Josef Velenovský a František Mareš o světě techniky

Accidentally, Josef Velenovský and František Mareš were both natives of South Bohemia and both carved their careers in science moving from physiology to philosophy as evident from conclusions drawn from their scientifi c research. Th us by the same token but each in his own way, they refl ected on man’s limited capacity for gaining knowledge and, by contrast, on the special signifi cance of technology which could not exist without thorough human understanding. On that account technology, which had made man’s work easier or helped him travel vast distances, at the same rate became a phenomenon that enabled man to force his will upon his surroundings. Th e inevitable eff ect of such conduct was the confl ict between man -created technology and man’s existential dependence on Nature. In view of the fact that the two scientists published their observations about the eventuality of technology being turned against man no later than the turn of the twentieth century, the topicality of their ken is even more surprising.