TECHNOLOGY AND THE FUTURE - ON DREAMING THE IMPOSSIBLE

My comment on Ethics in an Age of Technology, volume 2 of Ian G. Barbo ur's Gifford Lectures, acknowledges the excellence of Barbour's depict ions of the social-cum-technological problems facing humanity in the c oming millennium. Barbour's proposed solutions, too, are reasonable - but usually presuppose fundamental reforms in social values, especiall y within the powerful industrialized societies. Without further analys is of technology and values, this seems to make such solutions ''impos sible dreams.'' My thesis is that clear analysis of the ideal aspects of technology (as itself the embodiment of knowledge and values), plus clues from Alfred North Whitehead on the dynamics of social change, c an reinforce hope even in ''impossible'' dreams. First, technology, th ough embodied in solid material machinery and powerful social institut ions, is no more ''solid'' than constant reaffirmation of the values b ehind it (as was the case with the Berlin Wall). Second, great ideals, over time, have the power to help create the conditions of their own possibility. Social change is both ''pushed'' by coercive forces (e.g. , climate changes) and ''pulled'' by great values (e.g., human dignity ). Therefore there are practical benefits to be gained from attending to, and celebrating, even currently ''impossible'' dreams as they work to make themselves possible.