How much technology is enough? While the benefits of modern technology are obvious, many people today are seeking a simpler, less complicated existence. But even Thoreau didn’t stay at Walden Pond for very long, soon returning to civilization and a life of comparative ease (at least for the times). So each person must seek his or her own balance between simplicity and technological acquisitiveness. After all, the more you have, the more you have to take care of and be responsible for.
But conversely, most people reading this today (myself included) are probably rather “spoiled.” We don’t want to have to rise every morning at four o’clock to start milking cows in a cold barn, and we like our computers, televisions and high-tech automobiles. Yet many of us still yearn for a vacation in the country, away from some of the complexity of modern life.
Since so many people love and appreciate both natural areas (along with the plants and animals that inhabit them) and the wonders of modern technology, the world of the future must combine both. Maintaining balance between the two is the only route to a successful, sustainable human future.
Increasing numbers of people in the industrialized northern half of the globe are moving away from attachment to “the Grid.” And at the same time, people in rural areas of the less industrialized countries are gaining more of the benefits of technology, including such things as relatively inexpensive hand-cranked laptop computers, and even Internet access.
In order to be sustainable, human technology must eventually become as much a part of the world’s ecosystems as everything that existed before humans came onto the scene. Once that balance is reached and maintained, there will be no limits to technological development.
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