The Matrix And Technology

English 1101 B5 December 10, 2001 Final Paper In our lifetimes, if ever, it is hard to imagine anything approaching a consensus on technology's place in the world. Perhaps, it is because human beings fail to take into account technology's inherent unpredictability. There is one theorist, Bruno Latour, that captures technology's addictive nature. Another theorist, Leo Marx, illuminates its fateful nature, which is that technological progress is unstoppable, wondrous and destructive. Both seem to predict the future of the world as it seen in the movie, "The Matrix." Latour's view of technology is that it comes from a wish to do good and improve life. He uses the example of a door to demonstrate the concept of dependance of machines. The door is the "machine" that people marveled at, when it was introduced, not knowing that it brought problems. Who would close it? Who would open it? Would it be too heavy for certain people? Would the knob be too low or too high for certain people? All problems would be fixed with a groom - a man or boy that would do the service of opening and closing the door.

Human cheek cells

Human cheek cells

English: Indian family in Brazil posed in front of...

However, what if the boy did not show up to work? Or, it was just raining too hard to go to work? Who would shut the door then? Another technological advance came along and the hydraulic system was introduced. People marveled at this invention. Nonetheless, it too had problems. It automatically shut and discriminated against those who could not get in quickly enough.

The door serves as a use of delegation. The door is delegated a job and in return delegates authority over the humans who use it. It delegates authority in a form of rules. It causes people to behave a certain way. An example of...