Carolyn Erhart - Manifesto
Creation and invention should be valued for their effect on technological determinism.

While the scientific and medical advances that many technological discoveries afford us are indeed wondrous, one must always endeavor to remember the social culture behind these discoveries. From this we must remember why we strove to make changes to our world in the first place. We only invent to aid the future, not to change its intrinsic nature. While pure science is the logical, ration reason for advancements, true technological determinism should rely on both creation and invention. It is only through the creative and inventive processes that scientific breakthroughs occur. If humanity always relied on science for advances, great achievements would never come to light. It is the incredibly useful arts and ideas of creation and invention that bring true wonders to fruition. It is only through the creative processes of creation and invention that technological determinism flourishes and that we can look back at a job well done.

The humanity of being human should never be removed or substituted.

Humans possess a fundamental level of thought, belief and feeling that can never be fully replicated by a computer. In trying to remove the humanity from humans to give us all more rationality or longevity, irrevocable damage will be done to what it means to be human. Humanity in general possesses a myriad of subtle inner workings that are far beyond even the most advanced super computer. In trying to rewire a human into a machine or a machine into a human, a part of what it means to ultimately be human in lost in the process. The true nature of what it means to be human or to possess humanity should not be studied and replicated, but treated as a gift. To live, to die, to be a part of this world, to connect and to grow are all actions that a machine is just not capable of. In trying to remove these integral parts of a human life out of the equation to allow for better productivity or performance will detract from what it is to be human. Indeed, if any one of these pieces of humanity is removed, the rest will follow. What is left of humanity when there is no human in it?

Computers should never endeavor to replicate love.

Love is patient. Love is kind. Computers are neither. If there is a defect in a technological device, it is repaired, or replaced but is never accepted for the way it is. A computer does not continue to live with its faults or accept the faults of others. A computer cannot love or care or show compassion. When one would try to recreate the hormonal and chemical balance of love in a computer, a part of what love means will be lost entirely. While Serotonin and Nor-epinephrine and other chemicals present in the brain are available for study, the creation of chemical or artificial love cheapens the definition of love itself. Computers do not feel. Computers cannot love. Therefore, computers should never endeavor to replicate what it is to love.

Some aspects of humanity ought to never be experimented on for hypothetical mathematical constructs.

There are some aspects of humanity that a computer will never be able to understand. A computer or a machine will always make the rational, practical choice. A machine will analyze the cost benefit analysis or weigh the risk factors and will always come out with an informed and intelligent decision to solve any problem. The real problem is that some aspects of humanity can never be defined into base equations or mathematical constructs. There are emotions of the human heart and brain that cannot be catalogued as they can never be described as rational. These emotions are human. Emotions such as jealously, rage, grief, or pity will never be understandable to a machine or technology that doesn’t feel. It is entirely useless to try to teach a machine the inner working of a human heart—not the valves and the ventricles, but the emotions that one associates with that area. Technology and machines lack emotions; they only possess finite thought and reasoning skills. You cannot have empathy without emotions. As such, trying to teach a computer what grief feels like is a waste of time effort and energy. As such, some pieces of the human heart should never be given to a computer to render and understand on a mathematical, rational level.

A soul should never be substituted.

We have learned recently that life can be created in a laboratory. The electricity of a human heart, the firing of electrodes in the brain, the flow of chemicals through the body, these things are all creatable and are understood to the technological and scientific worlds. Cells grow, replicate, divide and die. To all textbook definitions, this is indeed evidence of the presence of life. But the mitosis of cells is not all that is necessary to define the true meaning of human life. While life can indeed be manufactured, a being is not fully alive without a soul. Without the divine countenance that supports us and gives us the ability to love and the ability to be loved, we are nothing more than cells. Because science can never fully understand what it means to be human, or what it means to possess human emotions, the soul can never fully be understood. As such, it should never be anyone’s goal to replicate what a soul is in a laboratory or in a study. A soul should never be substituted.

Children should be left to their childhoods.

Children need to imagine. Children need to explore. Children need t learn and grow, to fail, to make mistakes, to succeed. If we as parents and as citizens of this society continue to coddle or children to prevent them from mistakes and minor mishaps, we are truly doing them a disservice. Without cause there is no consequence. Without resilience there is no redemption. Parents these days seek to protect their children from themselves and from the mistakes we all made through childhood. Parents believe that if they give their children enough technological advances and allowances that their offspring will be better capable of dealing with problems. Some believe that if we mollycoddle our children throughout their childhoods and provide a theoretic explanation to every problem, then pain can somehow be prevented. Children need to learn to make mistakes. Children need to learn to think and feel and be people on their own. To be an adult who is helpful and valuable to society, an individual needs to know how to make a mistake, to explore, to discover, to survive on their own. Children will always need a childhood.