HUMAN FLOURISHING IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

By: Prof. Liwayway Memije-Cruz

The importance of reality, reason, and logic in Aristotelian philosophy has enabled
science and technology to develop and flourish.

Flourishing
- a state where people experience positive emotions, positive psychological functioning
and positive social functioning, most of the time," living "within an optimal range of
human functioning."
The

POSITIVITY
Human Flourishing
 an effort to achieve self-actualization and fulfillment within the context of a larger
community of individuals, each with the right to pursue his or her own such efforts.

 involves the rational use of one's individual human potentialities, including talents,
abilities, and virtues in the pursuit of his freely and rationally chosen values and
goals.

Human civilizations and the development of science and technology.

 Human person as both the bearer and beneficiary of science and technology.
bearer – a person or thing that carries or holds something.
beneficiary-

Human flourishes and finds meaning in the world that he/she builds.
 Human may unconsciously acquire, consume or destroy what the world has to offer.

Science and Technology

 must be treated as part of human life that needs reflective and meditative thinking.

Reflective Thinking (IGI Global)

- A form of inquiry theorized by John Dewey
- it consisted of a process of reflecting on one experience to the next, creating
connections between these experiences resulting in a continuity of meaning, which
leads to learning. It is a disciplined form of thinking and a social enterprise.
This form of thinking requires those involved to have positive attitudes about
personal growth and moral development (Rodgers, 2002)
- This meaning-making process leads to a deeper understanding that is a systematic,
rigorous disciplined way of thinking.
- Active and persistent consideration of one's beliefs and knowledge as they apply to
problems and dilemmas

Meditative thinking
 kind of thinking that thinks the truth of being, that belongs to being and listens to
it.

Science and Technology

 must be examined for their greater impact on humanity as a whole.

TECHNOLOGY AS A MODE OF REVEALING

MARTIN HEIDEGGER
 a German philosopher and a seminal thinker in the Continental tradition of
philosophy.
 widely acknowledged to be one of the most original and important philosophers of
the 20th century.

HEIDEGGER’S VIEW ON TECHNOLOGY.

 believed that modern technology is “the danger” we face in our modern times
  strongly opposes the view that technology is “a means to an end” or “a human
activity.”
 These two approaches, which he calls, respectively, the “instrumental” and
“anthropological” definitions, are indeed “correct”, but do not go deep enough; as
he says, they are not yet “true.”
 Heidegger points out, technological objects are means for ends, and are built and
operated by human beings, but the essence of technology is something else entirely.
 Since the essence of a tree is not itself a tree, he points out, so the essence of
technology is not anything technological.
What, then, is technology, if it is neither a means to an end nor a human activity?
 Technology, according to Heidegger must be understood as “a way of revealing”
(Heidegger 1977, 12).
 Revealing is his translation of the Greek word alètheuein, which means ‘to
discover’ – to uncover what was covered over. Related to this verb is the
independent noun alètheia, which is usually translated as “truth,” though Heidegger
insists that a more adequate translation would be “un- concealment.”

What is reality?
 according to Heidegger, it is not given the same way in all times and all cultures
(Seubold 1986, 35-6).
 not something absolute that human beings can ever know once and for all
 is relative in the most literal sense of the word – it exists only in relations.
 inaccessible for human beings. As soon as we perceive or try to understand it, it is not
‘in itself’ anymore, but ‘reality for us.’

How can technology be ‘a way of revealing’?

1. What does this have to do with technology?
2. What does Heidegger mean when he says that technology is “a way of revealing”?
 everything we perceive or think of or interact with “emerges out of concealment
into unconcealment,
 by entering into a particular relation with reality, reality is ‘revealed’ in a
specific way.
  technology is the way of revealing that characterizes our time.
 technology embodies a specific way of revealing the world, a revealing in which
humans take power over reality.
 While the ancient Greeks experienced the ‘making’ of something as ‘helping
something to come into being’ – as Heidegger explains that modern technology is
rather a ‘forcing into being’.
 Technology reveals the world as raw material, available for production and
manipulation.

WHY IS TECHNOLOGY NOT A HUMAN ACTIVITY?

 According to Heidegger, there is something wrong with the modern,
technological culture we live in today. In our ‘age of technology’ reality can only be
present as a raw material (as a ‘standing reserve’). This state of affairs has not been
brought about by humans; the technological way of revealing was not chosen by humans.
 Rather, our understanding of the world - our understanding of ‘being’, of what it
means ‘to be’ - develops through the ages. In our time ‘being’ has the character of
a technological ‘framework’, from which humans approach the world in a controlling
and dominating way.
 Every attempt to climb out of technology throws us back in. The only way out for
Heidegger is “the will not to will”.
 We need to open up the possibility of relying on technologies while not becoming
enslaved to them and seeing them as manifestations of an understanding of being.

References:
 https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/philosophy- of-technology/0/steps/26314
 Heidegger, Martin. “The question concerning technology (W. Lovitt, Trans.) The
question concerning technology: and other essays (pp. 3- 35).” (1977).
 Seubold, Günter. Heideggers Analyse der neuzeitlichen Technik. Freiburg-München:
Alber, 1986
 THE GOOD LIFE By Prof. Liwayway Memije-Cruz

Aristotle
- ancient Greek philosopher known for his natural philosophy. logic and political
theory
- one of the greatest thinkers in the history of western science and philosophy,
making contributions to logic, metaphysics, mathematics, physics, biology, botany,
ethics, politics, agriculture, medicine, dance and theatre. first to classify areas
of human knowledge into distinct disciplines such as mathematics, biology, and
ethics. founder of the Lyceum, the first scientific institute, based in Athens,
Greece. one of the strongest advocates of a liberal arts education, which stresses
the education of the whole person, including one's moral character, rather than
merely learning a set of skills.

Nicomachean Ethics
- is a philosophical inquiry into the nature of the good life for a human being.
- 2:2 All human activities aim at some good. Every art and human inquiry, and
similarly every action and pursuit, is thought to aim at some good; and for this
reason the good has been rightly declared as that at which all things aim.

What is meant by good life?

living in comfort and luxury with few problems or worries, characterized by
happiness from living and doing
- well content

What is eudaimonia?
-came from the Greek word eu meaning “good” and daimon meaning “spirit”.
-refers to the good life marked by happiness and excellence.
- flourishing life filled with meaningful endeavors that empower the human person to
be the best version of himself/herself.

Aristotle’s view of good life the activity of the soul in accordance with virtue.
 o believed that good for humans is the maximum realization of what was unique to
humans.
o the good for humans was to reason well.
o The task of reason was to teach humans how to act virtuously, and the exercise
faculties in accordance with virtue.

Virtue/s behavior showing high moral standards. "paragons of virtue" synonyms:

goodness, virtuousness, righteousness, morality, ethicalness, uprightness,
upstandingness, integrity, dignity, rectitude, honesty, honorableness, honorability,
honor, incorruptibility, probity, propriety, decency, respectability, nobility,
nobility of soul/spirit, nobleness, worthiness, worth, good, trustworthiness,
meritoriousness, irreproachableness, blamelessness, purity, pureness, lack of
corruption, merit; principles, high principles, ethics "the simple virtue and
integrity of peasant life"

Nicomachean Ethics
- Is a philosophical inquiry into the nature of good life for human being.
2:1 Virtue, then, being of two kinds, intellectual and moral, intellectual virtue in
the main owes its birth and growth in teaching ( for its reason it requires
experience and time). While moral virtue comes about as a result of habit

The Virtues:
-Intellectual virtue theoretical wisdom (thinking and truth) practical wisdom
understanding. Experience and time are necessary requirements for the development of
intellectual virtue
Moral virtue controlled by practical wisdom (ability to make right judgment) owed
its development to how one nurtured it as habit.
-can be learned

Happiness to Aristotle "Happiness depends on ourselves.“ central purpose of human

life and a goal in itself.
- depends on the cultivation of virtue.
- a genuinely happy life required the fulfillment of a broad range of conditions,
including physical as well as mental well-being.
Happiness as the Ultimate Purpose of Human Existence happiness is a final end or
goal that encompasses the totality of one's life.
-It is not something that can be gained or lost in a few hours, like pleasurable
sensations.
-It is more like the ultimate value of your life as lived up to this moment,
measuring how well you have lived up to your full potential as a human being.

Science and Technology and Good Life S&T is also the movement towards good life.
S&T are one of the highest expressions of human faculties.
S&T allow us to thrive and flourish if we desire it.
S&T may corrupt a person
S&T with virtue can help an individual to be out of danger.

Why is it that everyone is in the pursuit of the good life?

“Life is good! It is only our thoughts, choices and actions towards the situations
we meet in life each moment of time that makes life look bad!
The same bad situation in life that makes one person think badly inspires another to
do a noble thing!
The same good situation in life that makes one person feel so good to get into a bad
situation inspires another person to create another good situation because of th e
good situation. It is all about thoughts, choices and actions! Life is good! Live it
well!” ― Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

One must find the truth about what the good is before one can even try to locate
that which is good.
Questions for Reflection 1. In your own opinion, what constitutes a good life? 2.
What does Aristotle say about the good life? Does it still stand in the contemporary
world? 3. How is the progress in science and technology a movement towards the good
life?

Virtue ethics is necessary for the development of professional values that is

necessary to perform responsibilities and functions.
 - What Is a Good Life?: Crash Course Philosophy #46 - YouTube
- What makes a good life? Lessons from the longest study on happiness | Robert
Waldinger - YouTube

References: https://www.quora.com/How-does- Aristotle-argue-for-his-position-on-a-

meaningful-or-good-life https://www.pursuit-of- happiness.org/history-of-
happiness/aristotle/

WHEN TECHNOLOGY AND HUMANITY CROSS

Alova, CA. (2021)

FACTS

- Technology affects a person indirectly or directly

- Most people survive their lives with great reliance to the different technological
advancements available
- Technology is already an inevitable part of the society

Technology – necessity or want?

Technology offers
- Convenience
- Pleasure (entertainment)
- Happiness
- Communication

Issues:
- Too much is bad
- Various ethical dilemma involving the use of technological devices
- Misuse or invention to produce bad results
Human Rights Declaration

Rights (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2005;2020)

- are entitlements (not) to perform certain actions, or (not) to be in certain states; or
entitlements that others (not) perform certain actions or (not) be in certain states.
- dominate modern understandings of what actions are permissible and which institutions
are just

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (n.d.)-

Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights (eubios.info)

Human Rights – December 10, 1948

- Civil and political
- Provides a document that gives freedom to people to have or achieve what they
deserve/ need.
- Inherent to human beings

Universal – since it has been drafted by people across the globe to set common standards

Hickin. R (2017). How are today’s biggest tech trends affecting our human rights? How is
technology affecting our human rights? | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)

- Affirms the rights of individual citizens, including the right to freedom from
discrimination, the right to education, the right to a free and fair world and many
more.

The Fourth Technological revolution - changing the way we live, work and interact with
one another. It also has the potential to both challenge and uphold human rights

How?
a. Automation and the right to fair and decent work

- The increasing use of AI and automation is disrupting the global jobs market and
significantly impacting the right to fair and decent work.
- Experts estimate that by 2020, 85% of all customer interactions will be handled
without a human agent, with support coming in the form of chatbots and self-service
technologies.
- A subset of AI, Machine Learning (ML), is expanding rapidly, unlocking pathways to
increasingly efficient, accurate, and powerful processes ranging from diagnosing
cancer to enabling self-driving cars.
- Data is the key ingredient that makes machine learning possible.
- However, not all data is created equal, nor is it equally available across
geographies and demographics.
- The biggest sources of risk for data-related discrimination are inadequate data
availability and biased or error-ridden data. In hiring practices, for example,
algorithms mimic human decision-making, which can be based on bias.

b. The internet and the right to freedom of expression

- The internet provides huge opportunity for individuals to exercise the right to
freedom of opinion and expression through communication and exchange of ideas. –
right to fair use
- More than 3 billion people now use the internet, a 2.3 billion rise since 2000.
- Yet governments around the world shut down the internet more than 50 times in 2016,
according to the United Nations – suppressing elections, slowing economies and
limiting free speech.
- So called ‘fake news’ proliferated in the 2016 US election, a phenomenon familiar to
countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia where online news has huge reach and
influence.
- Technology companies’ ability to take down extremist content in real time is
limited.
 c. The Internet of Things and the right to privacy

- The Internet of Things is perforating domains that were previously private.

- As a result, the distinction between private and public spheres is blurring and the
individual’s right to privacy is being threatened.
- Business Insider projects there will be 34 billion devices connected to the internet
by 2020. All of those devices have the ability to interact with and track our
personal data, from smart phone location tracking to motion sensors with inbuilt
video cameras filming your movements.
- Millions of us are giving away our private data without even realising, despite many
of us valuing privacy more than ever.

Three ways technology can protect human rights

1. Online learning and the right to education

- Technology is becoming a major asset in the pathway to ensuring a quality education

for all.
- Online learning platforms are proliferating globally thanks to the internet.
Platforms such as the Khan Academy, which has 10 million unique visitors a month,
have been training children and adults since 2006. Africa alone has nearly 700
million mobile phone subscribers, offering opportunities to share educational
content. BYJU’s is India’s largest app, with 7 million subscribers using digital
animation and videos to share lessons with a focus on maths and science.
- EdTech is disrupting education. Companies such as RoboTutor are creating open-source
apps that enable children with little or no access to schools to learn basic
reading, writing, and arithmetic. Chimple is using gamification and cognitive
research to develop open-source software to autonomously help children learn – in
groups or alone.

2. Big data and human rights

 - There is a now a vast amount of data available on environmental conditions,
migration and conflict situations thanks to social media, crowd-sourced data and
tracking devices on vehicles, mobile phones and other sensors.
- Cloud computing and big data analysis can use this data to analyse key trends and
provide early warnings for critical issues before they occur, aiding the prevention
and rapid response to humanitarian disasters.

3. Protecting human rights in the supply chain

- Modern-day slavery still exists in the supply chains of many corporations.

- An estimated 30 million people are currently in forced labour in supply chains
across multiple industries from electronics to fishing.
- Blockchain is an authentication mechanism that can enable transparency in supply
chains from sourcing through to the customer purchase.
- Blockchain is already being tested to eliminate abuses in certain supply chains.

CONCLUSION

What does human rights mean in the 4 th IR: business, civil society, policy makers and
technology companies have a responsibility to create solutions that keep humans at
the core of emerging technologies.

Humans vs. Robots

- Not difficult to differentiate EXCEPT when robots are made or dressed like real
humans
- Robots - a word that refers to the sum of all the groups of robots, comprised of the
physical robots and the virtual robots (as in software). In the case of the latter,
these are called bots.
o Experts of technology and Science have agreed that for a robot to be called
such, it must exhibit at least one intelligent movement.
 o ‘intelligent’ this means that it can perform a human-like movement, task or
behavior.
o Make our lives simpler
o Characteristics
▪ often electrically powered
▪ can also absorb or get data from its external environment, interpret it,
and give a certain reaction to the data or stimulus.
▪ sense its environment and being able to navigate itself using a certain
guide, as shown in driverless cars.
▪ can easily be repaired.
- Humans - have a highly developed brain that no robot has ever matched up to date
o Highly social individuals
o Organic

Five basic characteristics of humans and robots (Human vs Robot: How Do Their Abilities
Stack Up Against Each Other? (scienceabc.com)) (Ashish, 2021)

1. Adaptation
- greatest gifts of living beings is their ability to adapt to their surroundings. Be
it animals or humans, we can easily blend into whatever circumstances we find
ourselves in.
- Computers (and thus robots) are made to suit a particular environment with defined
settings that are not expected to change.
2. Logical Ability
- robots are much more logical when it comes to their thinking and execution of
plans.
- that robots completely lack emotion (unlike humans, whose decisions and thinking may
be influenced by certain emotional factors), which makes them faster, logical and
also… potentially more evil.
3. Speech recognition
 - humans are still better when it comes to the recognition of voices and making sense
out of them. We can hear what a person is saying, and by using visual and aural
cues, we can fathom some meaning out of a sentence, something that robots can’t do
perfectly.
4. Speed
- Robots easily trump humans in this domain
5. Thinking, Planning and decision-making
- So far, and for a good number of coming years, this will remain a forte of humans.
- We can map out a series of steps that can lead us to a certain goal. This is what
robots cannot perform, as they lack the ability to plan ahead of time.

CONCLUSION:

Looking at robots from a broad perspective, we can say that there is no matching robots
when it comes to speed, accuracy, efficiency and logical ability, but humans still have
an edge over the machines due to their intellect, spontaneity, creative thinking, and
multi-layered methods of planning ahead of time. Our curiosity and instincts are also
advantages, but they are far harder to quantify.

Leonhard, G. (2015). The Future of technology and humanity. The future of technology and
Humanity: a provocative film by Futurist Speaker Gerd Leonhard - YouTube

Damm, D. (2017). Technology - a tool for good or evil | Darlene Damm | TEDxDanubia -
YouTube

WHY THE FUTURE DOES NOT NEED US?

- Our most powerful 21st-century technologies – robotics, genetic engineering, and
nanotech – are threatening to make humans an endangered species (Joy, B., 2000)
- New technologies like genetic engineering and nanotechnology were giving us the
power to remake the world, but a realistic and imminent scenario for intelligent
robots.
- let us postulate that the computer scientists succeed in developing intelligent
machines that can do all things better than human beings can do them. In that case
presumably all work will be done by vast, highly organized systems of machines and
no human effort will be necessary. Either of two cases might occur. The machines
might be permitted to make all of their own decisions without human oversight, or
else human control over the machines might be retained.
- attitude toward the new—in our bias toward instant familiarity and unquestioning
acceptance. Accustomed to living with almost routine scientific breakthroughs, we
have yet to come to terms with the fact that the most compelling 21st-century
technologies—robotics, genetic engineering, and nanotechnology—pose a different
threat than the technologies that have come before. Specifically, robots,
engineered organisms, and nanobots share a dangerous amplifying factor: They can
self-replicate. A bomb is blown up only once—but one bot can become many, and
quickly get out of control.
- The 21st-century technologies—genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics (GNR)—are so
powerful that they can spawn whole new classes of accidents and abuses. Most
dangerously, for the first time, these accidents and abuses are widely within the
reach of individuals or small groups. They will not require large facilities or
rare raw materials. Knowledge alone will enable the use of them.
- Technological elite that will developed to build a scientific dictatorship system –
a socialist democracy where even raising children and reproductive rights will be
controlled by the government
- Calls us to be cautious and become responsible as regards the use of technology
 - Makes us think about actions that has to be taken so that technology will still be
controlled by people and destruction of human life though technology will not
happen.

- Bill Joy (2000) Why the Future Doesn't Need Us | WIRED

- Bill Joy: What I'm worried about, what I'm excited about - YouTube

The Information Society (Gutenberg to Social Media)

The Information Age (started from the last quarter of the last century)
- Fourth Industrial Revolution

Timeline of information Age – refer to Alova (2021)

Information

- Knowledge obtained from investigation, study or instruction eg. Intelligence, news,

facts, data (Merriam Webster)
- Facts provided or learned about something
- What is conveyed or represented by a particular arrangement or sequence of things
(computing)

Purpose and Structure (refer to Manigo, 2020)

Information Eras(refer to Manigo, 2020)

Social vs. Traditional Media (refer to Manigo, 2020)

Social Impacts of social Media

Role of Language
 - the method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of
words in a structured and conventional way

Role – communication

Role of Language in human information in science and technology

- Language that we communicate culture, preserve our culture, use construct the future
- Pre-requisite to freedom of thought
- Language is the expression of ideas by means of speech-sounds combined into words.
Words are combined into sentences, this combination answering to that of ideas into
thoughts.”
- “A language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols by means of which a social group
cooperates.”
- Computer programming languages are used to communicate instructions to a computer.
They are based on certain syntactic and semantic rules, which define the meaning of
each of the programming language constructs.- https://medium.com/web-development-
zone/a-complete-list-of-computer-programming-languages-1d8bc5a891f

MATHEMATICS AS THE LANGUAGE OF NATURE

- Utilizes rational thinking

- 1930’s -James Jeans – “God is a mathematician”
o British Astronomer and physicist
o suggested that the universe arises out of pure thought that is couched in the
language of abstract mathematics.
- Language of science
- Mathematical languages direct and influence our thought in science.

o natural research use mathematics to prove and obtain the good result in finding
the answer to their queries through the raw data gathered in the conduct of the
research. The data being analyzed by the researcher’s applying right
statistical tool that can fit and transform the raw data into useful data for
the research.
- Is a universal language
- Relies on both logic and creativity
- basic understanding of the nature of mathematics is requisite for scientific
literacy
- Math is a universal language
- The world is communicated in numbers, symbols and patterns
- Mathematics is a variable that translates languages into one that can be understood
by various people.
o Technology includes numbers and symbols having their different uses in programming
and even in mathematical equations on some applications.
- Mathematics has a big role in one of the factors considered when it comes to the
changes in society which is the population.
- Mathematics is a part of human language, of our means of communication, we recognize
that it has some very special qualities – it can achieve very high levels of
precision and compression of content. It also allows for tremendously efficient
manipulations in drawing out the consequences of given assumptions.
-

Assumptions about Math:

- 1. Mathematics is the language of nature.

- 2. Everything around us can be represented and understood through numbers.
 - 3. If you graph the numbers of any system, patterns emerge. Therefore, there are
patterns everywhere in nature. Evidence: the cycling of disease epidemics,

TECHNOLOGICAL WORLD

- The most obvious feature of information society is the evergrowing number, variety
and complexity of technological instruments and their constant change at an
unprecedented scale and at a barely manageable pace.
- The need – and sometimes the pressure – to adapt to this rapidly changing technology
in more and more areas of our everyday lives often ends up in frustration and shock
for individuals and in moral panic for society as a whole –
- FACT - new technologies – and transformed versions of the earlier ones – play an
active role in disrupting our conventional, that is, modern, values and way of life,
leading to a sense of helplessness and indisposition in addition to challenging the
abilities of individuals and the society as a whole to learn and to adapt.
- Kranzberg’s first law of technology which states: „Technology is neither good nor
bad; nor is it neutral.” (Kranzberg, 1985: 50). It is like us.
- http://www.icsd.aegean.gr/website_files/metaptyxiako/154935850.pdf (2007)
- characteristics of Effective Technological world

THE PRINTING PRESS AND BEYOND

- 4th BC – people had been writing

- Books initially were written by hand, making them expensive thus only the elite have
the information necessary
- Johannes Gutenberg

WORLD WIDE WEB

- Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1989 a British computer
scientist.
- World Wide Web (WWW), byname the Web, the leading information retrieval service of
the Internet (the worldwide computer network). The Web gives users access to a vast
array of documents that are connected to each other by means
of hypertext or hypermedia links—i.e., hyperlinks, electronic connections that link
related pieces of information in order to allow a user easy access to them.
Hypertext allows the user to select a word or phrase from text and thereby access
other documents that contain additional information pertaining to that word or
phrase. Hypermedia documents feature links to images, sounds, animations, and
movies. The Web operates within the Internet’s basic client-
server format; servers are computer programs that store and transmit documents to
other computers on the network when asked to, while clients are programs that
request documents from a server as the user asks for them. Browser software allows
users to view the retrieved documents.
- The Internet is a vast network that connects computers all over the world. Through
the Internet, people can share information and communicate from anywhere with an
Internet connection.
- The Internet works through a series of networks that connect devices around the
world through telephone lines. Users are provided access to the Internet by Internet
service providers. The widespread use of mobile broadband and Wi-Fi in the 21st
century has allowed this connection to be wireless. (Britanicca, 2019).
- Alova, C.A. (2021) Science and Technology and Society 17- The information Age -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aMSNdgUhZg
- Alova, C.A. (2021) Science and Technology and Society 18 -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ev2E7YDY6ic

- University of California TV (n.d. ) – Claud Shannon – the Father of Information

technology - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2Whj_nL-x8