# Technology **Entity class:** Concept or analytic term ## Definition **Technology** is organized practical knowledge embodied in tools, methods, infrastructures, standards, and systems for producing repeatable effects. ## Relationships **Related concepts:** [[wiki/Transhumanism|Transhumanism]] · [[wiki/Infrastructure Ecology|Infrastructure Ecology]] · [[wiki/Standards as Governance|Standards as Governance]] · [[wiki/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] **Collections:** [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]] · [[collections/Neurotech|Neurotech]] · [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] **Canonical source article:** [[articles/Mind Uploading and AI — The Host is Reusable and the Person is the Delta|Mind Uploading and AI — The Host is Reusable and the Person is the Delta]] These links record conceptual dependencies and contrasts. Institutional control, technology transfer, and empirical continuity are tracked as separate relationship types. <!-- BEGIN HUMANIZED RELATIONSHIPS 2026-09-11 --> This entry's documented connections are expressed in its definition and related-work routes, with provenance retained in the source-linked material. <!-- END HUMANIZED RELATIONSHIPS 2026-09-11 --> ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts > “Every technology has an instrumental side, what the technology does for us and a subjective side, what the technology does to us, to our ways of seeing the world, including to our ways of thinking about ourselves.” > **— Sherry Turkle**, *“Turkle’s Law of Evocative Objects,” Edge Annual Question, 2004* [[reminders/Cybernetics/Technology Changes How We See Ourselves by Sherry Turkle|Technology Changes How We See Ourselves by Sherry Turkle]] > "The construction of an artificial mind then probably has to wait until we understand better, in physical terms, what a mind is." > **— Lee Smolin**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Risk Debate/Artificial Minds Must Wait for a Physical Theory of Mind by Lee Smolin|Artificial Minds Must Wait for a Physical Theory of Mind by Lee Smolin]] > "Plenty of people have lost jobs to computers, though it’s never put that way by the Human Resources flunky who delivers the blow." > **— Gregory Benford**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Risk Debate/Computers Take Jobs Even When Employers Avoid Saying So by Gregory Benford|Computers Take Jobs Even When Employers Avoid Saying So by Gregory Benford]] > "I could end with a simple "So let's not create aware machines"—but any possible technology that anyone thinks is desirable will eventually be developed, so it's not that simple." > **— Aubrey de Grey**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Machine Succession/Desirable Technologies Will Eventually Be Built by Aubrey de Grey|Desirable Technologies Will Eventually Be Built by Aubrey de Grey]] > "Fear of AI is the latest incarnation of our primal unconscious fear of an all-knowing, all powerful angry God dominating us but in a new ethereal form." > **— James Croak**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Risk Debate/Fear of AI Repeats Fear of an Angry God by James Croak|Fear of AI Repeats Fear of an Angry God by James Croak]] > "I worry that, by relying on my map app, I am letting my own brain go feeble." > **— Barbara Strauch**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Risk Debate/Navigation Apps May Be Weakening Our Brains by Barbara Strauch|Navigation Apps May Be Weakening Our Brains by Barbara Strauch]] > “Technology once trickled down from supercomputers to PCs. Now new computing technology comes to game machines first.” > **— John Markoff**, *2004 Edge Annual Question, response passage* [[reminders/Information/New Computing Technology Reaches Game Machines First by John Markoff|New Computing Technology Reaches Game Machines First by John Markoff]] > “I am optimistic about the only thing—by definition—that we can be optimistic about: the future. When I tally up the plus and minuses at work in the world, I see progress. Tomorrow looks like it will be better than today. Not just progress for me, but for everyone on the planet in aggregate and on average.” > **— Kevin Kelly**, *2007 Edge Annual Question, response passage* [[reminders/Civilization/Progress Makes Me Optimistic About the Future by Kevin Kelly|Progress Makes Me Optimistic About the Future by Kevin Kelly]] > “I am optimistic about the future of technology. Here too we have hardly scratched the surface. With quantum information technology, mankind for the first time is entering a field of technology which, by all we know today, has not been used by Nature in evolution. I am convinced that most of the technology of the future will be of that kind. New ideas will be created and new technologies will be invented which only could come into existence because we invented them. There is no other road to making them happen.” > **— Anton Zeilinger**, *2007, Edge Annual Question, “WHAT ARE YOU OPTIMISTIC ABOUT?”* [[reminders/Information/Humanity Is Inventing Technology Nature Never Used by Anton Zeilinger|Humanity Is Inventing Technology Nature Never Used by Anton Zeilinger]] > “Professional development for teachers, both preservice and inservice, needs to emphasize not simply how computer technology works but on how it can spark creativity across disciplines. There appear to be a group of learners, predominantly young men, who are willing to throw themselves into computing, presented as a technical puzzle. But given the integration of computing into culture, those in the field need to have broader interests and motivation for being there. Improving the way computation is introduced in education will thus not only draw in young women and keep them from dropping out, it holds our only chance of having a more broadly based computer culture for all of us.” > **— Sherry Turkle**, *2003, Edge Annual Question, “WHAT ARE THE PRESSING SCIENTIFIC ISSUES FOR THE NATION AND THE WORLD, AND WHAT IS YOUR ADVICE ON HOW I CAN BEGIN TO DEAL WITH THEM? - GWB”* [[reminders/Scientific Literacy/Computer Education Must Spark Creativity Across Disciplines by Sherry Turkle|Computer Education Must Spark Creativity Across Disciplines by Sherry Turkle]] > "You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete." > **— R. Buckminster Fuller**, *Widely cited design maxim* *Verification Status: Unverified — exact wording/source has not yet been independently confirmed against a primary source; source clue: Widely cited design maxim.* [[reminders/unverified/Build a New Model That Makes the Old One Obsolete by R. Buckminster Fuller|Build a New Model That Makes the Old One Obsolete by R. Buckminster Fuller]] > "Every scientist dreams of doing something that can help the world." > **— Tu Youyou**, *2015, Nobel Prize profile / interview* [[reminders/Abundance/Every Scientist Dreams of Doing Something That Can Help the World by Tu Youyou|Every Scientist Dreams of Doing Something That Can Help the World by Tu Youyou]] > "Everything that is not forbidden by laws of nature is achievable, given the right knowledge." > **— David Deutsch**, *2011, The Beginning of Infinity* *Verification Status: Unverified — exact wording/source has not yet been independently confirmed against a primary source; source clue: The Beginning of Infinity, 2011.* [[reminders/unverified/Everything That Is Not Forbidden by Laws of Nature Is Achievable Given the Right Knowledge by David Deutsch|Everything That Is Not Forbidden by Laws of Nature Is Achievable Given the Right Knowledge by David Deutsch]] > "Humanity will draw more good than evil from new discoveries." > **— Marie Curie**, *1920, Autobiographical writing / reflections on science* [[reminders/Abundance/Humanity Will Draw More Good Than Evil from New Discoveries by Marie Curie|Humanity Will Draw More Good Than Evil from New Discoveries by Marie Curie]] > "Problems are inevitable. Problems are soluble." > **— David Deutsch**, *2011, The Beginning of Infinity* *Verification Status: Unverified — exact wording/source has not yet been independently confirmed against a primary source; source clue: The Beginning of Infinity, 2011.* [[reminders/unverified/Problems Are Inevitable Problems Are Soluble by David Deutsch|Problems Are Inevitable Problems Are Soluble by David Deutsch]] > "The best way to predict the future is to invent it." > **— Alan Kay**, *1971, Xerox PARC meeting maxim* *Verification Status: Unverified — exact wording/source has not yet been independently confirmed against a primary source; source clue: Xerox PARC meeting maxim, 1971.* [[reminders/unverified/The Best Way to Predict the Future Is to Invent It by Alan Kay|The Best Way to Predict the Future Is to Invent It by Alan Kay]] > "The only consistent pattern is that we underestimate the rate of progress." > **— Bengt I. Samuelsson**, *1982, Nobel banquet speech* [[reminders/Abundance/The Only Consistent Pattern Is That We Underestimate the Rate of Progress by Bengt I. Samuelsson|The Only Consistent Pattern Is That We Underestimate the Rate of Progress by Bengt I. Samuelsson]] > "When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world." > **— George Washington Carver**, *Attributed educational maxim* *Verification Status: Unverified — exact wording/source has not yet been independently confirmed against a primary source; source clue: Attributed educational maxim.* [[reminders/unverified/When You Do the Common Things in Life in an Uncommon Way You Will Command the Attention of the World by George Washington Carver|When You Do the Common Things in Life in an Uncommon Way You Will Command the Attention of the World by George Washington Carver]] > "It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow." > **— Robert H. Goddard**, *1904, High-school address / later Goddard maxim* *Verification Status: Unverified — exact wording/source has not yet been independently confirmed against a primary source; source clue: High-school address / later Goddard maxim, 1904.* [[reminders/unverified/Yesterday's Dream Becomes Tomorrow's Reality by Robert H. Goddard|Yesterday's Dream Becomes Tomorrow's Reality by Robert H. Goddard]]