Wisdom of Star Wars: To Be, or Not To Be, a Robot

On a long flight from New York, I recently rewatched the original Star Wars movie, first released in 1977. Not having seen the film in many years, I delighted anew in the banter between R2-D2 and C-3PO as they venture around the galaxy. It occurred to me as I was laughing that the movie portrays two visions of technology: one in which technology serves human beings in pursuit of a good end, and another in which technology subsumes human beings into itself. 

R2-D2 and C-3PO represent the first vision. Despite being robots, these two characters are the most humane and endearing of the film. They never waver from helping the rebel alliance in its fight against evil. Darth Vader embodies the second vision, in which technology is used to dominate others for the sake of evil. Once a mystical Jedi, Darth Vader’s own body is now an artifice of technology. More machine than man, he shows himself to be servant rather than master of the technology he abuses.

The lesson seems to be that when humans retain control over technology and apply it to good purpose, it remains benign and endearing, like R2-D2 and C-3PO. But when humans let technology consume them, when they fuse with technology to the point of losing their values, they travel to dark places. 

The desire to channel technology towards good aims was Marshall McLuhan’s reason for studying media. He argues that humans tend to be naive about the magnitude of change that accompanies new technologies. If we would be more attuned to their potential effects, says McLuhan, we could better offset any distortions they might cause. Screen technology, for example, can lead to passivity, fragmented attention, and lack of movement towards concrete goals. For many years, American schools brought screen technology into classrooms without considering its liabilities. Only after signs of damage in students are schools waking up to the negative effects of the indiscriminate use of screens. 

Repairing the problem does not have to mean a complete exclusion of screens from education. Online courses and schools show the potential for screen technology to facilitate effective learning and bring together students and teachers from around the world. Books like Atomic Habits offer strategies for reclaiming fruitful goals in a post-Internet society. Author James Clear demonstrates the benefits of a tailored approach to screens. His website is one of his primary modes of communicating his ideas—the source from which his bestselling book eventually came. But he only achieved this goal because he is strict with himself in limiting the amount of time he spends on social media. His determination to make technology his servant rather than his master has enabled him and others to achieve great things.

Whenever we’re struggling to put down our phones and get back to work, let’s remember the contrast between the adorable R2-D2 and the hideous Darth Vader. Which vision do we want for our lives? I’m with R2!