What good is technology?

The history of mankind has been measured by our advancements in technology. The Stone Age, the Bronze Age, the discovery of electricity, even the history of warfare is marked by technological advancements. But in the world of fiction, superior technology seems to always lose out to a strong by passionate inferior fighting force.

As I type this it is New Year’s Eve and on Spike TV there is a Star Wars marathon. The Galactic Empire has a vast array of advanced weaponry (blasters, speeder bikes, AT-ATs etc.) but in the end they are defeated by a bunch of space bears. That’s right. I am talking about Ewoks. A primitive culture that has barely mastered bow and arrows defeats an army that was able to conquer an entire galaxy. But the truth is, the Empire just doesn’t have the passion to fight. Endor is the Ewoks’ home. The Empire is only using the planet to beam a deflector shield around the still under construction (“Fully armed and operational” though) Death Star. It’s not their home and as soon as the Death Star II would have been finished they would have moved on, not caring about a bunch of space bears.

And that is the cusp of the argument. Technological superiority means nothing against a dedicated and passionate fighting force. The humans fighting against the machines in both the Matrix and Terminator franchise; The Na’Avi verses the marines in Avatar. Even the Xenomorphs in Alien(s) seem to be superior fighters to the well-equipped and well-trained Colonial Marines.  Ironically though, factual history has always showed the opposite. The British won over the French due to the superiority of the British long bow. The Native Americans were slaughtered by the superior firepower of the conquering Americans. Neanderthals were wiped out by the superior tools and weapons of early Homo-Sapiens. Reality does not favor the underdog but fiction always does.

There is a simple reason for this. A technologically superior power decimating a less advanced culture is not dramatically interesting. All humans have endured some form of difficulty in our lives, though perhaps not as cinematic as what we see in pictures. But when we experience these difficult moments we like to think we will somehow get through it. And that is why we enjoy seeing dramatic stories about an underdog facing impossible odds. Part of us see ourselves in the struggling hero and we want them to succeed. No one wants to see themselves as the conquering despots but instead as the rebellious heroes. And you can only be a rebellious hero if you are an underdog.

 

Despite our fast paced technologically advancing society, there is still a fear by many to be “early adopters” (term for people who purchase a new technology as soon as it is released). People get into a routine and those routines can be hard to break.