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Technology and the Human Purpose

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This podcast has
50 episodes
Language
English
Explicit
No
Date created
2020/12/29
Latest episode
2026/06/29
Average duration
43 min.
Release period
40 days

Description

In a discussion ranging over the full history of human making (stone tools to modern cities), we centre our perspective of human purpose within a Christian worldview. Our distinctive focus centres on how the Bible's lens on a diverse range of technologies starts within its ancient culture. However, its theological position often transforms those ideas with its own unique moral imagination. Bringing the Bible's ideas to bear on times and places beyond the text, we must grapple with the original cultures and the theological transformation.

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S6E11 Techumanpurpose •• Technology Space-Time - season Final of the everywhere everything all at once revolution
2026/06/29
This episode I do a bit of a recap of the season and also discuss the 4 dimensions of Technology Space-Time Decades of delevlopment and regulatory domestication Technology and culture Space (geography (if it is stuff it happens somewhere) Socio-economic systems and discuss a recent interview between Nobel Prize winner in economics Daron Acemoglu and Fortune magazine.   References not specifically mention in the episode include: 23/06/2026, 12:27 A brief history of car safety innovations - Classics World https://classicsworld.co.uk/history/a-brief-history-of-car-safety-innovations/ 10/16 https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jun/24/elon-musk-trillionaire-spacex https://fortune.com/2026/06/21/nobel-laureate-daron-acemoglu-ai-productivity-capitalism-democracy/
S6E10 Techumanpurpose •• EEAAO – All At Once (Almost) – Humans and the AI event horizon Part 2
2026/06/18
In this episode I continue to discuss the "AI moment" - what I call the Event Horizon. It was recorded before the announcement of the signing of the a ceasefire between the USA and Iran.  Covered in this episode: Gig work, how to think about the person, the tech bro phenomena and their seemingly hatred of people (and this I will say I AI-ed with Google Gemini to a fairly good extent). Whether, they do hate humanity is an open question but they do come across as if they do.  A discussion of order and disorder. In retrospect what I didn't include was the potential rationale that AI will lead to disorder being behind their leanings towards extreme libertarianism mixed with authoritarian leadership.  Ethics versus micro choices.  And a bit of poetry on human flourisng.  This is the notes for both epsiodes. YouTube by Hannah Fry - a must watch really. _Why AI Agents are either the best or worst thing we've ever built_. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnzR5aOElvw Nvidia and SpaceX - IPO – Bloomberg. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J63KvjQlN8M&t=2s Holy Post podcast 722 they talked about the impacts of the cuts to USAID.  The Lancet. https://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2014/07/07/douglas-adams-technology-rules/ CBC Frontburner podcast May 11. – regarding incentives but it is partial. Youtube video by More Perfect Union  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aooiDA-AsNo MIT Technology  Review podcast= The gig workers who are training humanoid robots at home. The Economist May 30th 2026 p63 Barteby How Should Bosses Talk about AI Legal activity problems with AI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgN0fyYKLfc (audio) "Big Tech" versus humans references. https://peoplevsbig.tech https://peoplevsbig.tech/the-movement/ https://www.reddit.com https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/1mejq1d/tech_ceos_dont_seem_to_realise_just_how_antihuman/ https://www.linkedin.com https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mikerosenbergwriting_the-reason-so-many-people-passionately-hate-activity-7460395755845869571-vUFG https://www.linkedin.com https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/human-capital-boards-common-blind-spot-j%C3%B8rgensen-gcb-d-nacd-dc-md0wc https://futurism.com https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-ceos-baffled-hatred https://www.facebook.com https://www.facebook.com/groups/875231447226552/posts/1099404598142568/ https://futurism.com https://futurism.com/future-society/tech-ceo-ai-hate https://keenon.substack.com https://keenon.substack.com/p/why-tech-billionaires-are-so-angry https://www.youtube.com https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ogxwPyJPTMw https://www.humanrightsresearch.org https://www.humanrightsresearch.org/post/big-tech-s-shift-to-the-right https://www.instagram.com https://www.humanrightsresearch.org/post/big-tech-s-shift-to-the-right https://www.amnesty.org https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/08/why-are-big-tech-companies-a-threat-to-human-rights/ https://www.thetimes.com https://www.thetimes.com/business/companies-markets/article/how-world-of-work-changed-times-enterprise-network-t0zvf96wv https://www.wheresyoured.at https://www.wheresyoured.at/techs-elite-hates-labor/ https://medium.com https://medium.com/@adrianbooth/tech-ceos-whos-the-meanest-of-them-all-a684a7da0d20 https://www.reddit.com https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/comments/bhuyjy/the_elitist_nature_of_tech_culture_and_why_its/   https://en.wikipedia.org https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tech_bro https://medium.com https://medium.com/@l.churchill427/why-tech-bros-are-fleeing-silicon-valley-insiders-view-9c4e05f7ab2a https://www.reddit.com https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/1oy535n/tech_capitalists_dont_care_about_humans_literally/ https://nypost.com https://nypost.com/2020/09/26/why-silicon-valley-ceos-are-such-raging-psychopaths/ https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/idols-of-the-valley
S6E9 Techumanpurpose •• AEEAAO – All At Once – Humans and the AI event Horizon part 1
2026/06/01
Every now and then a new technology comes along that fills our field of view from horizon to horizon. AI is now in that moment where other technologies like atomic power has been before. What are we to make of this moment? That is the point of this little series. Show notes will be included with the final episode.
S6E8 Techumanpurpose •• EEAAO All at once (nearly) - A bestiary of 21st century world
2026/05/08
In the Everywhere, Everything, All At Once Revolution (Almost), how do we get into our moment? We need a new bestiary (Latin: bestiarium vocabulum) is a compendium of beasts.  Some academic articles. Business History Review 98 (Spring 2024): 203–236. doi:10.1017/S0007680523000946. The Will to Chaos and Disorder: The Behemoth as a Model of Political Economy. Leviathan And Kraken: States, Corporations, And Political Economy Robert Fredona, Sophus A. Reinert 2020 https://doi.org/10.1111/hith.12153  https://news.asu.edu/20231009-solutions-monsters-cybersecurity-and-how-slay-them The Westpac ad https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0UEMlfTj_M And an analysis of it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFBGqncN3WU Introduction News concludes 9:30 Corporate Raiders Min 11:00 The bestiary min 14:00 5 Horsemen of the apocalypse A – Avatar B – Behemoth B – Big Brother B – Black Swans B - Bots B - Bugs C - Chatbots D - Dragons E F – Frankenstein G – Godzilla G - H I J K – Kraken K – Kings (Dragon) L – Leviathan M – Magnificent 7 M - Minotaur N O P – Phishers P -Pigs Q R - Gray Rhinos S T – Trolls T - Trojan U - Unicorns V – Vampires V - Viruses W – Double You W – Worms W - Werewolves X Y Z
S6E7 Techumanpurpose •• EEAAO Everything (nearly) - Services change is mostly manufactured
2026/04/07
This is the second season of my roll of the dice series. In this season I am focussing of the changes throughout the economy, and less on the values behind and being pushed by those changes. I think it is really important to take stock and observe so we are clear about what is happening. This episode really is about everything. Well almost. The technological disruptions occurring across the enormous services sector are fascinating. This is just a little snapshot of the last few years of developments.  Covered in this episode. D Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply E Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities F Construction G Wholesale and retail trade H Transportation and storage I Accommodation and food service activities J Publishing, broadcasting, and content production and distribution activities K Telecommunications, computer programming, consultancy, computing infrastructure, and other information service activities L Financial and insurance activities M Real estate activities N Professional, scientific and technical activities O Administrative and support service activities P Public administration and defence; compulsory social security Q Education R Human health and social work activities S Arts, sports and recreation T Other service activities U Activities of households as employers; undifferentiated goods- and services-producing activities of households for own use V Activities of extraterritorial organizations and bodies ------- Some notes  Global supply chains. https://unctad.org/news/gas-grain-fertilizer-disruptions-raise-risks-food-security-and-trade  https://www.economies.com/forex/news/beyond-oil:-which-global-supply-chains-has-the-iran-conflict-disrupted%20-48545   The intro and outro music is 'fantasy orchestra' available at https://freesound.org/
S6E6 Techumanpurpose •• AEEAAO Everything (nearly) - Industries - Agriculture, Mining & Manufacturing
2026/03/26
This is the second season of my roll of the dice series. This episode really is about everything. Well almost. The technological developments occurring across agriculture, mining and manufacturing are breath taking. This is just a little snapshot of the last few years of developments.  Normally, I like to add a bunch of references. This episode has too many, and I have accumulated this knowledge over decades of watching and doing analysis in this field. However, wikipedia has been really valuable in checking some of the specifics of ships sizes. Here is a link to the aerospace company mentioned https://beta.team/   You may think I was a bit skimpy on the computer industry, which is true but it gets enormous coverage and sometimes it is important to focus everywhere else.    The intro and outro music is 'fantasy orchestra' available at https://freesound.org/
S6E5 Techumanpurpose For those coming in late or those a bit baffled by what I am doing
2026/03/23
If you are wondering how I think about building the arc of story telling through this podcast and multiples seasons, this little podcast may help.
S6E4 Techumanpurpose •• AEEAAO – Everything (Well Almost) AI The Backoffice of the Economy
2026/01/20
Well we finally get there. I get around to talking about AI. Because of its widespread use and various applications I thought it best to do a bit of a big survey of many the ways we currently use AI.      Here are some story notes. The Economist - The World Ahead 2026 How are people using AI technology now (well 2023) https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/04/14/upshot/up-ai-uses.html  Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. CBC Nov 2025 - The human labour to improve AI answers. https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/ai-economy-human-labour-data-annotation-fine-tuning-jobs-9.6967918  Deloitte in Australia partly wrote a government policy brief using AI and it was wrong. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/oct/06/deloitte-to-pay-money-back-to-albanese-government-after-using-ai-in-440000-report CBC white coat black arts. Chatbots. The human face of 'AI psychosis' https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/audio/9.6899214 Mentioned: Kevin Kelly The Inevitable.  https://www.amazon.ca/Inevitable-Understanding-Technological-Forces-Future/dp/0143110373
S6E3 Techumanpurpose •• (A)EEAAO The (Almost) Everything Revolution - the periodic and bio table of our economy.mp3
2025/12/16
The episode is all about how we use stuff and how much we use. From growing almonds to cooling data centres to our global probably unsustainable use of sand.  Just a few of the resources used to make this podcast. Australian social media ban for under 16s https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/dec/04/social-media-ban-instagram-facebook-accounts-shutting-down-closing-teen-under-16-australia  Almonds production. https://www.almonds.org/sites/default/files/2020-05/Water_footprint_plus_almonds.pdf  2012 PNAS. The water footprint of humanity Arjen Y. Hoekstra and Mesfin M. Mekonnen www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1109936109  Water and Data centres https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-63-the-current/clip/16163527-can-deleting-eails-help-save-water-drought  Data Centres AI Power and Water Usage (Goodyear Data Centre). https://andthewest.stanford.edu/2025/thirsty-for-power-and-water-ai-crunching-data-centers-sprout-across-the-west/  Really excellent explanation.https://theconversation.com/data-centers-consume-massive-amounts-of-water-companies-rarely-tell-the-public-exactly-how-much-262901# MIT Technology Review - We did the math on AI's energy footprint. Here's the story you haven't heard.   ABC – Globally Sand is a problem. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-25/sand-mining-impacts-vietnam-bridges/104511578\  https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/latenightlive/sand-shortage-daniel-franks/105918556   The intro and outro music is 'fantasy orchestra' available at https://freesound.org/
S6E2 Techumanpurpose •• The (Almost) Everywhere Revolution
2025/11/27
The season is all about the (almost) everywhere everything all at once revolution we are living through at the present moment. Today, its about the almost everywhere nature of change.  We live in a fast changing world it seems.  While the world tech hubs are still the mountain peaks of the global technosphere, the 21st technologies are mostly quickly beginning to spread. Everything is changing it seems but how far do the changes go.  Notes News  Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/investigations/meta-is-earning-fortune-deluge-fraudulent-ads-documents-show-2025-11-06/  . Pay Wall but the first para is readable.  LLM and Roomba. https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/llm-robot-vacuum-existential-crisis  Go listen to Holy Post 696: Transcending Our Political Divisions & Labels with Andy Beshear. Development. Dani Rodrik Journal Econ Growth (2016) 21:1–33.  Premature Deindustrialisation Energy. International Energy Agency. Access to electricity stagnates, leaving globally 730 million in the dark. https://www.iea.org/commentaries/access-to-electricity-stagnates-leaving-globally-730-million-in-the-dark  Mobility. The Economist October 4th 2025. Automation. Way more. SAN FRANCISCO. The peculiar economics of self-driving taxis.  AI and Development. Technology: Leaps and limits. Can artificial intelligence make the poor world richer? Economist 25 October 2025 p63-64. Weird and Wonderful. Those Year 7 students https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-02/3d-printed-hands-made-by-port-macquarie-high-school-sudents/105793670  Utter disruption. Suspected drone sightings disrupt flights at Belgium airports. BBC 4 Nov 2025 https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyk9k399lyo The intro and outro music is 'fantasy orchestra' available at https://freesound.org/ Watch out for more information and connected content with each episode on the blog https://theology-and-technology.blogspot.com/
S6E1 Techumanpurpose •• Introduction - Almost everywhere everything all at once revolution
2025/10/31
Notes  The intro and outro music is 'fantasy orchestra' available at https://freesound.org/ Futureviille https://www.amazon.ca/Futureville-Discover-Purpose-Reimagining-Tomorrow/dp/1595554610/ref=monarch_sidesheet_title  Jesse Nickel. A Revolutionary Jesus: Violence and Peacemaking in the Kingdom of God https://www.fortresspress.com/store/product/9781506483351/A-Revolutionary-Jesus  CPX Centre for Public Christianity https://publicchristianity.org/podcast/which-dystopia-won/  Douglas Adams https://timharford.com/2025/09/cautionary-tales-dont-panic-douglas-adams-guide-to-tomorrow-with-arvind-ethan-david/
S5E9 Techumanpurpose • Human Dimension- Combo Lock 4 – The Bads, Crime, Security, Violence , War and Order
2025/04/10
Notes Questions or comments to [email protected] Anthropology and economics: Undeceptions by John Dickson https://undeceptions.com/podcast/the-anthropologists/ Amnesty International – gun violence https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/arms-control/gun-violence Pew Research https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/03/05/what-the-data-says-about-gun-deaths-in-the-us/#:~:text=On%20a%20per%20capita%20basis,16.3%20per%20100%2C000%20in%201974. Statistics Canada. Table 35-10-0059-01  Police services expenditures, by detailed expenditures (x 1,000) DOI: https://doi.org/10.25318/3510005901-eng National Geographic ancient copper fraud https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/ea-nasir-copper-merchant-ur BBC news – Kobe Steel. http://ww.bbc.com/news/business-41607008 The Economist Scam Inc. (article and podcast both behind paywall) https://www.economist.com/leaders/2025/02/06/the-vast-and-sophisticated-global-enterprise-that-is-scam-inc   https://www.economist.com/audio/podcasts/scam-inc Casinos, high-rises and fraud: The BBC visits a bizarre city built on scams https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c04nx1vnw17o Jerrod Brown, Jeffrey Long-McGie, Judge Anthony Wartnik, Pamela Oberoi, Janina Wresh, Erv Weinkauf, Gennae Falconer, & Alyse Kerr Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders in the Criminal Justice System: A Review. JOURNAL OF LAW ENFORCEMENT, VOLUME 3, NUMBER 6 Lautensach, A., & Lautensach, S. (Eds.)  2020 Human Security in World Affairs: Problems and Opportunities (2nd edition) chapter 13. Transnational Crime John Wilson   The US econ in 2025 is est. to be about                     30.3 trillion $ The Chinese Econ                                                       19.5 trillion Germany                                                                     5 Trillion The 2017 Global Financial Integrity report suggested that just for transnational crime https://gfintegrity.org/report/transnational-crime-and-the-developing-world/   Transnational Crime Estimated Annual Value (US$) Counterfeiting $923 billion to $1.13 trillion Drug Trafficking $426 billion to $652 billion Illegal Logging $52 billion to $157 billion Human Trafficking $150.2 billion Illegal Mining $12 billion to $48 billion IUU Fishing $15.5 billion to $36.4 billion Illegal Wildlife Trade $5 billion to $23 billion Crude Oil Theft $5.2 billion to $11.9 billion Small Arms & Light Weapons Trafficking $1.7 billion to $3.5 billion Organ Trafficking $840 million to $1.7 billion Total $1.6 trillion to $2.2 trillion   That was 2017.     Now there was one missing from that list. Bloomberg reported in 2024 that cyber crime alone was probably worth 9.5 Trillion making it the 3rd largest economy on the planet. https://sponsored.bloomberg.com/quicksight/check-point/the-worlds-third-largest-economy-has-bad-intentions-and-its-only-getting-bigger Facebook and scam ads - Andrew Forrest https://www.proactiveinvestors.com.au/companies/news/1068185/us-judge-orders-meta-to-explain-230-000-scam-ads-using-andrew-forrest-s-image-1068185.html   Recommendations Podcast – Ask N T Wright Anything
S5E8 Techumanpurpose • Human Dimension – Global Development
2025/03/17
Notes.  If you want to get in touch [email protected]  For a brilliant book to read about the human scale of helping the poor then read this. Rhythms of Poverty: Reconsidering our affluent approach to the poor Paperback – Aug. 16 2013 by Murray Nickel (Author)  https://www.amazon.ca/Rhythms-Poverty-Reconsidering-affluent-approach/dp/0992020913  Holy Post with David French - A Unified Theory of Trump https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXTm6RxQ3Pk The Economist https://www.economist.com/leaders/2025/02/27/donald-trump-has-begun-a-mafia-like-struggle-for-global-power https://www.worldbank.org/ext/en/home World Bank Poverty, Prosperity, and Planet Report 2024 World Development Report 2024 LSE on development https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh7TIYuU4JM&t=3930s Deirdre McCloskey The Bourgeois Virtues: Ethics for an Age of Commerce. Vol. 1 of 3 of the trilogy "The Bourgeois Era,", University of Chicago Press, 2006, as a trade book, 616 + Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Can't Explain the Modern World. Vol. 2 of 3 of the trilogy "The Bourgeois Era," 2010, University of Chicago Press, 571 Especially. Bourgeois Equality: How Ideas, Not Capital or Institutions, Enriched the World. Vol. 3 of the trilogy "The Bourgeois Era," 2016 OECD data on development assistance https://www.oecd.org/en/about/committees/development-assistance-committee.html NPR on USAID https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2025/03/10/g-s1-52964/rubio-announces-that-83-of-usaid-contracts-will-be-canceled CNN https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/08/americas/china-us-migrants-illegal-crossings-intl-hnk-dst/index.html ABC New Daily 2024-05-22 Why Chinese people are the latest boat people ABC [Australia] South Africa – Lust for Red Gold. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-26/south-africa-copper-crime-wave/104384580
S5E7 - Techumanpurpose • human dimensions - Jobs Clothing Food Housing
2025/03/03
Some reference material. Remaking the World: How 1776 Created the Post-Christian West Andrew Wilson. https://www.amazon.ca/Remaking-World-1776-Created-Post-Christian/ https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/statistics/research-datasets A millennium of macroeconomic data – stretching back to 1086.  Peter Mathias The First Industrial Nation https://www.routledge.com/The-First-Industrial-Nation-The-Economic-History-of-Britain-1700-1914/Mathias/p/book/9780415266727?srsltid=AfmBOoqnHA_j01irBsL2hSUMInjDIZ7zGi20ZhM5oHiSTsha6odNrJqq David Tomson. https://www.amazon.ca/England-nineteenth-century-1815-1914-Thomson/dp/B00BO7SRCG Child and infant mortality https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality Edwin Judge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgqzDfkr_6M  John Dickson Podcast Undeceptions Episode 76 - 5 minute Jesus - hospitals https://undeceptions.com/history/5-minute-jesus-the-churchs-hospitals/ Fabiola of Rome https://undeceptions.com/podcast/the-pandemic-love-single/ Jobs.New Frontiers: The Origins And Content Of New Work, 1940–2018 in The Quarterly Journal of Economics. Listen also to Freakonomics Radio podcast 605 on what do people do all day. Here is a video of kiwibots https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGNpqvHAydE Haber-Bosch Process explained https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1_D4FscMnU From Rikk Watts 2001 On the Edge of the Millennium- Making Sense of Genesis 1 And – 2002. The New Exodus / New Creational Restoration of the Image of God
S5E6 techumanpurpose • December and Christmas Break
2024/12/20
Just a note about what happened to the promised episode on jobs, clothing, food and shelter. + of course Merry Christmas and best wishes for 2025.

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