Let’s start with the instrumental kind of thinking. This is what we are doing whenever we calculate, analyse or plan - and it is indispensable. But it is only one kind of thinking. If we rely on it too much, we neglect our capacity for reflective thinking. We then become thought-less, in a sense.
The value of reflective thinking on the other hand is that it allows us to stand back and contemplate the meaning of commonplace things, including our own inventions. It is this kind of thinking that enables us to be thought-full about how we use technology.
The dangers of today’s communication technologies
At the time of Heidegger’s talk (1955), the technology at the forefront of people’s minds was atomic energy, but his insights can help us think about the communication technologies that increasingly dominate our lives today. To my mind, thoughtless uses of such technologies include things like: peering endlessly at a tiny screen while sitting with a friend; writing an email about a sensitive or complex subject when a conversation would have been more useful; or commissioning a report and then failing to engage with the author’s findings and insights.
Yet the real risk facing us, warns Heidegger, stems not from technology itself but from the fact that we are so ill-prepared for the profound changes that are quietly at work. In this situation, the best we can do is to pause occasionally to reflect on how we are using our machines and gadgets. We can take time to contemplate whether we might be in danger of becoming slaves to the very inventions that were supposed to improve our lives.
Heidegger’s advice is not to demonise technology, but to say both ‘yes’ and ‘no’ to it. In other words, we can let technology into our lives, but at the same time we need to keep our distance from it.
This is where the German word ‘Gelassenheit’ comes in. The translators used an invented term, ‘releasement’, but this seems unnecessarily dry and uninspiring to my eyes and ears. The word ‘Gelassenheit’ is much more evocative. It conjures up an attitude of standing back and letting things be what they are. Technology is there to be used, but it has no absolute value beyond that use. That is why we need to take opportunities to pause and reflect on how we use it.
Both instrumental thinking and reflective thinking are part of what it means to be human. But, of the two, reflective thinking seems to demand the most effort and commitment. It also requires patience: patience to wait and see which seeds germinate. And as Heidegger observed 60 years ago, many people do seem to run away from reflective thinking.
Heidegger’s ideas can be applied to any kind of technology. For at least three centuries our relationship with the world has become increasingly technical, and we are now seeing the consequences. Just think of the impact of the automobile and food industries, to take two everyday examples. As Heidegger said:
The world has become an object, the object of our instrumental thinking… And nature has become a giant petrol station, a source of energy for modern technology and industry… (Gelassenheit, p.18)
But we can take encouragement from Heidegger’s suggestion that, even if we let our capacity for reflective thinking lie fallow for a while, it can spring to life as soon as we give it a chance. For some this might mean meditating. But for most, conversation and writing can provide excellent conditions for reflection and contemplation.
Related reading
Martin Heidegger, Gelassenheit (Klett-Cotta 1959, 14th edition 2008).
Martin Heidegger, Discourse on Thinking (Harper Perennial 1966).
Heidegger’s booklet has two parts. The first and most readable in my view is a memorial speech given in honour of a South German composer, while the second is a dialogue between a teacher, a student and a scholar. In comparing the German and English versions, it struck me that the translation is a mere shadow of the original. This is not entirely the fault of the translators: Heidegger’s creative use of German, including frequent wordplays and earthy metaphors, makes his writing almost impossible to translate satisfactorily.