In a previous piece, we explored faithfulness in a technological age through Jacques Ellul’s critical view. In his view, technology, with its fixation on perfection, was stifling to the human spirit and an antithesis to nature. While providing an important contribution to the debate, Ellul’s perspective falls short by failing to recognize that technology is, in its essence, a human phenomenon. In doing so, he highlights the dangers and pitfalls but fails to see their potentialities. What if technology is not opposed to but a result of nature through cosmic evolution?
To complement the previous view, we must turn to another 20th century Frenchman, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. This Jesuit Paleontologist offered a paradigm-changing perspective by fusing evolution with Christianity. Because of his faith, Teilhard saw evolution not as a heresy to be disproven but as the mechanism through which God created the cosmos. It is this integrative vision that sheds a very different life on what technology is and how it can lead to a flourishing future.
Humanity as a Cosmic Phenomenom
To understand Teilhard’s view of technology one must first turn to his view of the universe. Published in 1955, Le Phénomène human is probably Teilhard’s most complete vision of a purposeful human evolution. To the French Jesuit, evolution is not just a mechanism to explain the diversity of being on earth. It is instead the process by which the cosmos came to be. It is God’s way of bringing us out of stardust, slowly creating order and harmony from the primordial chaos of the Big Bang.
In his perspective, cosmic evolution was leading to both diversity and complexity. At the pinnacle of this complexity was human consciousness. That is, evolution brought humanity to earth but as humans became self-aware, this marked a new stage of the cosmic evolution. In this new phase, evolution was pointing towards a future that transcended humanity. This future is what he called the omega point. The future of evolution would lead humanity to a convergence of consciousness, what some now call the singularity.
To fully unpack Teilhard’s teleological view of the cosmic future, one must first understand his concept of the Noosphere. While difficult to explain in a few sentences, the Noosphere is an expanded view of human intelligence that encompasses not just the material reality of human brains but also the more abstract notion of human knowledge. It is not contained in one person but it is present in between all humanity as the air we breathe. The closest analogy we can get is the Internet itself where most of human knowledge is distributed and easily accessible.
The Technological Age as part of Cosmic Evolution
How does technology fit into this rich perspective of cosmic evolution? It is part and parcel of the Noosphere. Teilhard’s expansive concept contained three main parts: 1) heredity; 2) apparatus; and 3) thoughts. The first one has to do with genetic and cultural transfer. Every person receives a set of information both from their parents and their surrounding culture that enables them to function in this world.
The second concept encompasses the vast area of human-created tools which we often associate with technology. In addition to our genetic and cultural material, humans now rely on a complex network of artifacts that extend their reach and impact in the natural world. From clothes to fast computers, this apparatus, in Teilhard’s view, is another part of the noosphere.
The reason why this is important is that by placing technology as an extension of human evolution, the French Jesuit connects it back to nature. Unlike in Ellul’s perspective, where technology is a force opposing nature, Teilhard sees continuity. Instead, it is a vital part of the human ecosystem and therefore it is teleological. By placing technology in the noosphere, Teilhard gives it a purpose and direction. It is not a force of destruction but a result and an enabler of cosmic evolution to the omega point.
In other words, nature and cosmic history converge to create this technological age. In that, Teilhard adds a sense of inevitability around technology. This is not to say that he was a blind enthusiast. A European who lived through two world wars, Teilhard is inoculated against the illusion of perpetual progress. Instead, he takes the long view and sees technology as an essential part of the long arch of history towards Cosmic redemption promised in Christian eschatology.
Hope, Caution and Courage
I can say with no reservation that my Christian faith would not exist today if it wasn’t for Teilhard’s integrative theology. In the despair of a false choice between pre-critical Biblical faith and materialistic humanism, I found the third way of Chardian synthesis. This is a story for another time but suffice it to say that the power of Teilhard’s Christian vision is its integration between science and religion. This integration then allows us to have a different conversation about the technological age.
For one, it destroys the illusion of separation between nature and technology. Without negating the dangers and disorientation that technological progress has brought, we can rightfully see it as an extension of cosmic history. Yet, how do we account for the uneasiness we instinctively feel towards it? Why does it not feel natural? One explanation is that as any evolutionary process, it takes time to fully form. Therefore, it is not an issue of substance but of time.
With that said, I cannot shake off reservations with Teilhard’s view of technology as part of cosmic evolution. There is a quasi naivete in his optimist belief in the inevitable evolution of humanity. We all hope he is right but are too afraid to bet our lives on it. The disappointment would be too grave and devastating. Perhaps that is the greatest asset of his view, one that requires courage and faith. One does not need faith to prepare for a dystopian future of technology overlords running the world. It does, however, require a courageous and terrifying faith to believe that technology can fulfill its full potential as another step in human evolution.
