Tool Mistreatment

Tools have been of tremendous benefit to humans. From the early use of stone tools (dating back millions of years... even before humans arrived on the scene) to the latest artificial intelligence (AI) machines, tools have enabled us to extend our senses and multiply our physical capabilities far beyond what nature gave us. Those first stone tools brought our ancestors powerful new ways to smash nuts to get at their interior, to cut up meat, to clean animal hides for clothing, and even to fashion other tools.

When those ancestors subsequently learned how to make metal tools, their capabilities dramatically expanded. The later invention of telescopes and microscopes extended our visual capacity out to the stars and into the interior of biological cells. The list is limitless. It extends all the way to today's computers that bring us almost unimaginably powerful capabilities—possibly the most impressive of which is AI.

Human culture would likely have remained on a par with chimpanzees, had we not been able to create this increasingly complex and powerful lineage of tools. A fascinating question that is often posed is how our big brain and our fantastic tools are causally connected. Can we attribute the evolution of our wonderful tools to our capacious cranium, or did our increasingly sophisticated tools demand a bigger brain to use them? It's sort of a chicken-and-egg conundrum. Whatever the answer, modern humans certainly depend on and benefit from our many kinds of tools.

Tools are a form of technology. The definition of a tool is traditionally considered to be a hand-held device, used for a specific type of occupation. In contrast, our modern tools are usually thought of as a form of technology—a word that generally describes machinery or equipment developed from or for scientific purposes. With these definitions, we can see that those primitive hand-held tools gradually morphed into various forms of technology. (Interestingly, the root of the word technology is the Greek word tekhnologle, which means “the systematic creation from art and/or craft.” This craft process seems to me to be exactly how the early stone tools came about.)

Unfortunately, tools and technology have also had a dark side—from the first stone hammer to the latest AI machine. Tools seem to have invited mistreatment from their very beginnings. The same rock that was used to crack a nut also soon got used to crack a human skull. Sharp flaked stone tools that allowed our ancestors to cut up a gazelle also got used as a weapon to cut up other humans. Those primitive metal knives cut meat better than stone, but soon saw use in warfare. And so it went, throughout our evolution.

A current mistreatment of a high-tech tool that billions of people have enjoyed using—Facebook—is causing all kinds of trouble for many people. Facebook is valued for its ability to keep people in instant and handy touch with each other, but there's a dark side to its use that is emerging. Commercial interests use big data algorithms to determine intimate behaviors of Facebook users and then entice them to buy billions of dollars worth of stuff they otherwise would not have bought—without those targeted ads.

Multinational actors use the same intimate data to manipulate people's behaviors through the use of fake news and other biased misinformation. Facebook, Google, Amazon, and other online businesses all exploit the power of AI—ostensibly to offer us convenience, but also to amass huge amounts of money by swaying our choices. And of course, many technologists today worry about the future dangers of AI robots—which some fear will either eliminate many current forms of employment or even enslave their creators, us humans.

I am not equipped to explain why it is that Homo sapiens is such a brilliant creator of so many wonderful tools that make our lives so pleasant, but then also get used as one form of weapon or another—weapons which make so many lives miserable, or even terminate them. Philosophers and pious people have pondered and debated that issue for millennia. They have offered many diverse explanations—and most of those explanations clash with each other.

Whatever the cause of human behavior that leads us to mistreat our tools, there certainly are countless examples of how we've perpetually done it. One factor is that we seem to be suckers for the latest technology. Show me a new, convenient and efficacious tool, and I'll want one. Tell me about an attractive technology that's about to be offered, I'll want one. Our initial intentions are rarely wicked; we simply focus on the advantages, and thus we enthusiastically pursue the new tool.

But sooner—rather than later—it seems that someone will find a way to mistreat the new tool; even if they don't deliberately do so. Is it greed? Laziness? Merciless competition? Seeking power over others? Or is it largely due to the fact that we just move too fast, and can't seem to pause and exercise a little precaution? I suppose it's all of these and more.

Yes, tool mistreatment is an ancient bad habit of humans. It's caused untold suffering. And it doesn't appear that we are in the process of reining ourselves in. The scary part is the fact that our tools have become so powerful that their misuse can do damage beyond our control.

Handy Man—Part 2

The development of tools and weapons is an example of the incredibly fast pace of human cultural evolution—it's been an exponential rate of growth, where today's technology will be outdated by next week's advances. The problem that stems from this fast cultural evolution is the fact that our biological evolution has been far, far slower. Biologically we are barely different from our Homo habilis forebears, yet hold in our hands weapons of wholesale destruction. Our ability to kill has far outstripped our ability for self-control.

The closest extant ape species to humans are chimps and bonobos—and are even more closely related to each other. We humans and the chimps are warlike critters who attack and kill our own kind (as well as other species) with intent. We kill each other, not for food, but out of fear and enmity. We both can be violent creatures, who consciously plan and execute war. Chimps will form raiding parties that invade neighboring groups' territories. Woe be unto any solitary male chimp they sneak up on: they will mercilessly slaughter and dismember the loner; leaving the body, to move on, hoping to abscond with females.

The bonobos are not anywhere near as violent as chimps and humans. They promote peace through sexual acts and by the policing of bands of matriarchs. It seems as if humans and chimps have a few things to learn from our more placid cousins the bonobos.

Some people are likely to counter, “But wait... there are many examples of violence in nature, aren't there?” Hasn't Tennyson accurately labeled nature's creatures as “red in tooth and claw”? Doesn't much of our literature and scriptures describe the beasts of the forest as cruel brutes who wantonly kill each other? Aren't their menacing weapons—big teeth, antlers, claws—used by them to wreak havoc and death?

Well, yes, they do a lot of killing, but it is overwhelmingly for food—not warfare. Even animals who have imposing weapons rarely use them to kill. Consider the elk, which is outfitted with formidable antlers. To begin with, they are herbivores, so they do not kill their food with their head-mounted weapons. Their antlers are used to joust with each other for the right to mate with females. When they square off, however, each spends a good deal of time slowly walking around his opponent—sizing him up. That may be enough right there to decide the winner, as the smaller one will think again and leave the area. If not, they will face each other with lowered head and seek to intimidate each other. At worst, they will butt heads a bit, until one backs off and retreats. Joust over. With those intimidating antlers they could do much damage—goring each other to death—but they don't.

It is rare in nature to see one animal kill another of its species—accept in extreme reproductive competition. They seem to have some check on their violent feelings, that almost always stop them from actually fighting... a form of check that seems to be lacking in chimps and humans.

Scientists don't yet understand the source of aggression that we warlike humans possess—but by observing the same behavior in chimps, it suggests that our warlike propensity is probably genetically inherited. Our DNA—being 98% identical to theirs—suggests we have some similar genes that lead to these tendencies to be aggressive and violent. It is extraordinary that bonobos—even more closely related to chimps than we are—are not warlike at all. It must be due to some genetic difference they have. Perhaps further study will someday shed light on the issue.

In the meantime, we are in real danger, as our weapons have far outstripped our genetic ability to curb our violence. There are signs that humans are gradually becoming less violent and maybe even are even evolving emotionally—as well as culturally—to become less brutal. Can we get there before our frightening weapons continue to get used?