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lifestyle our
technology, our
inventions imposed on
to live synonymously
MASTERS OR
SLAVES OF THE Pamela Monnin
18. SP.HUM.1130
Has the human quest for mastery of nature
May 6, 2018
made us slaves of the machine?
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Pamela Monnin
Professor Hatton
18. SP.HUM.1130
May 6, 2018
That is the question that we are to ponder for the final assignment of our
Humanity and the Challenge of Technology class. The entire semester has lead up to
this specific question: “Has the human quest for mastery of nature made us slaves of the
machine?” We have learned of the prospects and perils mankind has faced in the
industrial development of society, and in trying to find a balance between Nature and
Machines, have we lost control of both? Mastery of nature has been the mission of
Ever since the beginning of time, and according to the Book of Genesis in the
Bible, man was given dominion of the earth (NIV Study Bible, Gen. 1.26). To exercise
‘dominion’ over the earth means to rule it, to subdue it, and develop its hidden
potential. Basically, that is what man has done for thousands of years until we began to
“While our ancestors have been around for about six million years, the
modern form of humans only evolved about 200,000 years ago. Civilization
the earnest only in the 1800s. While we’ve accomplished much in that short
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time, it also shows our responsibility as caretakers for the only planet we
Dominion does not mean destruction, but responsibility. We need to remember to avoid
faulty ethics about the right and power of humankind in relation to the rest of the natural
business, and the amount of wage laborers climbed sharply, starting a movement that
During the mid-1800’s, industrial development was in progress all over western
Europe and northeastern America. While the Industrial Revolution eventually led to great
surges in wealth, progress was unstable. Mostly, the average individual was not gaining
factory-produced goods and raised the standard of living for many people,
particularly for the middle and upper classes. However, life for the poor and
dangerous and monotonous. Unskilled workers had little job security and
were easily replaceable. Children were part of the labor force and often
worked long hours and were used for such highly hazardous tasks as
By the early 20th century, the U.S. had become the world’s leading industrial nation.
Americans had more steel, food, cloth, and coal than any of the wealthiest foreign
countries. World War II created a labor shortage in America, which resulted in many
women entering the workforce to fill jobs previously held by men, but most of them lost
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their jobs when the men returned. After the war, America became the world's foremost
economic and military power, and the new leader of the free world, which gave them a
World War II was a very large driver of technical development, and at the same
time, primarily in the U.S., large quantities of assets were accumulated through war bond
“When the war ended, there was more sophisticated base of technology
that had been generated rapidly, plus the freedom and capital to exploit
it. This lead to a flowering of new technology on many levels, and as the
radio technology became much more sophisticated in the war but it was
based on vacuum tubes, which are bulky, heavy, and fragile. In 1947 the
transistor was invented. Later on, the microchip. Chip size has steadily
In the context of modern technology, and especially the Internet, a lot of government
funding, led by the Department of Defense, was dumped into technology projects after
WW II. The fundamental research for what we now call, the Internet, was the result of
that funding.
Fast-forward about fifty years, when the World Wide Web was in full swing and
50% of Americans have at least used a computer, and text messaging was first
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developed. At this point in history, innovations and technological advances are occurring
now at an astronomical speed, and it is hard to keep up with it. Websites advanced
along with the Internet, and also the time when the blogging craze started to set in
(Lamey). Soon the Smartphone was born, and as new technologies started to pop-up,
each technology would compound and build to form a better, faster and stronger piece of
technology. With this rapid development, the Internet changed the way people live, work
“If you just hold your cell phone for 30 seconds and think backwards
wrapped up there. You can't have that device without everything that goes
speed communications, satellite communications, it's all there, you see and
That is where technology and the environment collide. As we strive to save our planet,
sustainability, and all other attempts to un-do what we have done to our world, they are
all meek efforts. Unless we can slow down the pace of technologies’ advances, and stop
demanding the “next-best-thing,” we will continue to see a rise in Global Warming, and
survive in climates all over the world, even harsh ones such as Antarctica, and every
year, we clear-out forests and destroy other natural areas, driving species into smaller
areas or into endangerment, because of our need to build more housing to contain our
growing population. With seven billion people on Earth, pollution from industries and
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cars is a growing concern in climate change — which affects our planet in ways we
cannot predict, but we are already seeing the effects in melting glaciers and rising global
temperatures (Howell). When I first started writing this essay, I thought I knew the
answer to the question, “Has the human quest for mastery of nature made us slaves of
the machine?” which I thought it was our choice if we were slaves or not, that we could
choose to walk away from technology if we wanted, and return to more natural ways of
living so we could protect our planet. I was wrong, though, I think we ARE slaves to the
machine, to all technologies, from our electricity, to our Internet and all the things that go
with it, our vehicles, our jobs, and so on. So, in our quest to master nature, we can do
our part to protect the environment, each one of us, and be examples to others,
especially our children, and demanding more of companies to make better technologies
that benefit the earth. Humans created machines and we are in control of them at the
Works Cited
NIV Study Bible: New International Version, Gen. 1.26. Zondervan, 2012.
Confino, Jo. “How Technology Has Stopped Evolution and Is Destroying the World.” The
www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/technology-stopped-evolution-
destroying-world.
creation.
Howell, Elizabeth. “How Long Have Humans Been on Earth?” Universe Today, Universe
been-on-earth/.
Jarmul, David, et al. “By 1920, America Had Become World's Top Economic
voa3-83127997/125489.html.
Lamey, Donny. “Past, Present and Future: The Evolution of Technology.” DiscoverTec, 5
Tarrant, David. “Why Did Technology Advance so Much after World War II?” Quora, 1
War-II.
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