“Rejecting Technological Narcissism: Unraveling the Threat to Humanity and Nature”
Paolo Renati, PhD, presents a critical analysis of today’s rampant technological advancements, especially in synthetic biology, genetic manipulation, and the creation of bionic entities like androids and cyborgs. Renati questions the overlooked essence of Nature, highlighting the detrimental consequences of our obsession with technological progress, driven by capitalist motives.
The essay exposes how scientific pursuits, focused on calculation and application, disregard essential aspects of Nature. This negligence extends to basic research, where human perception becomes numbed by digitalization and quantification, fostering a culture fixated on fragments and disconnected from holistic understanding.
Renati condemns the consequences of this technological obsession: a society detached from Nature, embracing prosthetic, bio-mechanical, and virtual realities. He critiques transhumanist ideologies and the ethical lapses in bio-technological practices in various fields, from agriculture to genomics.
The text delves into contentious issues like GMOs, cloning, genetic editing, and ethical debates like abortion and euthanasia, urging a return to a humanity deeply rooted in Nature, synonymous with being and absolute substance, as proposed by Spinoza. Renati calls for a recalibration of our relationship with technology, emphasizing the necessity of aligning our desires with biological necessity rather than technological possibility.
