Technology Is Rewiring Our Moral Compass

Technology has always informed the language of a culture. Slang words and phrases are often born out of the tech of the time, and often endure past the prime of said tech. Terms such as “hanging up” a phone refer to the physical hanging of a landline into its cradle, despite most people owning smartphones. We still use the term “rewind,” though most don’t even own tapes that require winding. We “dial” someone on the phone despite phones no longer containing a dial. The era of the steam engine locomotive gave us the expression, “blowing off steam.” These technological metaphors do more than shape the vocabulary of a generation; they change how we fundamentally speak about and understand humans. Comparing the body to a steam engine implies the need to “release pressure,” much like the engine does. With this metaphor in mind, we necessarily think of our body as a pressure valve, ever increasing in stress until we need to engage in action that allows a release of that pressure, or “blow off some steam.” This sort of metaphor has led to the mindset that anger is something that “builds up,” that emotions can be “bottled up,” and that sexual desire is something that necessarily requires a “release.” But do humans actually contain a pressure valve, or have we mistaken a piece of machinery for an accurate description of human nature? Before the Industrial Revolution and the proliferation of factories, people often described the body in organic terms. With factories, the body became a machine. After computers, humans are now advanced machines with built-in software. The advent of the computer gave us a plethora of new vernacular. Glitching, up and running, and going viral all come from the early days of the home computer. These terms affect how we interact with media and other forms of technology. More importantly, the computer changed the way we think about our brains. In the post-technology era, we aren’t simply rational, intelligent mammals. We are now information-processing centers, with storage for memories and space to upload new information. Therapy exists to “rewire” how we think. We are now information-processing centers, with storage for memories and space to upload new information. The rise of AI has commodified intelligence and made it something that can seemingly exist outside of humans. For centuries, intelligence was a uniquely human trait. Now it is something machine-like, something that can be extracted and deployed all on its own. Intelligence increasingly appears to be something that can be replicated, outsourced, and detached from the human person. This understandably changes the way we think about people; humans aren’t rational animals; they are biological computers. Philosophy has always been interested in the brain, or, more specifically, “the mind.” Early philosophers understood humans as members of a group of rational animals: “I think, therefore I am.” They understood that there was something immaterial at play, or as they called it, “the mind.” Technology has allowed us to see humans as purely material, making it easier to disregard the immaterial, spiritual reality of human existence. We can see this at play in the debate over the morality of abortion . Technology’s influence can be found in the way we discuss consciousness. Many abortion advocates will cite consciousness as the trait they value. They will often describe consciousness as a cluster of abilities: memory, experiencing pain, possessing a personality, etc. They describe consciousness the same way one would describe a software update, as a sort of singular system, something that needs to “come online,” which they claim happens at around 24 weeks in utero. This then justifies, in their worldview, abortions before the capability for consciousness seemingly begins. They treat human traits like a list of features to be uploaded and upgraded with the newest models as development happens. The problem with this foundation for human worth is that we can and do lose certain abilities throughout our lives. A more solid foundation for worth lies in the fact that humans are members of a rational kind, not in of our immediate abilities. We are not products waiting for the latest update; we are human beings. As we move toward seeing the human body less as human and more as an advanced piece of tech, immoral actions are more easily justified. The same technological anthropology appears in discussions over sex and “gender.” When we take the humanity out of humans and deny our biology, movements like transgenderism are born. This radical movement treats humans like avatars that can simply change their appearance as simply as one changes an avatar in a video game. In a world where people are just advanced machines, why wouldn’t it make sense that our biological makeup is malleable and customizable? If nothing is inherent to humans and we are just machines that can be “rewired,” transgenderism is nothing more than another software update. As we move toward seeing the human body less as human and more as an advanced piece of tech, immoral actions are more easily justified. If humans are just mechanisms with pressure valves, using sex as a “release” is not only okay but needed . If we are simply bodies with advanced computers in our heads, certain proclivities are inevitable due to our “hardwiring.” If intelligence and rationality are things that can exist without us, there is no need to value humans simply because they are humans. Technology is an excellent tool, but a poor model for understanding humanity. Machines are designed to perform functions with efficiency without a moral standard they are beholden to. Human beings, by contrast, possess inherent dignity, duties, and a purpose that transcends productivity and mere functionality. For most of human history, we built machines in the image of mankind. They have duties outside of functionality. Increasingly, we are remaking man in the image of our machines.