Afterword

Melissa J. Dark
Purdue University, USA

As technical systems become more capable, more pervasive, and more ubiquitous, their scope and power increases. In turn, questions surrounding technical means and human values become more relevant and pressing. As noted in the foreword, we are now in a fourth phase of development where consideration of how the technology affects the human life and dignity is central. Humans are part of a dynamic, organic system and computing and communications technologies have made us more connected and interrelated than ever before. The system is shaped by the presence and activity of each element in the system and each action alters, to some extent, the totality of the system. The more complex society becomes and the more sophisticated our adaptive and technical systems become, the greater the need for understanding these complexities; the greater the need for conceptualizing the power of technology - its potential for benevolence, and its limitations; the greater the need for conceptualizing the dynamics of interrelated systems for all levels of society; the greater the need for recognizing that the sum total of individual decisions will not necessarily be the equivalent of a social decision. While this book does have ready answers, it hopefully serves to identify relevant questions, such as these.

• How should technology be compatible with human needs?

• What macrostructures and relevant and how do these macrostructures co-adapt in pursuit of human flourishing?

• How do technology and sociological means function together to attain human goals?

• How do we structure social mechanisms in a manner that allows us to orient and utilize the power of our technical means?

• How do technology and technical means relate to individual freedom, equality, society, and human flourishing?

• How can fallible humans influence the means that structure their lives?

More importantly, this book asks you, the reader, to formulate your own questions and participate in the dialog. On the given that humans attain their fullest potential in a free society, such questions and questioning are more important than ever before; enlightenment regarding technology and its relationship to self-governance and well-being are more important than ever before.

Figure 1.