I have finally finished my fall desert poetry series, and it was both a joy and a challenge to write. Many of my fall journeys were deeply intertwined with Native American mythology, ruins, and history, and this series largely reflects that. I learned about the Hopi in New Mexico and the Pueblo in Arizona, and a healing well in Palm Springs. Chasing down these mythologies was hard but rewarding. The poems reference the Hopi creation myth, the O'Odham Man in the Maze, the role of the Hummingbird in the Sonoran Yaqui tribe, and the Yavapai Sun People.
At the same time, the fall was filled with uncertainty as the election loomed closer over my head and international news continued to shift. My travels were punctuated by conversations about Palestine at places like Zion National Park and discussions about likely voters with the political aficionados in my life.
One thing that emerged strongly from this semester at school is an interest in our shared futures. This semester, I structured my classes to be future-focused, and one of the concepts I explored was Cosmo-technics. This is the belief that cosmology, or the stars, guide our technological development. It is a culturally conscious perspective that, for me, lacked not in theory but in its practical applications. In my last series, I researched and discussed the mythologies and cosmologies of the Aztec empire alongside their expansion.
As the empire grew, it transitioned from subsistence farming to storing crops, surplus, goods, and tribute. This shift led to advancements in technologies like chinampas, floating gardens, and cōcalli, meaning granaries. While these innovations did not physically transform raw materials, they represented a turning point where nature was increasingly ordered and controlled through technology. This process was still cosmologically framed through redistribution, sacrifice, and divine offerings, but it also served as a tool for empire expansion and the control of land, labor, and captured tribes. While it was morally acceptable at the time it is a case that we would view as culturally relative, especially with things like human sacrifice.
In contrast, many of the mythologies I explored in this series reflect a different balance with the universe, one before empires grew large enough for their technologies to reveal desires for conquest. It seems that belief systems, much like modern religions, are shaped by material contexts and social structures rather than existing in a moral vacuum. I would like to believe that the cosmo-technic view of a balanced relationship with nature is one worth striving for, even as empirical desires strive against it. In recent months, I have encountered more extreme weather events than ever in my travels, from intense heat camping in Arcosanti to deep freezes in light sweaters in Chicago. The climate crisis is undeniably catching up with the West. While my personal carbon footprint is not award-winning, I was still moved to tears witnessing droughts and wildfires consume the country. My climate advocacy has been mostly nationally focused, but seeing the destruction firsthand made it more immediate.
With policy rollbacks on hold for now, I have been finding myself drawn to technology and the theory that technology acts as a revelation. According to Heidegger, technology is the ordering of raw materials for use, and within this relationship lies an inherent perception of control. This aligns with the humanist view that the mind governs the body. In this framework, nature, bodies, and technology are subject to control by the mind.
However, in my readings of Native American mythologies, I found a perspective that is more post-human in nature. Post-humanism is often associated with technology, but I see a parallel between the co-evolution of technology and the Southwestern indigenous view of co-evolution with nature. I propose that nature and technology are not fundamentally different. Rather, technology reveals certain aspects of nature, and our anxieties about technology stem from the realization that it is, in fact, an extension of nature. In earlier times, we believed we could control nature. Now, our fears revolve around our lack of control over it. We are at a similar juncture with technology, recognizing its growing autonomy beyond our comprehension. To be sure, some may argue that climate technology seeks to control nature, but I see it as an acknowledgment of humanity's connection to nature. Instead of extracting tools from nature to dominate it, as was common in the twentieth century, modern climate technology seeks to reveal tools from nature to restore the balance.
The post-human perspective urges us to acknowledge that human evolution is intertwined with technological evolution, and I agree with this view. Our minds, especially those of younger generations, are increasingly intertwined with technology in a form of shared cognition. What is necessary now is shared metacognition-the ability to reflect on how our behavior is being shaped by technology so that we can make more conscious choices. The truth is that the humanist theory was never accurate. We have never had complete mastery over our bodies, nature, or technology. Moving forward, we must embrace co-evolution. From the first tool to ChatGPT, humans have shaped and transformed nature into technology. While technology conceals certain aspects of nature and reveals others-often aligned with corporate and governmental interests, it remains fundamentally linked to its raw materials. From cobalt mining in the Congo to the energy demands of AI and cryptocurrency, technology is not separate from nature but an inextricable part of it. The key question is who is doing the revealing and in whose interest. This weekend at SXSW, Malcom Ché discussed the need for humans in the west to not become pieces of data that can be ordered by big tech but instead drivers in our future. While the same urgency was not given to the developing world's people, it is at the west's doorstep now.
As technology has become more media-driven, we have entered the era of media-natures. Like other forms of technology, media is shaped by its owners, who exploit it for profit. Digital metacognition is crucial for shaping our futures. We must move beyond being mere data points optimized for engagement and watch time and instead assert full digital autonomy. This past weekend, I also attended presentations from BlueSky, a promising platform that allows users to own their data and curate their online experience. While the company is still profit-driven, its open-access software enables users to build their own social media platforms while retaining ownership of their data. Users are also able to filter out content themselves and also choose what communities they want to be a part of, leaving with data in hand.
In another panel the founder of Project Liberty also emphasized the importance of economic value in data ownership. He argued that we should be able to share and sell parts of our data while maintaining full control over it. When I asked him about the radicalization driven by the profit motives of social media, he stressed that users should be aware of the data they generate and actively participate in shaping their algorithmic futures.
This is important because, as we enter an era of shared cognition, a lack of shared metacognition can lead to behaviors we later regret. Consider the participants of the January 6th insurrection; while some remain trapped in algorithmic feedback loops, others have had moments of clarity- realizing how their beliefs had been shaped by digital platforms. Meta was aware of this dynamic, yet it did nothing to disrupt the cycle because doing so would have been unprofitable. If those users had been on platforms like BlueSky or Project Liberty, they might have been able to reflect on their beliefs in real-time, comparing them to broader perspectives and where they stood in relation to most Americans. However, Meta prioritized profit over facilitating such awareness.
Ultimately, just as our relationship with nature must evolve, so too must our relationship with technology. This evolution must prioritize cognitive liberty over cognitive subjugation. At SXSW, I saw emerging technologies that bring us closer to shared metacognition. One company developed a sensor that monitors a dog's weight for example and selects music throughout the day to encourage behavior like weight loss. Another demonstrated how a lab-grown brain could communicate with a computer using electrical pulses, leveraging the proximity of carbon and silicon on the periodic table. These advancements highlight the deepening connection between human cognition, technology, and real world outcomes, underscoring the need for a more intentional and conscious engagement with these developments if we seek to move past the surveillance-style revealing of technology that has given power to states and companies over individuals in the definition of our collective futures.
As we build shared futures our minds need to be co-evolving with our bodies, technology, and nature. I think in that there can be room for culture and cosmology but I think the morality of it all is not in the culture but rather how concentrated the revealers of technology are, and right now the powers that be continue to ensure that technology is revealed by and for corporate interests and militaristic pursuits. The good thing is that as technology develops we are all becoming revealers, and with that I'm hoping to think about how we can use the design process to shift it towards a way that is empowering to users, and encourages digital metacognition. Doing this will not be easy but it is clear that it is necessary if we seek to share power with technology and nature at co-creating our future.
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