Crunching Numbers: The Multivariate Calculus of Tech and Humanity
In the intricate dance between humanity and technology, where lines of code meet the complex calculus of human behaviour, a remarkable equation unfolds. When asked about the necessity and danger of technology in contemporary society, Saziwe (a fictional character) responds:
“Consider a knife, or an axe — these are just tools. They are neither good nor bad, they are just there as they are and should be. It is the same with technology — it is neither good nor bad, it is just a tool. But this does not stop negative scenarios associated with all these tools, the knife, the axe and technology, like crime. The problem never lies with the tools but the users.”
This blog is just a Tuesday morning thought, nothing more. I am not asserting anything, I am just sharing a perspective that I believe is worthy of being noted. And I do hope the reader has already recognized the multivariate relationship between tools and their users the multivariate calculus of humanity and tools in general.
So what is Multivariate Calculus? It is a branch of Calculus where we consider functions in more than two variables. To put it simply, it is like looking at how things change, but instead of just one or two things, we are thinking about how three or more things can change together. Change is essentially what the Calculus concept of differentiation is all about. When we study Calculus, the goal is to be able to quantify and therefore model this change. This is the very thing we will do here: quantify and model the change with our three variables — in this case, humanity as our first variable, let us call it x, technology as our second variable, y and quality of life, z.
Considering Saziwe’s response to the question on the necessity and danger of technology, we realize that we have a constant variable—a thing whose position does not change—and that is y, technology. How did we come to that?, one might ask. Well, considering Saziwe’s response, we realize our two variables, humanity and quality of life, can take only a binary value at every point in time, as shown below:
Humanity, x = {good, bad}, meaning humanity is always either good or bad at any point in time, there is no middle value.
Technology, y = {empty}, technology is neither inherently good nor bad, therefore we assume it constant and it can never assume zero as its value.
Quality of life, z = {good, bad}, quality of life is always either good or bad at any point in time.
And we can relate our three variables using a simplistic model, z = f(x, y), which means quality of life is dependent on humanity itself and technology. There may be other relationships between these variables, but let us not complicate the blog any further.
So let us take a step back and consolidate what we have so far. Humanity develops and innovates technology, impacting the quality of our lives. This impact can be either good or bad, depending on the human’s use of the technology. My last blog which was on the Technological Singularity, looked into Jarod Lanier’s objection to the idea of a Technological Singularity where he stated:
“I do not think the technology is creating itself. It’s not an autonomous process. The reason to believe in human agency over technological determinism is that you can then have an economy where people earn their own way and invent their own lives. If you structure a society on not emphasizing individual human agency, it’s the same thing operationally as denying people clout, dignity, and self-determination … to embrace the idea of the Singularity would be a celebration of bad data and bad politics.”
The main part I want us to focus on is the first part, where he states that “I do not think the technology is creating itself. It’s not an autonomous process.”, and this shows us the human’s hand in the determination of his or her own quality of life. This blog is the shortest one I have ever done, and is my concise perspective on technology’s impact on human quality of life. In conclusion, technology’s impact depends more on its human users than on the technology itself.
Your perspective matters! What are your thoughts on the dynamic relationship between humanity, technology, and quality of life? Share your insights in the comments or even via direct messages. Let us continue this meaningful conversation together.
