I have a personal hobby in music. I was listening to some Appalachian mountain music, the cornerstone of Bluegrass, and the lyrics of a particular song that was written by a young man in his early 20's was telling of the limitations of regional / cultural thought. His main theme in the song was, and I quote "We've got to stop the progress."

Okay, what is the implication?

His culture is god-fearing and cannot listen to any reasoning against it no matter how steeped in fact it might be. Why? Because his believe system is his fact and he doesn't need to listen to anything else. Outside his belief system dwells the devil he's been culturally molded to parrot to his own prodigy. Reading is not fundamental to education in his culture's midst because that education is the work of the devil.

The bible, being such a messy work of fiction, cannot be depended upon to identify itself as a fact-based work at the virtuous level of science and empiricism, so it must depend upon the meme of deceit and that it does with gusto. Deceit is also known as the high-dollar word doctrine. Doctrine sounds sophisticated to the simpleton and the commanding directive part of its message is dogma. This the simpleton can grasp and feel comfortable with as a path to go by. He does not need but the horse, the field and the plow, or plough if you prefer, a good woman and a house of worship. This oversimplifies this man but for its intent the picture is accurate.

Technological advancement is synonymous with progress and that is not at the command of simple people. Simple people prefer to see and steer for themselves how their lives and beliefs unfold. Technology exacerbates that desire and defeats it in practice. So, we must stop the progress, revert back to our old but adequate lifestyles, worship the god du jour and only then earn the title of Good People.

We must unburden ourselves of the run-away technological unraveling of the warp and weave of an old world sense of community and be happy we have the simple things that define a good life.

Any takers?

@Pitar: "be happy we have the simple things that define a good life. Any takers?"

Nope. Technology defines us. Birds fly. Horses run. People create tools. Even the Amish have wheels on their carts and use hammers, nails, and saws to build their houses. They symbolically reject telephones, engines and zippers, but fundamentally they are still as dependent on technology as everyone else.

Our technology has always had the potential to harm us and the environment. Slash-and-burn agriculture, over-hunting, over-fishing, and the arms race have been around for a long time. Now for the first time we have the technology to understand and counteract these problems. New energy technologies will soon free us from the specter of anthropogenic climate change (though natural climate change will continue). ICT will allow us to work globally and live locally. I've been working in Tokyo while living in New Zealand/Australia for the past 30 years. It was tricky at first, but now it's virtually seamless and cost-free thanks to the Internet.

The downside of your "old world sense of community" is the sense of otherness with which we viewed the outside world. That made it easy for priests and demagogues to control us by demonizing other nations, religions, and races. Technology is shattering the borders and frameworks of our old communities, but I see signs of a new global sense of community rising from the wreckage.

Technology is also the sword that will eventually slash through the Gordian knot of religion. For example, brain scanning technology will allow us to identify and synthesize the mental states associated with so-called religious experiences.