From Bows to Bots: How Humans Invent Technology, and How it Reinvents Us

Harvard FAS

Humans are technological animals. Our species has invented agriculture, the compass, digital computers, large language models, and the selfie stick. This course traces the evolution and impact of these technological inventions, from the earliest wooden bows to the latest large language models. Half of the lectures will treat technology as the effect. We will explore how the human mind made our species into such prolific inventors, and how society amplified our inventive capacities. The other…