I watched the Sulphur
Crested Cockatoos as they struggled to fly against the polar winds
hitting Melbourne this morning. They were on their way to another of
their many feeding grounds. I passed them driving home this morning
all heads down, busy eating. They are one of my favourite birds.
Though it made me think.
On such a cold day these
birds, along with many others, have to eat to survive the cold. This
is the same for many people in the world. Not for me though as I type
this out in a heated room, a cup of tea to my right, and chocolate
teddy bear biscuits within reach. I sit here writing this article
while listening to ABC Classic FM, in a well lit room by led globes,
sitting on an IKEA chair.
I did not make any of
these things, except for the cup of tea, though that came through a
tea bag and an electric kettle. So, really I made absolutely nothing.
The power comes to the house, as does the water and the gas, and
especially the internet. I am connected, established and well kept on
this cold, wet and windy Friday.
Medical and Political
Techniques Make Life Better.
Later on today I am off to
the local Hospital for my regular appointment with the Liver
Specialist. I have seven medical specialists in my life right now,
and that is not counting my Dentist. I was born with a mixed
assortment of maladies, a congenital deformity and idiopathic
scoliosis. Without the medical scientific advancements accessible to
me I would at best not be able to walk or stand.
What makes my position
even more unique for me is that I have met another with one of my
conditions. She was not born in Australia and lives her life in a
wheelchair. There was no medical welfare in her country. Even if
there was she would not have had access to the advanced techniques
that enable me to stand, walk, run, cycle and play cricket.
What has been denied to
her was made openly available to me and I have that series of
Australian governments from 1973 to today to thank for the incredible
situation I am able to live in. I have uttered thanks to Gough,
Fraser, Hawke and Keating as the establishment of medicare and social
welfare in this country has enabled me and many more to find
themselves alive and in shelter on a cold and windy Friday.
Techniques, technology
and Hope.
Now I mentioned
“technique” again did I? Yes, there it is in the fifth paragraph
describing the advanced medical techniques that I have undergone that
enhance my body. Technique describes all the political, electrical,
medical, musical, engineering developments that make it possible for
me to exist and sit comfortably inside while the wind is howling
outside my windows.
For this very reason there
are those like Canadian Philosopher George Grant describe humanity as
technology. We are technology, proclaims Grant. He is aghast at it
especially the variant that he sees taking place south of the
Canadian border (U.S.A). Grant harkens back to the ancient greeks, to
an age of contemplation to something less technical.
American William F. Lynch
S.J. (Jesuit) called for a rediscover of that which has “the taste
of the human”. A call to revisit those earlier understandings of
what being human was. In his work Images of Hope, Lynch points out
the place of hope and hoplessness as a foundational element in the
development of every person. In the act of wishing and imagination we
are able to hope, together, for those very human goals.
When our hopes are
revealed as not possible and hopeless we are supposed to rebound off
this boundary and with imagination to attempt another way. That is
until we realise that this wish is hopeless and to attempt to attain
it only leads to endlessness. We have to move on to something else
otherwise we will be trapped repeating the same futile actions that
did not bear fruit.
Do We Hope In
Techniques.
Techniques are not hope,
though there are and were many who hope for the attainment of a
technique. Francis Bacon for one, along with Descatres and even
Oppenhiemer. Bacon hoped that in time humanity would attain and
develop the techniques to enable humanity. Descartes was similar to
Bacon though his process of attainment of scientific discoveries was
less technical and more hope. While Bacon tested and repeated
scientific developments, critiquing the language and terms used in
his pursuit of a standardised scientific project, others like Newton
followed the revelations and eureka moments.
Then there is Oppenhiemer
and his quest for nuclear fusion and the atomic bomb. It is here when
we begin the down stroke. Not one to damn someone over one line but
when asked why he went looking for the solution to the atomic bomb
(solution so not the right word) Oppenhiemer replied that the science
was too sweet.
The task and development
of technique has lead to where I sit right now, while the wind rages
outside. While I hope to finish this article, where I do this, what I
type it on, the electrical and technological design and development
that enables all of this is beyond me. I cannot make or design any of
this. It just happens around me. I pay for it by working. I turn the
switch and the light goes on, the heater goes on. There is no hope
involved in this. It is an expectation.
Techniques Magic of
Expectation.
We are no longer hoping
like we once did. There is too much done for us, even though I like
many are alive because of the techniques and technological
developments that we depend upon. Arthur C. Clarke's quote “Any
sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”.
Has me in thinking that this is where we find ourselves. In a place
where technique is the one magic that is the only choice for all the
problems of humanity. No hope for technique but our expectation of
technique.
When hope is fulfilled it
is no longer hope. A hope is to come. Technique is the magic that
fulfils hope. When it is no longer hope it is expected. At what point
is the need for imagination? At what point does the condition of
fulfilled hope lead to the end of wishing? If there is no need for
anything but the continued practice of technique, then is this not a
form of endlessness? An endlessness that give us hopelessness.
Phillip Hall studies at
University of Divinity and is writing his Minor Thesis due in
November. This is a glimpse of his conclusions as to the place of
hope in the face of techniques and the technological society we live
in.
Phillip Hall
9th
August 2019
Expectation
Is Not Hope.
I watched the Sulphur
Crested Cockatoos as they struggled to fly against the polar winds
hitting Melbourne this morning. They were on their way to another of
their many feeding grounds. I passed them driving home this morning
all heads down, busy eating. They are one of my favourite birds.
Though it made me think.
On such a cold day these
birds, along with many others, have to eat to survive the cold. This
is the same for many people in the world. Not for me though as I type
this out in a heated room, a cup of tea to my right, and chocolate
teddy bear biscuits within reach. I sit here writing this article
while listening to ABC Classic FM, in a well lit room by led globes,
sitting on an IKEA chair.
I did not make any of
these things, except for the cup of tea, though that came through a
tea bag and an electric kettle. So, really I made absolutely nothing.
The power comes to the house, as does the water and the gas, and
especially the internet. I am connected, established and well kept on
this cold, wet and windy Friday.
Medical and Political
Techniques Make Life Better.
Later on today I am off to
the local Hospital for my regular appointment with the Liver
Specialist. I have seven medical specialists in my life right now,
and that is not counting my Dentist. I was born with a mixed
assortment of maladies, a congenital deformity and idiopathic
scoliosis. Without the medical scientific advancements accessible to
me I would at best not be able to walk or stand.
What makes my position
even more unique for me is that I have met another with one of my
conditions. She was not born in Australia and lives her life in a
wheelchair. There was no medical welfare in her country. Even if
there was she would not have had access to the advanced techniques
that enable me to stand, walk, run, cycle and play cricket.
What has been denied to
her was made openly available to me and I have that series of
Australian governments from 1973 to today to thank for the incredible
situation I am able to live in. I have uttered thanks to Gough,
Fraser, Hawke and Keating as the establishment of medicare and social
welfare in this country has enabled me and many more to find
themselves alive and in shelter on a cold and windy Friday.
Techniques, technology
and Hope.
Now I mentioned
“technique” again did I? Yes, there it is in the fifth paragraph
describing the advanced medical techniques that I have undergone that
enhance my body. Technique describes all the political, electrical,
medical, musical, engineering developments that make it possible for
me to exist and sit comfortably inside while the wind is howling
outside my windows.
For this very reason there
are those like Canadian Philosopher George Grant describe humanity as
technology. We are technology, proclaims Grant. He is aghast at it
especially the variant that he sees taking place south of the
Canadian border (U.S.A). Grant harkens back to the ancient greeks, to
an age of contemplation to something less technical.
American William F. Lynch
S.J. (Jesuit) called for a rediscover of that which has “the taste
of the human”. A call to revisit those earlier understandings of
what being human was. In his work Images of Hope, Lynch points out
the place of hope and hoplessness as a foundational element in the
development of every person. In the act of wishing and imagination we
are able to hope, together, for those very human goals.
When our hopes are
revealed as not possible and hopeless we are supposed to rebound off
this boundary and with imagination to attempt another way. That is
until we realise that this wish is hopeless and to attempt to attain
it only leads to endlessness. We have to move on to something else
otherwise we will be trapped repeating the same futile actions that
did not bear fruit.
Do We Hope In
Techniques.
Techniques are not hope,
though there are and were many who hope for the attainment of a
technique. Francis Bacon for one, along with Descatres and even
Oppenhiemer. Bacon hoped that in time humanity would attain and
develop the techniques to enable humanity. Descartes was similar to
Bacon though his process of attainment of scientific discoveries was
less technical and more hope. While Bacon tested and repeated
scientific developments, critiquing the language and terms used in
his pursuit of a standardised scientific project, others like Newton
followed the revelations and eureka moments.
Then there is Oppenhiemer
and his quest for nuclear fusion and the atomic bomb. It is here when
we begin the down stroke. Not one to damn someone over one line but
when asked why he went looking for the solution to the atomic bomb
(solution so not the right word) Oppenhiemer replied that the science
was too sweet.
The task and development
of technique has lead to where I sit right now, while the wind rages
outside. While I hope to finish this article, where I do this, what I
type it on, the electrical and technological design and development
that enables all of this is beyond me. I cannot make or design any of
this. It just happens around me. I pay for it by working. I turn the
switch and the light goes on, the heater goes on. There is no hope
involved in this. It is an expectation.
Techniques Magic of
Expectation.
We are no longer hoping
like we once did. There is too much done for us, even though I like
many are alive because of the techniques and technological
developments that we depend upon. Arthur C. Clarke's quote “Any
sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”.
Has me in thinking that this is where we find ourselves. In a place
where technique is the one magic that is the only choice for all the
problems of humanity. No hope for technique but our expectation of
technique.
When hope is fulfilled it
is no longer hope. A hope is to come. Technique is the magic that
fulfils hope. When it is no longer hope it is expected. At what point
is the need for imagination? At what point does the condition of
fulfilled hope lead to the end of wishing? If there is no need for
anything but the continued practice of technique, then is this not a
form of endlessness? An endlessness that give us hopelessness.
Phillip Hall studies at
University of Divinity and is writing his Minor Thesis due in
November. This is a glimpse of his conclusions as to the place of
hope in the face of techniques and the technological society we live
in.