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Questioning Technology: Tool, Toy or Tyrant
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222 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1991
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About the author
John Zerzan
52 books186 followersAmerican anarchist and primitivist philosopher and author.
His works criticize agricultural civilization as inherently oppressive, and advocate drawing upon the ways of life of hunter gatherers as an inspiration for what a free society should look like.
Some subjects of his criticism include domestication, language, symbolic thought (such as mathematics and art) and the concept of time.
His works criticize agricultural civilization as inherently oppressive, and advocate drawing upon the ways of life of hunter gatherers as an inspiration for what a free society should look like.
Some subjects of his criticism include domestication, language, symbolic thought (such as mathematics and art) and the concept of time.
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June 18, 2015Civilization is like a jetliner, noisy, burning up enormous amounts of fuel. Every imaginable and unimaginable crime and pollution had to be committed in order to make it go. Whole species were rendered extinct, whole populations dispersed. Its shadow on the waters resembles an oil slick. Birds are sucked into its jets and vaporized. Every part, as Gus Grissom once nervously remarked about space capsules before he was burned up in one, has been made by the lowest bidder.
Civilization is like a jetliner, the filtered air, the muzak oozing over the earphones, a phony sense of security, the chemical food the plastic trays, all the passengers sitting passively in the orderly row of padded seats staring at Death on the movie screen. Civilization is like a jetliner, an idiot savant in the cockpit, manipulating computerized controls built by sullen wage workers, and dependent for his directions on sleepy technicians high on amphetamines with their minds wandering to sports and sex.
Civilization is like a 747, filled beyond capacity with coerced volunteers - some in love with the velocity, most wavering at the abyss of terror and nausea, yet still seduced by advertising and propaganda.
Civilization is like a jetliner, the filtered air, the muzak oozing over the earphones, a phony sense of security, the chemical food the plastic trays, all the passengers sitting passively in the orderly row of padded seats staring at Death on the movie screen. Civilization is like a jetliner, an idiot savant in the cockpit, manipulating computerized controls built by sullen wage workers, and dependent for his directions on sleepy technicians high on amphetamines with their minds wandering to sports and sex.
Civilization is like a 747, filled beyond capacity with coerced volunteers - some in love with the velocity, most wavering at the abyss of terror and nausea, yet still seduced by advertising and propaganda.
May 24, 2014
Some of this is outdated for our age, but coming from the late 80s, it serves as a strong indicator for things to come. I always appreciate how Zerzan selects so many sources from perspectives that are not explicitly "anarchist" or "anti-technology." It helps produce an argument that isn't just confined to our little bubble of a milieu and creates plenty of new avenues to explore.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews