00100	INTRODUCTION TO TECHNOLOGY DRAFTS
00200	
00300	
00400		These articles are drafts of sections of a forthcoming
00500	book on technology on society.
00600	
00700	They are made available for comment now in the hopes that the
00800	final book will be improved thereby.
00900	
01000		The thesis of the book is that human life can be made
01100	better by the application of a lot more technology of the
01200	right kind.  In so far as can be done with the effort I have
01300	been able to put in, I have been as specific as
01400	I could about the inventions and improvements that will
01500	make these improvements in life.  All the technology proposed
01600	is based on present science, and almost all of it is either
01700	economically feasible now or will be provided some of the
01800	improvements in productivity also proposed are realized.
01900	
02000		In order to demonstrate the thesis of the book, it
02100	would seem that I ought to prove the following:
02200	
02300		1. If certain new technology were available and used,
02400	then human life would be improved.  This requires making
02500	explicit what is presumed about what would constitute an
02600	improvement.
02700	
02800		2. It is appropriate to think about improvements
02900	rather than merely about how to avert disaster.
03000	
03100		I shall summarize my views about these points:
03200	
03300		1. Human welfare has many components not all of
03400	which are affectable by technology.  However, the following are
03500	worthwhile goals and are affectable by technology:
03600	
03650			a. It is better to be rich than to be poor.
03700	Access to more material goods has improved
03800	human life and can still do so.  However, the American upper
03900	middle class has reached a point of diminishing returns with
04000	respect to the goods now available.  Much more benefit
04100	can from come from inventing new goods than from increased
04200	availability of the present ones.  This is not true of
04300	most of the population of the world and of a substantial
04400	part of the U.S. population.  Both goals will be pursued in
04500	the book.
04600	
04700			b. More personal freedom is better than less.