Bernard Stiegler on technology

Bernard Stiegler on technology
The philosopher Bernard Stiegler, in Technics and Time, 1: The Fault of Epimetheus, understands technology as "organized inorganic matter", and as "the pursuit of life by means other than life." As such, the advent of technology represents a moment in the history of the exteriorization of existence. In formulating an understanding of technology in these terms, Stiegler draws especially on the work of Andr? Leroi-Gourhan and Gilbert Simondon.
For human beings this does not only mean that it is possible to learn how to use tools from one's parents, but that the past is in general inscribed in objects and remains. Whether purposely or incidentally, every manufactured object is therefore a means of transmitting knowledge, a third kind of memory in addition to genetic memory and individual nervous system memory. Thus an archeologist can learn from the discovery of a primitive tool about the life of the person whose gesture is inscribed in the flint from which it is fashioned. As Stiegler puts it, "humans die but their histories remain." According to Stiegler this interrupts the ordinary processes of natural selection, and it is therefore no more true to say that humans invented technology than it is to say that technology invented humanity.