Technological Man: The Myth and the Reality

by Victor C. Ferkiss

Technological man will be his own master, create his own future and there may a few surprises ahead for him to overcome.

336 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1969

Reviews

[noblethumos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Victor C. Ferkiss’s Technological Man: The Myth and the Reality is a profound exploration of the complex relationship between technology and humanity. First published in 1969, the book examines how technological advancements have shaped human society, culture, and identity, while interrogating the myths that surround our perception of technology. Ferkiss offers a multidisciplinary analysis, drawing from history, philosophy, sociology, and political theory to investigate the paradoxical roles of technology as both a liberating and alienating force.


Ferkiss’s central argument revolves around the concept of the “technological man”—an archetype that embodies humanity’s adaptation to an increasingly technological environment. He contends that the modern individual is defined by a dependence on, and a deep ambivalence toward, technological systems. Ferkiss situates this figure within a historical trajectory that begins with the Industrial Revolution and continues into the mid-20th century, highlighting how technological progress has profoundly transformed social structures, economic systems, and cultural values.


One of the book’s most significant contributions is its nuanced critique of technological determinism. While Ferkiss acknowledges the transformative power of technology, he resists simplistic narratives that portray technological change as either inherently beneficial or detrimental. Instead, he emphasizes the reciprocal relationship between technology and society, arguing that human agency and cultural context play crucial roles in shaping the development and impact of technological systems. This perspective allows Ferkiss to engage critically with both utopian and dystopian visions of the technological future.


A major strength of Technological Man is its interdisciplinary approach. Ferkiss synthesizes insights from a wide range of intellectual traditions, including existentialism, Marxism, and systems theory, to construct a comprehensive analysis of the technological condition. His engagement with the philosophical implications of technology is particularly compelling, as he examines how technological advancements challenge traditional conceptions of human nature, freedom, and morality. For instance, his discussion of automation and artificial intelligence anticipates contemporary debates about the ethical and societal implications of emerging technologies.


However, some aspects of Ferkiss’s analysis warrant critique. While his historical overview is ambitious and thought-provoking, it occasionally lacks specificity, relying on broad generalizations that obscure the complexities of particular technological developments. Additionally, his reflections on the future of technology, though insightful, can feel speculative, leaving readers with unanswered questions about the practical implications of his theoretical framework.


The book’s style is erudite yet accessible, balancing theoretical depth with clear prose. Ferkiss’s ability to articulate complex ideas in a coherent and engaging manner makes Technological Man suitable for both specialists and general readers interested in the intersection of technology and society.


In conclusion, Technological Man remains a valuable contribution to the study of technology’s role in shaping human civilization. While some of its ideas may feel dated in light of recent technological developments, Ferkiss’s emphasis on the interplay between technology, culture, and human agency continues to resonate. For scholars of technology studies, philosophy, and cultural history, this book offers a rich and enduring source of insight.

GPT.

[Neil · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book from the late 1960s is almost endearing in its naive predictions about the wonders of our technological future. Mass bio-engineering, a permanent lunar base before the end of the 20th century, underwater cities - these are the issues with which Ferkiss believes humanity would have to grapple with in his future, what is now our present.

It's easy to mock, but it's true that Ferkiss' concern isn't about the specifics of technological development, but with what kind of humanity is going to exist in a new technological world. So it's perhaps unkind to focus on the details of his projections rather than the values that humanity will need going into the 21st century. Yet even here, his treatment of technology is problematic. Ferkiss imagines "technology" as this extra-human development, arising from economic activity but largely independent from humanity. Our only real choices are in the rate at which we develop "technology" - either let it develop at its inherent breakneck pace or deliberately retard it - or in the chosen means by which we implement technological developments after they already exist: for selfish private or nationalistic reasons, or for more beneficial ones. The contemporary social science ideas of technological development being at the very least partially shaped by social forces, not just economic ones, is completely absent.

Ferkiss traces the development of technology up to the industrial era as constituting "industrial man[sic]", one which is suited to the technological conditions of industrialism: domineering, competitive, instrumental rationalists, seeking mastery over nature and each other. Ferkiss' contention is that the future development of technology he expects will require a very different human character. Ferkiss, after eliminating what he regards as the inaccurate depictions of the present and future moment (which range from the "myth of the mass public" through the "myth of the classless society" to the "myth of a technical or scientific elite") in order to isolate the elements he sees as most relevant to the future. Ferkiss' "technological man[sic]" stems from the presumptions that: population will continue to radically increase, technology will make humanity capable of complete domination over nature, affluence and free time will increase thanks to technology, and planning (albeit contingent planning rather than socialist-style "central planning) will become more important in such a densely-populated, technological world. What alarms Ferkiss is that these fundamentally transformative pressures are taking place in a world that is still economically, politically and culturally arranged on the lines of the old industrial order.

Technological Man[sic], therefore, is both myth and reality. This new figure of humanity is a myth in that there has been no fundamental transformation in the social character of institutions that would bring it about, despite claims to the contrary. The figure is a possible future reality which is our responsibility to bring in existence. The characteristics of "technological man[sic]" are: naturalist, existing in harmony with rather than dominant over nature; holistic, aware of the interconnections of the various human and technological systems that constitute "his" world; "immanentist", aware that the whole arises from the interconnected actions of all the parts. Ferkiss claims that this is the only characteristics of a future kind of human that assures the existence "freedom" (defined as ensuring action is possible for the individual through restricting actions that threaten the interconnected whole).

Technology, of course, has developed along very different lines than those envisioned by Ferkiss. We have no lunar bases or underseas colonies. The Cold War and the related Space Race no longer exist. He did pick up somewhat on the growing importance that communication would have (p97) as "man's[sic] primary activity", although claiming it would displace work as the primary activity was probably overstating things. Like nearly every 20th century futurist, the rise of the Internet and the central role it would have in the life of societies across the world was completely unanticipated by Ferkiss, but he was aware that media and computers would be important, even if the specifics were a bit off. His claim that political and action and symbolic action would become blurred in an age of media seems generally true, but in my opinion he greatly mistook both the actual form that computer-supported surveillance would take (corporate rather than governmental) and the extent to which the limitations of automated surveillance (the difficulties in isolating discrete events, the need for human interpretation of data) would hinder its deployment.

For all that, Ferkiss' proposals for the values that should imbue a "technological human" aren't at all bad. They do have some relevance to our current sociotechnical environment, and are even being fitfully developed, such as through the ecological sense of the Green movement. But I have difficulty seeing the link between such values and a "technological development" seen as largely autonomous (even if it is subject to human control in its rate and extent of deployment). To my mind the values stem more from the problems of population growth and an awareness of the ecological damage caused by contemporary technologies than they do from "technology" as Ferkiss conceives it.

[Thom Dunn]

From the foreword by Elting E. Morison: "One part of this book is a handy compendium of all the apocalyptic visions that have been beheld and recorded in recent times by sch varied seers as Teilhard de Chardin, Marshall McLuhan, Daniel Bell, Arthur Koestler, Peter Drucker, Herman Kahn, and others of lesser renown."

Published in 1969.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good look at the past's future. Nobody got much right except Marshall McLuhan. Read it to learn how they thought in the late 60s.