This essay will debate whether technology and nature are, in fact, binary opposites or if they have a more closely related relationship. I will discuss the various meanings of “nature” and “technology” by referring to Cox (1989:7-12), Arthur (2009:203-15), Dusek(2006:). I will also use other sources to argue their relationship. In conjunction, I will discuss an interactive art project and how it could suggest that technology can or cannot be an extension of us as humans. I will attempt to bridge the boundaries of what is natural and what is technology.
The South African Oxford dictionary (Soanes 2007:598) describes "nature", as the physical world that includes plants, animals, landscape and natural phenomena; this opposed to things …show more content…
They are then commonly seen as opposites because their meanings are what people see and are unquestioningly naturalized to. In the 21st century technology and what technology can do is becoming a natural, everyday part of life. Interaction with technology is becoming naturalized. According to Dusek (2006:28), this naturalization, changes the words definition depending on how the function and understanding of technology and nature change. This change in meaning must occur to keep up with the way the world functions as a …show more content…
They are inherited and often unquestioned. That is why they are seen as opposites. In a broad sense, nature must be green, and technology must be metallic. Even within the meanings previously discussed we see that societies perspective is changing. The boundaries between nature and technology are collapsing. Specifically in the sense that technology is made by resources and elements found in nature such as metals and oil. Technology is also designed to replicate biological functions and complexity (Arthur 204). Technological terminology is representative of biological or natural terms such as a computer having a virus. Technology according to Schatzki (2003:83) was always a means to meet an end of some human purpose. However one could argue that now technology is no longer just a means but a human necessity, without it many people and cities in particular will not be able to function. Cox (1989:7) describes art and technology as two fields that can feed off each other, suggesting that technology is not static and separate from everything around