6
progress; a belief that has not always characterized men's
thoughts. Greek and Roman writers thought that a cyclical
state (rather than continued progress toward a better
human condition) more closely described the affairs of
man. The passage of time was thought to yield deteriora
tion, a descent from a golden age of simplicity that
could be reestablished only by divine intervention;
thence, again, from better to worse to better to worse
the whole process yielding an endless series of identical
cycles. The accumulation of knowledge might allow philos
ophers to free their thoughts and enjoy knowledge for its
own sake, but the application of that knowledge to the
betterment of mankind's condition was not generally
conceived.
While historical parallels are dangerous, it is
worth realizing that we are not the first to have held
an overwhelming belief in the power of technology to
improve and control our environment. Aeschylus also
believed "in man's unlimited capacity for controlling
nature, a confidence inspired by a spate of extraordinary
CtechnologicalU successes ..." But the belief in the
power of technology soon waned. We find in Euripides
. . the doubt and pessimism of intellectuals
during the last third of the century in face
of the increasing exploitation of the new
technology by militarists and profiteers in wars
of conquest and plunder.(lO)
10Arthur D. Kahn, "The Greek Tragedians and
Science and Technology," Technology and Culture. XI
(April, 1970), 133.