Werkzeuge, Techniken und ihre Kränkungen des Menschen : Versuch einer historischen Rekonstruktion von Schreib- und Denkwerkzeugen vor dem Hintergrund des aktuellen Diskurses um künstliche Intelligenzen

Abstract

Since the emergence of their species, humans have been using tools and techniques to compensate for their physiological and cognitive deficits. It is noteworthy that humans evaluate these tools very differently. While they are predominantly benevolent and open-minded towards tools that support their physiological abilities, they are often very critical of cognitive tools. Understanding this critical attitude is the aim of this article. For this purpose, selected and significant milestones in the development of cognitive tools, especially with an exemplary focus on writing tools, are historically reconstructed. Starting with the development of writing and the transition from an oral to a written culture, through modern book printing, the invention of calculators and computers, and the establishment of the internet and the associated necessity of search engines, to current developments and discussions about artificial intelligences, the article particularly analyzes the critical reactions to these innovations. It becomes apparent that the basic structure of the rejecting-critical argumentation – a withering of human thinking ability – as well as the fears and concerns associated with such developments have been stable at their core for millennia. To understand this attitude, the article proposes an interpretation that describes the development of cognitive tools as a collective narcissistic injury, which seemingly challenges the core of human self-understanding and thus evokes this aversive attitude.