They lasted for thousands of years. We will, quite possibly, create (or have created) the technology that will destroy humanity in the very near future. How do we "correct" for that?
They lasted for thousands of years. We will, quite possibly, create (or have created) the technology that will destroy humanity in the very near future. How do we "correct" for that?"
You correctly note that the argument over modernity is not a battle between the traditional "right" and "left", but rather over those that want to exercise more control over people and those who want to exercise less.
I don't know anyone who wants to go back to the time of the Pharohs, but plenty of the American right want to go back to the "Leave it to Beaver" fifties, while plenty on the left want to go back to an agrarian and frontier America. All of these people basically want a "do-over" on American history and modernity. The trouble with the nostalgists, though, is that they choose to see the past through their visions of what those times were like, rather than as they truly are. Although ancient Egyptian society may have been long-lived, by our standards the life of the average Egyptian was nasty, brutish, and short. Furthermore, they fail to see such triumphs over nature as "organic" farming as the technological marvels that they actually are: if you don't believe me, go plant a garden of carelessly selected seeds, use no pesticides or herbicides, and see what you get. To succeed at such a venture requires a tremendous understanding and use of natural controls such as beneficial insects and other biologicals, the use of improved disease and pest-resistent seed strains, etc., etc.. Furthermore, who among us of any political persuasion will refuse radiation and chemical therapy if we are diagnosed with cancer?
The idea that a society can reap the benefits of technology without dealing with the risks is wishful thinking. Moreover, once the genie of knowledge is out of the bottle, it cannot be put back. But, it seems to me that the civilized world has effectively policed itself in harnessing technology to the benefit rather than the detriment of mankind-- the only challenge now is to extend civilization to encompass the remainder of the world. The ultimate extreme of the anti-technologists that we are now battling-- the Taleban and bin Ladenites, the Islamo-fascists-- are an object lesson as to what lies at the end of the anti-modernist road: they want to destroy modernity, and are willing to use technology to kill as many people as are required to achieve their goals.