WCICA 2004: Fifth World Congress on Intelligent Control and Automation, June 15-19, 2004, Hangzhou, China Conference Proceedings Book

OK, first of all, I have to agree with quite a few of Ellul's specific observations about how technology molds the human spirit. That being said, he commits a few intellectual sins I am loathe to forgive. Firstly, to write about something as concrete as technology in terms as inductive as Ellul's is nothing short of offensive. And, like so many writers on technology-- both critics and enthusiasts-- he falls into the fatal trap of believing that technology has its own logic independent of the human endeavor. I have a sympathy for why thinkers believe this-- after all, computers can be scawwy-- but ultimately it reduces human responsibility and acts as a premise for phony solutionism.

Furthermore, Ellul's writing is symptomatic of the Marxist-influenced literature of a time when the social-democratic state seemed sound, when those intellectuals comfortably ensconced in the apparatus of a technocratic, postwar society (Adorno, I'm keeping my eye on you too) could criticize it without thinking that their critiques could be used as ammunition by an army of egotistical libertarians and the wealthy conservatives who quietly bankrolled their efforts. Obviously, I can't blame them in retrospect, but still, for those of us tossed about by the whims of finance capital, there are times when I have to say come on.