Technology is an end as well as a means
- Necessity is the mother of invention.
- Each new invention creates new needs.
- This leads to more invention.
- This feedback loop is an exponential function limited by resources.
- Resource accessibility is itself a need spawning invention.
These factors combine to produce first industrial, then technological revolutions.
- Invention is to some extent the searching of a phase space for a solution space.
- Initially, finding any part of the solution space is regarded as a success.
- When a solution is known, the terms are redefined to map the solution space in search of higher-yield solutions.
This is an evolutionary process.
- At any point in the evolution of a technology, the immediately preceding state was a necessary precursor.
Therefore technology is an end as well as a means.
Technologist, bootstrap thyself!