Tolkien, Technology, and... War

[Son of Númenor]

You're right Saucepan Man, Tolkien's quarrel with technological advancement was somewhat narrow-minded. Surely all of us can appreciate the wonderful advancements that have been made in medicine in the last half-century, which has contributed to higher standards of living across the world & longer average lifespans than could ever have been conceived of only a few hundred years ago.

While we all appreciate & take for granted the great availability of information thanks to the Internet, I don't know that Professor Tolkien would have looked happily upon the relative ease by which each of us can now access knowledge on almost any subject from anywhere in the international community. His claim that "humanity... [is] both nitwitted and malicious as a rule" (Letters, 64), seems to indicate a feeling of his that knowledge is a dangerous tool in the hands of the wrong people, or even, to an extent, in the hands of the general public. He would probably berate those who make essays on nuclear power & websites devoted to white supremacy so readily available to anyone who seeks them (or should happen upon them). I, for one, am a firm advocate of the advantages of the Internet as a resource for learning & sharing views & ideas, but would not blame Tolkien for criticizing the danger inherent in such a resource.

Like Saucepan, I cannot imagine the profound effect that World War I had on J.R.R. Tolkien, & can only believe that World War II was one of the most painful experiences of Tolkien's life, seeing all the same mistakes being made over again & yet another massive war engulfing the world in the lifetime of millions of those who remembered the Great War, the supposed War to End All Wars. The Second World War, perhaps, contributed almost as much as World War I to Tolkien's skepticism of technology & his cynicism & pessimism about the human race. Given his experiences, it is hard to blame him.