The Weightlessness of Flying: Toward a Phenomenological Theory of Tragedies in Technology

Tragedy can be understood as a pre-modern narrative form used to make sense of real-world experiences. Tragic experience has long been part of humanity’s engagement with technology. However, recent developments such as digitalization, the rise of AI, and advances in biotechnology significantly increase the potential for harmful unintended consequences. In this paper, we (1) distinguish categorically between first-order and second-order tragedy in relation to technology. With the first category, we refer to a direct reversal of the technological consequences, which turns against the value originally associated with the use of the technology. With the second category, we refer to gradual changes in quality of life that cannot be captured “objectively” but can only be attested from a first-person perspective. We focus on second-order tragedy, as it is closely connected to language, narrative forms, and hermeneutic interpretation. To deepen our understanding, we (2) provide a phenomenological reading of allegories of human flight in literature and the arts, examining them as examples that illuminate both first- and second-order tragedy. Drawing on myths, fairy tales, plays, and novels such as “Daedalus and Icarus”, “The Snow Queen”, “Christmas Eve”, “The Satanic Mill” and “Homo Faber”, we show that experiences of weightlessness, exhilaration, and rapid ascent frequently appear as narrative motifs that precede and foreshadow later tragic technological consequences.