Abstract
This paper is examining the (possible) emerging ultra-high speed, energy revolutionizing transport technology ‘Hyperloop’ through Philosophy of Technology and Environmental Ethics. The main focus is to investigates Hyperloops ‘soft impacts’: How the technology may affect us as human beings, and especially our connection to nature. In this way, fundamental questions on how to solve the climate crisis are addressed, where technological fixes as the solution is problematized. For is Hyperloop, as a technological fix, sufficient to solve the problems in the proposed new geological period Anthropocene?
As I argue, this seems unlikely. We do not control nature and should therefore see ourselves as a part of nature, interconnected, rather than its masters. This will dissolve the distinction between human built systems and nature, where the difference consists in degrees rather than kind - and the worth of wilder nature becomes apparent. The value of wilder nature, inspired by Heidegger’s concept of revealing, is derived from how it has ‘room’ to reveal the lifeworld in a different manner – in contrast with the more expedient city. Hyperloop becomes relevant in this context, where it hides this understanding of our interconnectedness - and continues a trajectory which brought forth the challenges in the Anthropocene in the first place.
The finishing sections of the paper tries to consolidate the ontological understanding of nature with Hyperloop development. It points at technology’s multistability and suggest how Hyperloop development can be made more compatible with this ‘new’ understanding of nature.
