1965 - A Humanistic Technology

Rickover Speech at Georgetown University in 1964.

Rickover, H. G. (1965). A Humanistic Technology. American Behavioral Scientist, 9(1), 3-8. https://doi.org/10.1177/000276426500900102

Abstract: "Humanistically viewed, technology is not an end in itself but a means to an end, the end being determined by man." So says Admiral Rickover in this speech which he gave at George town University's Symposium on Cybernetics and Society, November, 1964.

NYTimes covered the Georgetown speech with the following article on Nov 19, 1964:

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 —Vice Adm. Hyman G. Rickover said tonight that both governmental and private organizations were disregarding human considerations in making technological decisions.

Too often, he declares, technological decisions are being made "on the basis of short range, private interests with no regard for the interests of others or the possibilities of harmful, long‐range side effects.”

He traced this "ruthlessness” in technological decisions to what he called a widespread tendency, even among policy makers in government, to confuse technology with science.

The methods of science, he said, require the rigorous exclusion of the human factor. But technology cannot claim the authority of science, and what is done with technology must be subject to the traditional concepts of ethics and morals, he said.

Admiral Rickover spoke before a symposium on "cybernetics and society” being held in connection with the 175th anniversary celebration of Georgetown University.

The two‐day symposium is considering the social and psychological implications of the new science of cybernetics, which deals with computer control of human or machine activities.

Admiral Rickover called for a "humanistic attitude” toward modern technology on the part of the public and the public's leaders. He said there must be a recognition that technology "is a product of human effort, a product serving no other purpose than to benefit man —man in general, not merely some men.”

Neither public opinion nor the law, he said, has "caught up with the new destructive potential” of technology, “which is why perpetrators of technological damage often as not escape with impunity.”

Technology, Admiral Rickover said, is not “an irrepressible force of nature to which we must meekly submit.” It is, he said, nothing but “the artifacts fashioned by modern man to increase his powers of mind and body.”

“Marvelous as they are, we must not let ourselves be overawed by these artifacts,” he said. “They certainly do not dictate how we should use them; nor by their mere existence do they authorize actions that were not anteriorly lawful.”

As one step toward humanizing technology, he suggested that students be required to have a liberal arts education before going on to engineering In most cases, he said, engineering schools are now “mere trade schools, though often excellent in their narrow field.”