Channels, Fall 2016

Alford • Choosing to Choose Page 46 human ability to live authentically (Wheeler, 2015, Sec. 2.2.3). With these terms in mind, it is necessary to clarify the distinction between tools and technique . For Heidegger, tools help people relate better to the environment, whether that tool be a bridge or a hammer. Tools are not only part of the human ontological analytic, they are an essential part to human flourishing. This is evident in Heidegger's Building, Dwelling, Thinking where he discusses how humans relate to the environment around them. The act of dwelling for humans is a defining part of their being-in-the-world. It is a feeling of being at home in the world. Humans only find dwelling by means of building. Homes are buildings in which Dasein dwell. Buildings, like factories or bridges, are not dwelling places, but they improve dwelling. These types of buildings let Dasein dwell in spaces that extend beyond a simple shelter. Bridges turn the barrier of a river into an approachable phenomenon since the human can now cross the bridge and therefore interface with a previously unreachable space. In other words, the primary purpose of building is to ensure humans’ dwelling-in the environment. In its original conception, the internet helped humans dwell in a global environment and share research and ideas across the world quickly. But in many ways, the internet can hinder authentic living through addiction and dependence. There is a difference between technology as tools and as the technological . It is unreasonable to condemn the use of technology entirely. Heidegger (1966) explained, “For all of us, the arrangements, devices, and machinery of technology are to a greater or lesser extent indispensable. It would be foolish to attack technology blindly. It would be shortsighted to condemn it as the work of the devil” (p. 53). Instead, Heidegger levels his critique at the technological or technique in Ellul's work. The technological is a way of framing the relationship between a person and technology. It is not an independent concept but instead an orientation toward technology. For clarification, consider the lingual construction of the relationship. A thought is made up of a subject, object, and predicate. The subject is the agent, the object is being acted upon, and the predicate is how the subject is acting or relating to the object. In this case the subject is Dasein, the object is tools, and the predicate is technique. Technique is a way of approaching technology; it is the formation of technology as a means of mastering nature and holding it in reserve for human use. Rather than dwelling-in the environment, humans seek to master it through increased efficiency and technological dominance (Godzinski, 2005, p. 6). This way of framing technology obscures the essence of good tool use and its proper relationship to the world-compromising choice and authentic human expression. Technique Media ecologists often overlook the ontological question in favor of more practical theories with clear scientific application. But to ignore how communication technology and humanity’s being-in-the-world intersect would be a mistake. The theorists Flusser and Ellul covered this intersection best. Ellul is valuable because he analyzed the broad societal implications of misunderstanding technology and demonstrated how technique shifts