Letters from Lake Como: Explorations in Technology and the Human Race Book

A wonderful little collection of essays concerning the relationship between technology and humanity. Writing in the early 20th century after WWI, Guardini takes the position that technological progress has been destructive toward the organic development of human culture, and if it continues unchecked Guardini fears that it may ultimately be destructive to human life itself.

But his view is not entirely pessimistic, as evidenced in the final letters where the tone changes from one of foreboding, to one that is hopeful. Guardini suggests that if we are to live with the changes brought about by technology, the human race will need to match our incredible technological achievement with an equally profound spiritual growth. It is reminiscent of some thoughts that Martin Luther King Jr. had on the matter as well - "When we look at modern man, we have to face the fact...that modern man suffers from a kind of poverty of the spirit, which stands in glaring contrast to his scientific and technological abundance; We've learned to fly the air like birds, we've learned to swim the seas like fish, and yet we haven't learned to walk the Earth as brothers and sisters..."