Jerry Mander’s eight attitudes toward technology

Cell tower in a Hanover, Virginia church steeple caused by electrical/mechanical issues, June, 2020.

In 2014, the late Jerry Mander (author of 1978’s Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television and 1984’s In the Absence of the Sacred) organized “Techno-Utopianism & the Fate of the Earth,” a teach-in at Cooper Union in New York City. In his opening remarks, Jerry recommended eight attitudes about technology. They’re still totally relevant.

Anyone considering a newer car, a newer fridge, a solar PV system, a smartphone, a newer computer or a house would do well to apply these attitudes. (Actually, if you’re set to buy a house—or anything else that would put you in debt—first watch “The Great Taking” with David Rogers Webb.)

Any municipality faced with permitting infrastructure like a new substation and power lines, smart meters, a large-scale solar facility, a battery energy storage system (BESS), 5G, a data storage center or a mandate to sell increasing numbers of electric vehicles should apply them, too.

With much appreciated permission from Koohan Paik-Mander, Jerry’s widow, here are his eight attitudes:

#1 The precautionary principle 

Since nearly all of what we are told about technology comes from its proponents, be deeply skeptical of all the claims. What’s been left out of the story? We can no longer assume that new technology is innocent until proven guilty. The opposite should be the case—guilty until proven innocent. That’s the precautionary principle. It must be codified.

#2 Never judge technology by the way it benefits you personally. 

Always seek a holistic view of a technology’s impacts on nature, on resources, on people, on the future. The operative question is not whether it benefits you, but who benefits most and to what ends, and with what consequences?

#3 Get rid of the idea that all technology is ‘neutral,’ that it can be used for good or bad. 

Every technology has inherent, identifiable social, political, cultural, and environmental consequences. Langdon Winner calls it Autonomous Technology. If society accepts automobiles, you get roads covering land, oil development and so on. There is no way around that. The idea that technology is neutral is itself not neutral. It ignores intrinsic dangers and puts blame solely on users.

#4 Remember that individual technologies are only one piece of a larger web of integrated technologies—mega-technology. 

Every technology builds on the scaffolding of prior tech invention. Your cell phone may seem harmless, but for that little bit of radiation, but for the lithium in the batteries resulting from years of horrible mining practices on indigenous land. Don’t ignore the infrastructure it requires.  

#5 Distinguish between technologies that primarily serve the small community, like local solar and small-scale farming, and those that inherently operate on a large scale, like nuclear fossil fuels and monocrops.

Always favor the former.

#6 Do not accept the homily that once the genie is out of the bottle, you can’t put it back. 

All it takes is public discussion and empowerment. Let’s start that today.

#7 In thinking about technology, always emphasize the negative, as I’m doing, because that’s what’s usually left out of the discussion. This brings balance. Negativity is positive.

#8 Ask direct questions about the continued viability of any system that has an obvious, intrinsic need to drive constant growth on a finite planet, that is motivated by self-interest and profit and that is amoral in the face of obvious devastation. 

Such a system may have been viable at a much earlier time on this planet when resources and nature were abundant. But it’s now clearly obsolete.

My comments

I love these attitudes.

#2, Never judge technology by the way it benefits you personally, really stops me in my tracks—because usually, I start with an item’s benefits and drawbacks to me. I don’t think I can or should exclude this personal orientation, but I do want to cultivate questioning how the gizmo will affect the whole world from its cradle to its grave (for seven generations?). This means re-orienting.  

#5—Favor technologies that primarily serve the small community, like local solar and small-scale farming, over those that inherently operate on a large scale, like nuclear fossil fuels and monocrops. I love this idea, too. But even when a “small” solar system is installed on one household’s roof, the global super-factory is engaged. The panels require mining, smelting, chemicals, water and inter-continental shipping of raw materials to assembly plants and the final product to the consumer. The system will need batteries—or connection to the power grid; and both options have harmful ecological consequences. If we include a technology’s manufacture, operation and discard, then maybe none is “small” or “local.”

This really means naming assumptions and investigating them.

I recently learned that peat moss—commonly used for potting soil—is mined from carbon-sequestering bogs and takes thousands of years to replenish. In other words, I’ve got unexamined assumptions about almost everything, including gardening soil. To observe the Precautionary Principle, even with a “small, local” operation, I need to investigate my thoughts. Call this Attitude #9.