In this essay, we have departed from what has been the common understanding of Hesse’s view of technology, namely, that it was deeply pessimistic. That view was shaped largely by the hippie movement’s appropriation of Hesse. Thus, we set out to show that Hesse was less of a pessimist and that he was far beyond simplistic pro/contra positions. Rather, he was concerned with how to live well with technology, both in his novels and in his life.
As concerns modern technology, while Hesse, at times, was a strong critic of modern technology, he also saw problems with escaping from technological society, and he enjoyed the benefits of industrialization. Like Hesse, Harry Haller in Steppenwolf remains skeptical of technology but acknowledges that it can open one to new experiences. Haller’s dream about the war against the machines indicates that being either “for” or “against” technology is unreasonable. Hesse believed that the human relationship to modern technology is one of inherent struggle—he was quite skeptical, but, at the same time, could not deny that technology can bring new positive experiences. However, rather than focusing on the skepticism or being converted to only seeing the positive sides of technology, we hold that it is exactly this struggle that we must value in our relationship with technology.
In relationship to craft technology, we argue that although one would expect from the common perception of Hesse’s views on technology that he would have seen craft technology as more positive, this is not the case. Hesse’s view of craft technology in Beneath the Wheel indeed has romantic tendencies, but when read the entire novel, we see how craft technology and organizations built on it can only provide a temporary refuge from external pressures—Hesse’s romanticism is ephemeral. Hesse’s experiences of the Monte Verità commune further corroborate this, in that the allegedly “green” community was characterized by moral corruption. Furthermore, in the story of Goldmund, we can see the same tendencies as in Hesse’s view of modern technology, namely that Goldmund develops a critique against technology while also seeing its benefits. For Hesse, it is not a matter of technology being all good or all bad; instead, it is a matter of maintaining a critical relationship to technology.
There is less material in Hesse’s works related to cybernetic technologies, since he did not write explicitly about them, nor did he have personal experiences with them. However, since the Glass Bead Game is widely seen as a prefiguration of such technologies, we would argue that Hesse saw great dangers in being enamored with self-sufficient cybernetic technologies, in that they provide an enclosed space that becomes increasingly isolated from the rest of the world.
If our reading of Hesse is valid, what kind of global impact can such a view have today? First of all, it could reposition Hesse as an important thinker on the relationship with technology. In addition to studying academic texts about humans’ relationship to technology, we could benefit from reading Hesse’s work, not least in technology-oriented educational programs. Concerning such academic teaching, literature, literary and narrative depictions of the relationship between technology, humanity, and nature can advance our knowledge by providing lived, affective experiences. Secondly, it could guide us on how to live in the current technological age. A conclusion from our reading of Hesse is that one should nurture skepticism but at the same time carefully acknowledge the benefits of technology. Exactly where to draw the line is a decision to be made by each individual, but regardless of where one draws the line it is important to maintain a critical outlook on technology and how to live well with it. It is for this middle way, in between Luddism and unchecked optimism about the power of technology, between unreflective acceptance and dogmatic rejection, that we find inspiration in Hesse.