Technology has been part of daily human life since time immemorial. The bible and other holy books record some of the ancient technologies, art, innovations in tools used for hunting and farming, all in a bid to make the work of humans easy. Since the time of creation, with Caine’s son forging the first fast-paced city in technology and Caine himself as the first agriculturally advanced person, technology has evolved with the human race into the present. Utopian thought continues to be an avenue of best technological advancement thanks to the imaginative human mind and the fact that technology has made life more comfortable in the past, today, and would even be better in the future .
The ancient imagination and utopian conceptualization of technology have translated into the present-day social innovation concept. According to myths or legends, man would ultimately recognize and embrace the artistic side of their nature fully according to a statement by Sibley (1973 ), “man is an inventor par excellence, and from the beginning has demonstrated a potential for transforming raw nature through those extensions of himself which we call his tools… ” (p. 255) ; demonstrating human capacity to invent and continue improving to attain excellence. Technology becomes the daily life perspective, from sophisticated aerodynamics to some of the simplest audio systems at home. Imagination is the sole construct that turned simple radio receivers to a future of advanced and smart audio systems like Alexa. The concept of the internet of things is an example of how technology is aiding the populations now by making life more comfortable, where every device and functionalities are integrated and interconnected.
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The twentieth century experienced technological innovation in its second half as a widely examined idea. Theories developed, policies acted upon, and the daily vocabulary refers to social innovation. Innovation is the panacea of resolving present-day socioeconomic and political problems. Utopia in the context of technology is a driver of social innovation as a political reaction to the traditional idea of technological innovation; it constitutes new approaches to social problems. At the epicenter of it all, is the critical role of imagination, which is utopian by design, and is the mother of unparalleled technological improvement and new and better ways of doing things. In his writings, Sibley (1973) also determines that Plato through his doctrine of righteousness or justice give recognition to technology relative to the division of labor. However, he warns that technology and human nature of innovation destroy the very basis of human community and personality. At present, the danger is visible in the use of social platforms and social interaction sites that face abuse and are avenues that as much as benefit societies are subject to social doom.
Moreover, alienation from nature is a perspective of anti-technological utopias as well as dystopias. It is succinct that utopian thought in the context of technology has led to the present employment arena occupied by computer hardware, software, and networks. This line of thought brings to mind an idea of selectivity in technology, whether technology should be accepted as a whole or restricted to less advanced levels. However, there would be a limitation to innovation and progress. Utopian thought in the context of science and technology has always been a trial and error affair; no imagination is certain until it is tested and implemented and so there is no way to embrace selective technology or creative thoughts, by extension. Sibley (1973) presents the following perspectives: Much utopian speculation, and particularly classical thought, is not at all certain. Some types of social change, and the accompanying technology change, can only be called incompatible with such presumed values as integrated personalities, coherent communities, and human life itself (p. 280) .
Life within the context of Utopian thoughts has brought technology and business into one large profit-making venture. Those with utopian thoughts on technology are at the epicenter of the most successful businesses. In one of the readings of this course, a utopian medical thinker, Jason Huang is set to develop and run a brand of prostheses and managed by a middle manager, Cassandra Cautery, whose motive is capitalism. Even though the developer is not on the business side of things, his creative ideas are set to drive the medical research company profits and milestones in the biomedical technological advancement according to the middle manager even as others see his utopian thoughts as mad and even dangerous. This aspect refers to the business of the present-day attracting utopian thoughts to gain a competitive advantage in most technologically based industries like the medical and research, where imagination, experimentation, and innovative ideas have been the core of most technological advancements.
To demonstrate the capitalist nature of the industry, Cassandra from the book Machine Man by Barry (2013) states that there is much money in the medical industry that Utopian thoughts by Charlie would reap for the company. The Book about Utopia also presents the idea that utopian thought is itself an illustration of intellectual capacity as well as social atmospheres. St. Thomas More Utopia, unlike in the present day, was concerned with the distribution of material goods, rather than production (Sibley, 1973; Barry, 2013).
Capitalism as a social construct has come to feed on the utopianism ideas to optimize both production and distribution in the present day. Industries and people imagine a distribution channel that is both sophisticated and fast, hence the use of drones for medical supplies during an emergency and the use of RFIDs along the supply chains, all thanks to Utopian thought within the context of technology. In one of the chapters, Sibley (1973) about St. Sir Thomas More’s Utopia (1516) further presents that, “ More is not as much concerned about producing more material goods as he is about distribution” (p. 261). This statement depicts a paradigm shift from the ancient utopian thought to the present-day utopian thought about the technology; it was not entirely capitalist reliant.
In conclusion, even as some in the present society sees utopian thought on technology as a danger not only to the social fabric but also to life itself, the milestones made of such imagination and dream world thoughts and ideas about what the world might be in an ideal sense has hatched innovative technology. Such technology applies in many sectors today to make life simpler and more manageable. Utopian thought has been a fundamental factor of social innovation since the early time, and man has survived partly subject to these fantasies.
References
Sibley, M. Q. (1973). Utopian thought and technology. American Journal of Political Science , 255-281 .
Barry, M. (2013). Machine Man . London: Transworld .
