Reflection on Paley

Are machines able to coexist with us in our world? This is the question I can’t help but ask myself when I read Paley’s Natural theology. In his opening, palely discusses how a stone is quite different from a watch. If one were to come across a stone while walking about, he/she would not question it. A stone is part of nature, therefore it doesn’t startle a person if they see one; they just except it for being there. However, if one were to come across a watch, then questions arise. How did the watch get there? Who made it? Why is it here? Paley’s argues that this shows how machines are quite different form nature.

Personally, I believe that Paley’s article is somewhat dated and that machines are becoming a large part of nature. In some cases, they take preferences over nature. For instance, if you were walking down a city street and encountered a watch, would it really be a surprise? Broken watches and gadgets are all around the city. Batteries, broken phones, shoes, and many “unnatural” objects are strewn about the city streets. However, if we were walking down a city street and encountered a rock, wouldn’t that raise questions? How did a rock get into the city? More so what is it doing on this city street?

We humans have become comfortable with technology and have thus embedded it in our culture. Technology is now a part of us and is rapidly advancing. Despite these advancements, we are advancing with technology as well. I believe that how natural something is for us depends on how long it has been in our world.

As a child, I remember seeing a computer at a friend’s house and being completely fascinated. After all, my family didn’t have a computer and nor did anyone else really. Nowadays though, that excitement has died down tremendously. Virtually every household has a computer and I’ve seen dozens of computers throughout my life time. When I enter a friend’s house there is no excitement over the presence of a computer, in fact it’s almost expected that they have a computer.

During the 1830’s, when Paley was writing, watches weren’t as common as they are now a day. Back then men cherished their watches and they were somewhat of a luxury. Thus, they were somewhat “rare”, and seeing a watch left in public was the equivalent to finding a laptop left on a street in today’s world.

The more we become acquainted with technology the more we become use to it and accept it as part of our world. In Paley’s time, watches were rare and a luxury; nowadays, they play a huge role. Although watches are somewhat outdated, the concept of time that they spawned is everywhere. Our society lives off of time. Time, a thought contrived by man and brought forth by technology, has become so natural to us that it has been incorporated into physics equations, mathematical definitions and many other things that we use to define nature.

As humans we are given the gift of thought and creation. With that in mind it is almost silly to not consider technology apart of nature. Technology is the very essence of our creative passion it’s a phenomenal way in which we humans can express our ability to think and create. Technology will always be foreign to us when in it’s early stages, but in time, we’ll find technology to be a valuable addition to our ever changing world and slowly accept it as a part of our nature.