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Towards a more Elvish vision of technology
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There are two kinds of magic: Human magic seeks power over the world, ending in world-amputation. Elvish magic seeks understanding with the world, ending in self-amputation.
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"Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" — but for Elves, it would be indistinguishable from nature. They don't imitate it; they get out of its way.
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Human magic minimizes surprise by bending the world to our will. Elvish magic minimizes surprise by bending our will to the world. Both can work — the second just takes time, which immortals have plenty of.
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Practiced to extremes, both paths lead to similar disembodied ends. The real question isn't which to choose, but whether a middle path exists that destroys neither world nor self.
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A more Elvish practice would rebalance three things: outcomes as processes (grow houses, don't build them); resources as agents (everything acts, nothing is passive); information as both input and output (we act to learn, not just learn to act).
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As Lorenz noted, when a species develops a weapon that can destroy its kin, it must evolve the inhibition to match. If we're turning into gods, we have to get good at it — fast.
Original published: July 3, 2021