S2 Ep56. Technology as system of creation and destruction. The Crisis of our Times. Part 29. Technology and Consciousness. Part F.

The double-edged nature of technology is presented as well as its intense dialectic with human nature.  In conclusion to this mini-series on technology a mythological image comes to mind of the Nataraja, the dancing Shiva of Hindu mythology, who in an iconic statue is poised in a Yoga position with one hand holding the drum bringing creation into existence and the other the fire that destroys it. Shiva is standing on the mighty dwarf, the ego, which as well as having reason as it compass is ruled by the passions – fear, greed, sexuality, power and so on. Could this be a message about the creative-destructive nature of our technologies as well as our mind? Will it be only when we can overcome the dominance of the mighty dwarf and consciously realise the great opposites that dominate the cosmos and our psyche that we will pass beyond this stage of our evolution?

Graphs and images mentioned in this episode are to be viewed in the philosophy section of www.alanmulhern.com

Martin Wolf's article Humanity is a cuckoo in the planetary nest  can be found in the Financial Times 21st March 2021. 

The Economics of Bio-diversity: the Dasgupta Review can be viewed in its entirety at  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/final-report-the-economics-of-biodiversity-the-dasgupta-review