{"id":41210,"date":"2023-02-20T12:39:03","date_gmt":"2023-02-20T13:39:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/?p=41210"},"modified":"2023-02-20T14:39:19","modified_gmt":"2023-02-20T14:39:19","slug":"pope-technology-must-be-at-the-service-of-humanity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/2023\/02\/20\/pope-technology-must-be-at-the-service-of-humanity\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope: Technology must be at the service of humanity"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Pope Francis addresses participants in a workshop hosted by the Pontifical Academy for Life on the relationship between the person, emerging technologies and the common good, and reiterates that progress of science and technology must always be at the service of human dignity and integral human development. <\/p>\n

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By Lisa Zengarini<\/b><\/p>\n

As it meets for its general assembly this week, the Pontifical Academy for Life is holding a two-day workshop focused on the ethical aspects of the so-called \u201cConverging Technologies\u201d (Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology, and Cognitive Science).<\/p>\n

Entitled \u201cConverging on the person: Emerging Technologies for the Common Good\u201d, the international workshop is taking place on 20-21 February with the participation of academics from around the world.<\/p>\n

In his address to the participants on Monday, Pope Francis highlighted three important challenges in this delicate field \u201cwhere progress, ethics and society meet, and where,” he said, “faith, in its perennial relevance, can provide a valuable contribution.\u201d<\/p>\n

The impact of technological advances on human living conditions<\/h2>\n

The first challenge is the rapid change brought by technological progress in humanity’s living conditions. Indeed, the Pope noted, the “strength and acceleration\u201d of these advances are having an unprecedented impact on the environment and on human living conditions, \u201cwith effects and developments that are not always clear and predictable\u201d, as shown by the multiple crises the world is facing today, from the pandemic to the energy crisis, from the climate crisis to the migration. Therefore, \u201chealthy technological development cannot fail to take these complex interweaving into account\u201d.<\/p>\n

Technology cannot replace human contact and must not forget the vulnerable<\/h2>\n

The second challenge is the impact of new technologies on the definitions of “humanity” and “relationship”, especially with regard to the condition of vulnerable individuals. Noting that the technological form of human experience is becoming ever more \u201cpervasive\u201d, Pope Francis stressed the need for \u201ca serious reflection on the very value of humanity\u201d, and in particular to \u201creaffirm the importance of the concept of personal conscience as a relational experience, which cannot disregard either corporality or culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cIn the network of relationships, both subjective and community, technology cannot replace human contact, the virtual cannot replace the real and neither can social media replace the social sphere.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Pope went on to remark that even within scientific research processes, the relationship between the person and the community signals \u201cincreasingly complex ethical implications\u201d, for example in the health sector, where he highlighted the urgent need to guarantee equal access to care \u201cespecially for the most fragile subjects, such as the disabled, the sick and the poor .\u201c<\/p>\n

Technology and cultures<\/h2>\n

This is why,” he said, it is important \u201cto monitor the speed of transformations, the interaction between changes and the possibility of guaranteeing an overall balance\u201d, also keeping in mind that this balance is different in different cultures.<\/p>\n

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\u201c(Efforts) should be aimed at making sure that everyone grows with the style that is peculiar to them, developing their ability to innovate starting from the values of their own culture.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Promoting mutual understanding between science, technology and society<\/h2>\n

Finally, the third challenge is the definition of the concept of knowledge and the resulting consequences. Noting that \u201cthe type of knowledge we implement already has in itself moral implications\u201d, the Pope underscored the need for more \u201carticulated models\u201d, considering \u201c the intertwining of relationships of which the single events are woven\u201d instead of simplistic approaches.<\/p>\n

In this regard, he noted that the idea highlighted in his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium and above all in his Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’ of a human-centred technical knowledge based on the principle that “the whole is greater than the part\u201d,  and that “everything in the world is intimately connected\u201d, can foster a \u201crenewed way of thinking also in the theological sphere\u201d.  In fact, he said, \u201cit is good that theology continues to overcome eminently apologetic approaches, to contribute to the definition of a new humanism and to encourage mutual listening and mutual understanding between science, technology and society.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe lack of a constructive dialogue between (science, technology and society) impoverishes the mutual trust which is at the basis of all human coexistence and of all forms of “social friendship”.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Role of religions<\/h2>\n

Pope Francis also highlighted the crucial contribution religious traditions can give to this dialogue, noting their ancient wisdom \u201ccan help in these processes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Concluding, Pope Francis encouraged the Pontifical Academy for Life to continue its commitment to ensure that \u201cscientific and technological growth is increasingly reconciled with a parallel development of the human being”, insisting on the importance of \u201ctrans-disciplinary dialogue and collaboration\u201d to address these complex issues.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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