Two Exemplary Thinkers of Our Time

Easily, the two most provocative and fascinating books I have read this year are Ray Kurzweil's The Singularity Is Near, and Wendell Berry's collection of essays, The Art of the Commonplace. The very fact that these two books are simultaneously in wide print circulation is a vivid testament to the astonishingly deep schism in modern views about humanity, its place and its destiny.

It is extremely noteworthy when these authors intersect their subject matter, considering that they seem to have no knowledge of one another's work. Neither author cites the other, despite their prominent positions in their respective movements, and despite the fact that all aspects of their respective philosophies and practical proposals seem to oppose one another. One suspects that they are either wholly unaware of one another, or that each considers the other's program wholly irrelevant to their own.

Consider what each says of the Luddite uprising of the early nineteenth century:

Mr. Berry says of the Luddites,

These were people who dared to assert that there were needs and values that justly took precedence over industrialization; they were people who rejected the determinism of technological innovation and economic exploitation. In them, the community attempted to speak for itself and defend itself. [...] The Luddites did, in fact, revolt not only against their own economic oppression but also against the poor quality of machine work that had replaced them. And though they destroyed machinery, they 'abstained from bloodshed or violence against living beings, until in 1812 a band of them was shot down by soldiers.' Their movement was suppressed by 'severe repressive legislation' and 'by many hangings and transportations.' (Berry, "Sex, Economy, Freedom, and Community", 1992)

Of the same Luddites, Mr. Kurzweil says:

The invention of the power loom and the other textile automation machines of the early eighteenth century destroyed the livelihoods of the cottage industry of English weavers, who had passed down stable family businesses for hundreds of years. Economic power passed from the weaving families to the owners of the machines. As legend has it, a young and feebleminded boy named Ned Ludd broke two textile factory machines out of sheer clumsiness. From that point on, whenever factory equipment was found to have mysteriously been damaged, anyone suspected of foul play would say, 'But Ned Ludd did it.' In 1812 the desperate weavers formed a secret society, an urban guerilla army. They made threats and demands of factory owners, many of whom complied. When asked who their leader was, they replied, 'Why, General Ned Ludd, of course.' Although the Luddites, as they became known, initially directed most of their violence against the machines, a series of bloody engagements erupted later that year. The tolerance of the Tory Government for the Luddites ended, and the movement dissolved with the imprisonment and hanging of prominent members. (Kurzweil 2005; footnote 37, Chapter 1)

Subtle differences in the telling of history make profound differences in its understanding.

On the issue of the body, biology, and death, the two make remarks that are uncanny, almost chilling opposites of one another:

Mr. Berry:

I know that there are some people, perhaps many, to whom you cannot appeal on behalf of the body. To them, disembodiment is a goal, and they long for the realm of pure mind -- or pure machine; the difference is negligible. Their departure from their bodies, obviously, is much to be desired, but the rest of us had better be warned: they are going to cause a lot of dangerous commotion on their way out. (Berry, "Feminism, The Body, and The Machine", 1989)

And Mr. Kurzweil, in a fictional dialogue between himself and Ned Ludd:

NED: You're missing something. Biological is what we are. I think most people would agree that being biological is the quintessential attribute of being human.

RAY: That's certainly true today.

NED: And I plan to keep it that way.

RAY: Well, if you're speaking for yourself, that's fine with me. But if you stay biological and don't reprogram your genes, you won't be around for very long to influence the debate. (Kurzweil, 2005)

Have we really produced two irreconcilable views of humanity?

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Berry, Wendell, Norman Wirzba (ed). "The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays of Wendell Berry". Counterpoint, Berkeley, CA, 2002.

Kurzweil, Ray. "The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology". Penguin Group, New York, NY, 2005.