Andrew Yang, Collingwood, Technology, Prospero, & the Sorcerer's Apprentice: Random Thoughts & Questions

Micky, the Sorcerer's Apprentice, eases his burden & all seems good 

Just thinking out loud after listening to an interview of Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang by Ian Bremmer and then coming upon the quote bellow from R. G. Collingwood.
Consider this quote:

I knew that for sheer ineptitude the Versailles treaty surpassed previous treaties as much as for sheer technical excellence the equipment of twentieth-century armies surpassed those of previous armies. It seemed almost as if man’s power to control ‘Nature’ had been increasing pari passu [with equal step; hand-in-hand] with a decrease in his power to control human affairs.  

R. G. Collingwood, Autobiography (1939)

Regarding the second sentence of the quote, please consider & comment upon the following questions and propositions:

1. Do you agree or disagree with Collingwood's assessment?

2. Collingwood lived during the First World War & the Treaty of Versailles (he worked in the Admiralty during the war), and he wrote this piece on the eve of the outbreak of the Second World War. Do you think if he was writing today, his conclusion would be different? State the grounds that support and that challenge your answer.

3. Has humankind displayed "moral progress" throughout history? Or, as Rousseau contended, have our morals declined from those of "noble savages?"

4. Are you optimistic about the ability of continued technological change to improve the lot of humankind, or do you fear for the future because of the increased powers that it places in human hands? Explain and justify your conclusion.

5. Prospero the magus in Shakespeare's "The Tempest", decided to "abjure" his "magic" (power) and

"break my staff,

Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,

And, deeper than did ever plummet sound,

I’ll drown my book."

Gielgud as Prospero: could we "break our staff" & "drown our book" even if we wanted to? 

Could humankind, or at least a thoughtful majority, simply bury our technological magic or even just the most lethal possibilities that it creates? Or are their constraints that prevent us from taking this action as a species? Provide the grounds for your conclusion.

6. I have referred to technology as a form of magic. Is this an appropriate means by which to describe technology? Is this an appropriate metaphor or analogy, or is the relationship inherent in our understanding of what constitutes magic? State your grounds for agreeing or disagreeing with the designation of technology as magic.

7. The "Sorcerer's Apprentice" (think Micky Mouse in "Fantasia") loses control of his

magical technology (the hands-off floor cleaner). The apprentice loses control of the process because he doesn't know the proper spell to stop it. The run-away process is only brought to a halt when the wizard returns and provides the proper incantation to break the spell. If humankind is Micky, who is the Wizard? God, Nature, Enlightened Humanity? Or is there a Wizard or higher power that can rescue us from any folly that we might perpetrate with our technological magic? And if a "higher power" intervenes, will that higher power act as gently and beneficently as the Wizard does toward Micky, or will the Wizard (for instance, "Nature") respond in an angry, aggrieved manner? Consider and respond to these propositions.

Happily, no one has qualified me as a teacher, and if you've read to the end of this, I"m surprised and I'm more than happy that you've done so. Hell, I'd give you an "A" for simply getting this far. And if it's caused you pause to stop and think a bit, all the better. Enjoy the day.

The Wizard returns, peeved but no punitive. Will we be so lucky?