or unconsciously, by promoting a certain kind of lifestyle, a certain

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intellectual belief system, and undermining those lifestyles and belief systems that do not fit into

the technological schema. Technology creates a perspective we believe to be real but ends up

being artificial. High-definition facades put on by television shows, internet videos and blogs

pushing certain views as right or wrong, pharmaceutical companies pushing the new end-all

cure-all pill, and sound bites taken out of context and trust upon people to fit narratives all work

to warp our realities and minds, forcing humans and societies into certain patterns and systems

that go against our individuality and uniqueness as humans. They change our views on what is

right and wrong, normal and weird, and what we deem as important, aspects of our humanity that

were ingrained in use for centuries.

A Message and a Warning

While the framing of technology in this paper may appear to be negative, it is not meant

to be a piece on completely disowning technology. Rather, it is meant to be a warning as to what

could happen should we allow our technology use and consumption to go unchecked and

unacknowledged. Technology has given us many benefits, allowed us to achieve things never

thought possible, such as instantaneous communication with miniature computers in our pockets,

and life-saving medicines and procedures that save lives daily. However, these can come at great

prices, and raise important questions as mentioned earlier. We must consider what it means to be

normal and what we determine as important to physical features. Legislation for future

endeavors must be considered and planned, as well as the legal battles that may stem from them.

The key moral and ethical humanistic values of making the most out of our time, and of what is

right and wrong. We cannot allow for these key human values to be lost with the evolution of

technology.

References
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Feist, R., Shukla, R., Beauvais, C. (2010) Technology and the Changing Face of Humanity.

Ottawa, CA: University of Ottawa Press

Gelfand, S., Shook, J., (2006) Ectogenesis: Artificial Womb Technology and the Future of

Human Reproduction. Amsterdam, NY: Editions Rodopi, B.V

Parens, E. (2006) Surgically Shaping Children: Technology, Ethics, and the Pursuit of Normality.

Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press

Tabachnick, D.E., Koivukoski, T. (2004) Globalization, Technology, and Philosophy. Albany,

NY: State University of New York Press