Hmm. Is it crazy to think about "natural technology"? That is, to view thing like the sun and the earth as a sort of premade technology, and factor our use of and reliance upon it into our models of civilization? :/
@elomatreb Aye, fair. I guess I should say "natural infrastructure" or something? :/
@Angle I like the suggested resource term as well, IMO accessibility of the resource has little bearing on the definition.
I.e. we started to utilize iron first instead of other metals because we found it first (at the surface), but it's not in any way special compared to other metals
@Angle that does seem a little odd to me. why not simply consider the Sun a resource?
@mona Because it's not just a resource - it's a resource that's already conveniently shaped to provide for our needs, with lite to no work required on our end. :/
@Angle I... would disagree with that use of the term? But I can see why you'd think that. And if we add ourselves to the factor I... could see the argument.
@DenubisX *shrug* Its mostly just semantics, which I usually have no interest in arguing over - language exists to facilitate communication, and so long as it does that, I'm not too concerned with the details. In this case, I think it puts things in an interesting perspective to phrase it that way? Though again, maybe I should have said "natural infrastructure" instead. XD
@Angle There is quite a lot of philTech talking about the sort of thing I understand you to mean by natural infrastructure, so there's a community of folk saying that sort of thing?
@Angle But I suspect we're still talking at cross purposes, so... all's good.
@DenubisX No, no I think I get you. You got any links? XD
@Angle Thing off the top of my head is Heidegger's standing reserve, but no, I'm not current on that asshole.
@Angle Mainly people talking back and forth about it, and then another thing about natural law arguments that I seriously noped out of during my undergrad philTech class.
@Angle technology, at least from my understanding, is like...something crafted/created, usually for a purpose, kinda like the science equivalent to art
technically, the sun or the earth could be considered technology, if you believe something or someone created them, or if your definition of what technology is differs.
@ctrlaltdog Hah. And onvthat note, did you see my last boost? It's not actually something I believe, at least not yet, nor is it what I had in mind when I wrote this, but I think it's interesting all the same... XD
@Angle
There's an attempt to add nature into economics to be able to calculate "ecosystem services" e.g. how much is it worth that this wooded hill is providing x amount of flood prevent for that town? Not really viewing it as technology I guess, but an attempt in trying to build green infrastructure into our models
@Angle “"Techne" is a term, etymologically derived from the Greek word τέχνη (Ancient Greek: [tékʰnɛː], Modern Greek: [ˈtexni] (About this sound listen)), that is often translated as "craftsmanship", "craft", or "art".”
@Angle so, breaking out of the etymology τέχνη, which had the explicit connotation of artifice?
@joXn Aye, "natural infrastructure" would probably be a better term. XD
@Angle yes, I like this a lot. Suggests among other things that it might need maintenance.
@Angle Isn't natural technology a contradiction? If you consider naturally occuring structures to be part of technology as well, the technology term becomes equivalent to structure in general