Appropriate Technology
Technology chosen for context, not prestige. Human-scale, locally maintainable, skill-building rather than skill-replacing.
The Idea
Not all technology is equal in its effects on human life and community. A technology can be:
- Appropriate — fits the context, can be understood and maintained locally, develops human capability
- Inappropriate — imposed regardless of context, requires external expertise, creates dependency
The question isn’t “is this technology advanced?” but “does this technology serve human flourishing in this place, for these people?”
Origins
The term emerges from development economics in the 1970s, particularly:
- E.F. Schumacher’s Small Is Beautiful (1973) — “intermediate technology” that’s neither primitive nor high-tech dependency
- Ivan Illich’s Tools for Conviviality (1973) — tools that enhance human capability vs. tools that replace it
Both were responding to the failures of “technology transfer” — the assumption that what works in industrialized contexts can simply be exported.
Criteria
Appropriate technology tends to be:
- Understandable — Users can grasp how it works
- Maintainable — Can be repaired locally with available skills and materials
- Affordable — Accessible without creating debt dependency
- Skill-building — Develops human capability through use
- Context-fitted — Designed for specific conditions, not universal deployment
At Thistlebridge
The local AI infrastructure is an experiment in appropriate technology:
- Understandable — Open source, inspectable, documented
- Maintainable — Runs on standard hardware, no proprietary dependencies
- Affordable — $2-3k for capable setup, no subscriptions
- Skill-building — Using it develops judgment about what AI can and can’t do
- Context-fitted — Configured for documentation-while-working, not general chatbot
The greenhouse similarly: geodesic dome (understandable geometry), wicking system (no pumps to fail), climate battery (passive, no moving parts).
The Tension
Appropriate technology can sound like technological conservatism — rejecting the new in favor of the familiar. But that’s not quite right.
The question isn’t old vs. new. It’s: does this technology increase human capability and autonomy, or does it create dependency?
A smartphone can be appropriate technology if it genuinely extends capability. The same smartphone can be inappropriate if it becomes a vector for addiction and surveillance.
The technology itself is less important than the relationship with it.
Connections
- selective-technology — the practice of choosing relationship
- E.F. Schumacher — “Small Is Beautiful”
- Ivan Illich — “Tools for Conviviality”
- human-scale — what one person can understand and maintain
- Ursula K. Le Guin — the Kesh relationship with the City of Mind
Further Reading
- Schumacher, E.F. Small Is Beautiful (1973)
- Illich, Ivan. Tools for Conviviality (1973)
- Appropriate Technology Sourcebook (Village Earth)