Benhur's version
Once upon a time, in the distant past, there were two brothers named Prometheus and
Epimetheus. They were Titans. They were not human but divine beings. These two brothers were
assigned a task to create living beings on planet Earth. Epimetheus volunteers to do the job and
tells his brother to go away and not to worry about it. Prometheus says ok. Epimetheus assigns
certain powers to each animal. For instance, some have strength like the lion; some have speed
like the eagle; some have camouflage like the chameleon, and so on. He is very proud of the job
he does because he distributes these powers in such a way that there is balance and harmony
(equilibrium) among all the species. No ingle species could dominate the others. Prometheus
comes back and is shocked to see the result. Why? Because Epimetheus forgets about humans!
He doesn’t bestow anything to them. So, humans end up not having any power, any special
ability. They are naked. It is a big disaster. So, what does Prometheus do? Prometheus is the wise
brother. He steals the fire from the Gods and gives it to humans. Fire is technology. It is techne.
The art of technology. Tool-making. What happens to Prometheus next? He gets punished by
Zeus because he was not supposed to give the power of fire, the power to make things, to
humans. If humans have that kind of power, they can get too powerful and challenge the rule of
the gods!
Long story short, in the beginning, human beings are without any pre-given (pre-determined)
skills, talents, or powers. They are not determined from the very beginning. They are
indeterminate. Techne is about the art of creating things. The capacity to learn to make things is
our gift. The capacity to adapt to new conditions. The capacity to survive in any environmental
condition is our gift using technology.
In other words, technology is not just an addition to our life. It is the very thing that makes our
life possible.