What Technology Wants

• Technology as an Evolving Organism: Kelly argues that technology should be seen as a quasi-living system. The technium behaves according to evolutionary principles, paralleling biological systems in how it grows, adapts, and seeks complexity and diversity over time. ^{[1imukt] [0d08p6]}
• What Technology “Wants”: The book proposes that technology has inclinations—such as increasing complexity, diversity, mutualism, and sentience—that guide its development. ^{[1imukt] [0d08p6]}
• Historical and Futuristic Analysis: By tracing 50,000 years of technological history and projecting into the future, Kelly identifies “trajectories” that show how certain outcomes and innovations are inevitable, given the system’s structure . ^[1imukt]
• Human Agency and Responsibility: Although technology displays its own tendencies, humans remain co-evolutionary partners with it. Kelly urges that understanding these trajectories allows us to better align our values, educate ourselves and future generations, and proactively shape technologies for positive outcomes. ^{[1imukt] [0d08p6]}
• Meaning and Opportunity: The technium is ultimately presented as an amplifier of possibilities, enriching human life, meaning, and creativity by expanding the “adjacent possible”—the set of next-step innovations that current systems make viable. ^{[hb64vn] [n2qunq]}

• Listen to what technology wants to prepare for inevitable change.
• Use principles of proaction (deliberate preparation and steering) and engagement (active participation) to maximize technology’s benefits.
• Align with the long-term imperatives of technology to harness its full potential for human flourishing. ^[0d08p6]

Citations