Technocrats Versus History

I'm a big fan of the idea of jet packs and flying cars. That said, I'm also aware of the double edged sword that is technology of every sort. On one hand, the toothbrush may be more convenient than the root or branch of a specific type of tree. Perhaps the knowledge of which tree would give the best results was lost to time, perhaps it was troublesome because the tree no longer grew amongst the people, I'm not sure. It is said that a large part of our oral health is dependent on the microfloral community of our mouths and old timers always knew to check the mouths of livestock to gain insight into their general health and well-being. I figured that the toothbrush seems like a pretty well accepted technology, something we all pretty much use and this one item can stand in for virtually any other technology we choose because on some level, every new development of technology ushers in a series of impacts that none of us can envision before the technology gets accepted and implemented. The lowly toothbrush seems a good place to start.

The roots and/or branches that used to be used to brush teeth were readily available almost everywhere. Anyone, once made aware of which plants and what parts to use, could pretty much get a toothbrush wherever they needed one, as long as the plant grew there. Once used, the stick or root could be discarded and whatever food residue, spit, oral bacteriologic community or blood it has been coated with would re-unite with the living biosphere as it had for millennea. In fact, the real technological advance came when people realized that rinsing their mouth with plenty of clean water was an integral part of cleaning their teeth. Research has now been done, which will never get popularized because it is not seen to hold economic promise for industry, that plain old fresh water, plenty of it being used to rinse away debris from the brushing process is at least as effective as any other dentifrice. Just as in hand washing, the friction and rinsing with plenty of clean water are more important than using soap.

As much as one can make the claim that all these toothbrushes (or any other technology)are doing something good for us...they also have a darker side that is frequently overlooked. Mother Nature always bats last. To make the typical toothbrush of today, we need to use petrochemical residues to make the plastic handles, we need to use toxic compounds to fabricate the bristles, virtually all toothbrushes are packed individually to assure "sterility", so we need to manufacture additional waste over and above the brushes themselves. We also need to manufacture dentifrice to "help" us to utilize the technology "properly". Don't get me wrong, I continue to use the technology. I would try a jet pack or flying car as well, but the point is that many of the occult (hidden) aspects of all of our technologies are frequently overlooked. Every few months, we throw our toothbrushes out and the materials they are made of, which could be recycled if we had enough in one place at one time are thrown into landfills or dumped into the ocean, out of sight out of mind.

Internal combustion engines spewed millions of tons of lead into the air for a century before fuel manufacturers upgraded their equipment to reduce lead emissions that were a normal part of burning petrol. There continue to be acid mists that issue from our tailpipes, nitrogen oxides carbon monoxide and particulates that are proven to cause unsavory health effects and destabilize the climate. Avoiding these deleterious effects of the technology is impossible, unless we re-think the process of moving people through space, or redesign the technology to eliminate the need for fossil fuel.

The very real issues that are part of embracing new technology can never be seen or fully understood until the technology is adopted and put into common use. Imagine having to have a flying car airport at every place of business, indeed at every place people would want to go, or a jet pack hangar for storing our high tech equipment while it is not in use. I'm not sure about everyone else, but daily I see people who are unable to navigate in two dimensions. Imagine if these same people were allowed to travel in three!

History is replete with examples of new technologies bringing mayhem, unintended consequences and unexpected costs along with their conveniences. However, we imagine that life as we know it would be impossible without pressurized water, or furnaces, electricity or light bulbs. Once implemented, technocrats tell us that we cannot live without such developments. If this were true, no one could camp out, or grow food from seeds, or skinny dip. One of the funniest things I hear from time to time is the phrase "doing things the old fashioned way". In common use, we admit openly that there was an old-fashioned way, but the novelty of doing things using old technologies makes them noteworthy. I have brain tanned hides, which is far more work than tanning hides with chemicals and machinery. The difference is that with modern techniques for tanning hides, about 4/5 of the material is, or becomes throughput. That is why leather is so expensive. When brain tanning hides, in my experience, only a small fraction of the hide has to be discarded. Often the quest for more modern ways of getting things done is complicated by the inevitable bigger, better, faster mentality that seem to be the watch words of our capitalistic theories based on power and control. Making things by hand, more slowly, or with sensitivity to the world around us and the potential effects on our waste stream or the energy required to heal the damage that our labors do to the environment are overlooked. "Primitive" people the world 'round made sure to honor the spirit of their tools, often appointing them artistically with beauty, putting a bit of themselves into them. Now, if we cannot mass produce a product, it seems pointless to try.