FREE PUBLIC EVENT: CSCA presents an online lecture (via Zoom) on technology with Isaiah Ritzmann (MTS, UWaterloo). Discussion to follow.
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Technology: Progress or Prudence?
Is technology always beneficial and is technological innovation always good? The “appropriate technology” tradition – critical theorists like E.F. Schumacher, Ivan Illich, Kirkpatrick Sale and others – argue that not all technological innovation is inherently good and that we need to replace the myth of progress with an open but skeptical approach to new technologies: fully accounting for each new technology, its benefits and its costs. In particular I want to ask the theological question about technology first asked by the 12th-century theologian Hugh of St Victor – is technology something to help remedy our finite, imperfect and indeed fallen condition? Or do we approach technology like our Saviour, an alternative Christ? Part of this discussion will focus on the ethics of scientific research: are there times we should restrain ourselves from applying (technologically) what we know (scientifically)?
Isaiah Ritzmann has worked for half a decade as a community educator with The Working Centre in downtown Kitchener, Ontario. He has facilitated classes, book clubs, and speaker series on community, economic, and ecological issues. He graduated in 2015 with a Masters of Theological Studies from the University of Waterloo and is keenly interested in the intersection between faith, community, and technology. He lives in Kitchener, Ontario.