Term
'technology' is etymologically derived from the ancient Greek word 'techne' which
described the work of artisans and craftmen. 'Technicians' of that time were
skilled for most of the domestic works, farming and slavery, but their knowledge
was heavily based on tradition so they didn't seek for any particular
innovative thinking regarding their simple practical problems. And nonetheless,
they used slaves as the main energy source.
Most
famous thinkers from that era were also not keen about technics. Aristotle saw
it as representative of the imperfection of human imitation of nature. And
Archimed, one of the greatest engineers of that time, considered it as vulgar
and ignoble. For them, the real science was 'episteme' – study of abstract,
absolute and eternal principles which define our cosmos.
Term
'machine' is derived from Greek term 'mechane (mechanike)' which was used to
describe a stage crane made of wooden beams and pulley systems, used in Greek
theaters to bring gods on the stage from above. Hence also the Latin term 'Deus
ex machina'. So the notion of mechanics
literally derives from machine which enabled gods to unexpectedly intervened
and redirected unfair destiny of tragical heroes.
In
that context word 'mechanike' was used
to describe mechanical trickery, but it also signified technical contrivance
and invention.
The
birthplace of the mechanics also echoed at the end of 16th century when new
genre of literature appeared. 'Theatrum Machinarum' (Theatre Of Machines) was
general name for various ilustrated encyclopedias, describing the technology of
that era.
Two
thousand years later technology completely lost it's basic mechanical spirit.
In pre industrial societies technology served to relieve heavy everyday
occupations and keep the spirit high, in industrial era it becomes servant of
capital and profit and in information age it becomes instrument of complete
control and programming of masses as consumers. Machines are still trickery,
even more than ever, but ritual from the theatre was replaced with marketing
and entertainment. Market wants for modern machines to be consumed.
But we don't need more
machines, machines need more from us.
Although our computer
technology seems to be very developed, some basic concepts in our collective
unconsciousness are still programmed mechanical manner like Newtonian clockwork
concept of the universe (causality, matter and mind divided, objects divided by
empty space etc…). If we want to invent post Newtonian meta-machines, we have
to quit thinking mechanically first.
Invention of quantuum mechanics
almost a century ago gave us concepts and opportunity to take off the
materialistic / mechanistic glasses and perceive the world as mysterious
manifestation of vibrations, interferations and resonances of energy, where
'particles' does not obey any of Newtonian laws. Unfortunately, for majority of
us, this giant insight into other modes
and possibilities of existence still sounds like some esotheric quackery of
bunch of crazy scientists and so has nothing to do with our everyday
experience.
Quantum mechanics was also able
to demonstrate that mind and matter are not separated realities and that
there's no 'objective' world without the observer. This cognition brings
imagination in completely new context: it's not just playing with images and
forms but responsible search for new ways of expression and coexistance.
In this context science also
becomes close to what Alfred Jarry called pataphysics: "the science of imaginary solutions, which
symbolically attributes the properties of objects, described by their
virtuality, to their lineaments". Most of scientists think that scientific
research has nothing to do with imagination. But they forget that all theories,
concepts and paradigms are just abstract ideas, which emerged straight from
human imagination.
Many
mainstream scientists consider there’s not much left to discover in our world,
but they don’t know what Kant, Nietzsche and other philosophers had discovered
many years ago: that science does not discover but invent the world we are
living in. So artists should teach scientists how to imagine and
scientists should help artists to realize their ideas on technical level.
Quantum mechanics opened a new
gate to bring closer modern science with mind oriented spiritual teachings and
traditions. It’s time (if there’s any time left) to realize, that our
consciousness (not just identity) is not ultimately determined, if we can
perceive it like meta-machine. There’s no doubt we can shift our consciousness
by different breathing techniques, meditation, dance and music, rhythmic visual
stimulation, deprivation etc… Experimenting with new forms of self does not
shift just our ego based identity but also the very nature of the world we
perceive.
We said at the beginning that
word 'technology' was derived from Greek term 'techne' which describes
practical skills and craftmanship. But in 'technology' we can also find another
word 'logos', which Greeks used to name word, meaning and the highest order of
creation. During the history of science mechanicism, empirism, reductionism,
functionalism, logical positivism and cybernetics reduced the essence of
technology to pure technics, senseless global machinery which keeps our
civilisation alive and dependant at the same time. Metamechanics is trying to
overcome this paradox with methamecanical turn which is called 'logotechnics'.
In logotechnics technology is strictly subordinated to production of meaning,
but not to optimization and profit.
»Kraft,
ohne Kunst, ist hier umsunst.«
Jacob
Leupold – Theatrum Machinarum Generale (1727)
