II.
THEGLOBALIZATIONOFTHETECHNOCRATICPARADIGM
106. The basic problem goes even deeper: it is the way that humanity has taken up technology and
its development
according to anundifferentiated and one-dimensional paradigm
. This paradigm exalts
the concept of a subject who, using logical and rational procedures, progressively approaches and gains
control over an external object. This subject makes every effort to establish the scientific and
experimental method, which in itself is already a technique of possession, mastery and transformation.
It is as if the subject were to find itself in the presence of something formless, completely open to
manipulation. Men and women have constantly intervened in nature, but for a long time this meant
being in tune with and respecting the possibilities offered by the things themselves. It was amatter of
receivingwhat nature itself allowed, as if from its own hand. Now, by contrast, we are the ones to lay
our hands on things, attempting to extract everything possible from themwhile frequently ignoring or
forgetting the reality in front of us. Human beings and material objects no longer extend a friendly
hand to one another; the relationship has become confrontational. This has made it easy to accept the
idea of infinite or unlimited growth, which proves so attractive to economists, financiers and experts in
technology. It is based on the lie that there is an infinite supply of the earth’s goods, and this leads to
the planet being squeezed dry beyond every limit. It is the false notion that “an infinite quantity of
energy and resources are available, that it is possible to renew them quickly, and that the negative
effects of the exploitation of thenatural order can be easilyabsorbed”.
86
107. It can be said that many problems of today’s world stem from the tendency, at times
unconscious, to make the method and aims of science and technology an epistemological paradigm
which shapes the lives of individuals and the workings of society. The effects of imposing this model
on reality as awhole, human and social, are seen in the deterioration of the environment, but this is just
one sign of a reductionismwhich affects every aspect of human and social life. We have to accept that
technological products are not neutral, for they create a framework which ends up conditioning
lifestyles and shaping social possibilities along the lines dictated by the interests of certain powerful
groups. Decisions which may seem purely instrumental are in reality decisions about the kind of
societywewant to build.
86
PONTIFICALCOUNCILFOR JUSTICEANDPEACE,
Compendium of theSocialDoctrine of theChurch
, 462.
