TECHNOLOGY. (Gr. techne, art, craft, skill; and logos, word, discourse, reason). Science (*) should not be confused with the vast body of practical applications that derive from it and are designated by the term t. Science and t., however, mutually affect each other in a process of vigorous feedback. Today, the term t. is used to refer to all the methods that tend to improve systems for obtaining or developing products. Depending on the velocity and quality of the change experienced, people refer to technological evolution or revolution. In turn, t. is understood as the study of the means, techniques, and processes employed in the various branches of production in general and of industry in particular.

For N.H., the development of t. depends not only on the prior accumulation of knowledge and social practice, but also on the direction of the process in any given society. And beyond their level of accumulation, all societies in today’s world find themselves related in a planetary society (*planetarization). Independent of material conditions, the ideas involved with foreseeing the future and making plans have a decisive influence on technological developments in the present. Thus, in facing the same material surroundings, different lines of technological development can be chosen, yielding different results. Today we are reaching limits of material advances that have failed to take into account whether certain resources are renewable, and it is difficult to sustain the direction of these advances without irreparable harm to the environment, which forms a limiting factor for all technological progress. As a result, we see alternative technologies being applied more vigorously every day.

THEOCENTRIC HUMANISM. (Gr. theos, god; and Gr. kentron, center. Humanism: see etymology at human being). A position characterized by its similarity with certain proposals of other humanisms, but always starting with the idea of the divinity. Christian Humanism (*) is one case of t.h. Manifestations of t.h. can be observed in the most diverse cultures.

THESIS. (L. thesis; Gr. thesis, a position, from tithenai, to put, place, posit). Doctrinal proposals of the Humanist Party, approved in the first Humanist International (*). Thesis Four, which is especially descriptive of the political vision of the party, reads as follows: "Social contradiction is a product of violence. The appropriation of the social whole by only one segment is violence, and that violence is the basis of contradiction and suffering. Violence is manifested as stripping the other of intentionality (and, certainly, of liberty); as an act of submerging the human being, or human groups, in the world of the natural. That is why dominant ideologies have termed subjugated indigenous peoples "natives;" termed exploited workers the "labor force;" relegated women to the category of "procreators;" regarded enslaved races as biologically "inferior;" viewed young people dispossessed of the means of production as nothing but projects, caricatures, the "immature stage" of complete human beings; classified marginal and postponed peoples as "underdeveloped." The latter forms part of a crudely naturalist scheme in which it is assumed that "development" must involve the single model carried by the exploiters, to whom full evolutionary development is attributed, not only in objective terms but in subjective terms as well, since for them, their subjectivity is a simple reflection of objective conditions."

TIME. (ME.; AS. tima, time, hour, season). One of the most general concepts that characterize the universe. In different cultures t. is conceived of and measured in different ways. In ancient times the notion of t. emerged as cyclical t., measuring the rhythm of the processes of nature and the human being as part of nature. To measure these cyclic processes, calendars based on movements of the sun, moon, and planets were used.

The spread of Christianity contributed to the introduction of the unilinear notion of t. to measure the sacred periods of history as the process of salvation of humankind, from the act of the creation of the universe to the final judgment. This principle was extended to civil history as well, while nature was considered an atemporal phenomenon. With the rise of science and the use of the mechanical clock, the telescope, and the microscope, the notion of linear t., irreversible and ascending, allowed the formulation of evolutionary theory to explain the phenomena of nature, which was subsequently applied to the phenomena of society and culture as well.

To measure political processes, the concept of political t. was introduced, and the theory of synchronic and diachronic chrono-politics was developed. The first is used in political science and the second in world history and futurology.

TOLERANCE. (L. tolerantia, from tolerare, to endure, bear). Moral quality that expresses an attentive and respectful attitude on the part of a person, group, institution, or society with respect to the interests, beliefs, opinions, habits, and conduct of others. T. manifests in a willingness to achieve mutual understanding and reconciliation of divergent interests and opinions through persuasion and negotiation. As construed by some religions, t. includes the principle of not resisting evil by means of violence. This approach was developed into a political and moral doctrine by Tolstoy and Gandhi. T. should not be confused with charity (*) or compassion.

T. assures the spiritual freedom of each person in modern society. Since the eighteenth century it has been applied above all in the sphere of religion, with the recognition of the freedom and right of people to profess faiths that are different from the one that is official or dominant. Today, t. has become a condition necessary to the very survival of humankind because it allows effective dialogue between different cultures, currents, and movements on the basis of mutual respect and equal rights.

T. is the foundation of modern democracy because it assures religious, ideological and political pluralism, provides guarantees for minorities who are facing majorities, and assures the sovereignty of the personality.

N.H. considers t. an indispensable condition for the humanist style of life (*) and of national and international cooperation as a basis for the effective implementation of universal human rights.

TOLSTOYISM. Ideological current of the disciples of Russian writer and thinker Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910), which propounded the ideas of non-violence, love for the human being, the overcoming of alienation, and moral self-perfection of the personality through union with God, without the savage intermediation of the official Church. According to Tolstoy, the State, private property, and the formal Church all formed obstacles to the realization of this ideal.

Followers of Tolstoy, who formed their sect in several countries, idealized rural life, work on the land, and the agricultural community. They have spoken out against social inequality and oppression, and in favor of the brother- and sisterhood of all human beings.

The activities of Gandhi in India, Albert Schweitzer in Africa, Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana, and Martin Luther King in the US have embodied in original ways the ideas of Tolstoy on non-violence and love.

The humanist line of Tolstoy was distorted by some of his followers, and gradually declined. Today, T. as an organized social movement hardly exists, although in some places small agricultural communities still continue.

TOTALITARIANISM. (from total: LL. totalis, from L. totus, the whole, all). 1) Ideology that attempts to subordinate the human being to the complete and total domination of the omnipotent State through socio-psychological and ideological manipulation of the behavior of the masses, the repressive control of all public and private life for every citizen, and through unremitting, daily terror. 2) A sociopolitical regime and system that is a variation on the motivational model that is marked by complete repressive bureaucratic control violently imposed by an all-powerful and terrorist State on the whole society and every one of its inhabitants. Today, this control and corresponding repression are carried out using the computer and communications technologies of post-industrial civilization.

Totalitarian regimes exploit industrial forced labor on an increasing scale. T. makes use of the image and specter of the enemy to maintain psychological control of the masses; it inhibits human intentions, devaluing them and degrading and destroying the personality; it transforms the individual into a primitive instrument of the bureaucratic machinery and of the state. It is characterized by a total militarization of public life and an elimination of civil society.

There are various forms and manifestations of t., based on the ideas of fascism, nationalism, corporativism, communism, etc.

N.H. condemns all manifestations of t. as violent and oppressive regimes and ideologies, and calls for a struggle against such a crushing of human dignity. Humanism is diametrically opposed to t., and creates an atmosphere of resistance to that inhuman system, undermining its foundations and pointing out methods to combat it.

TYRANNY. (from tyrant: OFr. tiran, tyran, tyrant; L. tyrannus; Gr. tyrannos, lord, absolute sovereign, usurper). Government exercised by a tyrant, whether an individual or a reduced group, and wielding absolute power through violence and against established law. Tyrants exercise power without justice and in accordance with their will.

The basis of t. is naked force, terror, and cynicism, meant to provoke fear and blind obedience in others. It often arises during periods of transition from a traditional system to a new and different system, when the old political and social elites have been discredited and the new elites are in the process of formation. It is a regime that is cruel yet fragile, and it provokes violent political disorder.

T. has many features in common with despotism (*) in that it employs a number of mechanisms inherited from the latter, but differs in its lack of legitimacy, its lack of a more or less stable social base, and in its breaking with tradition and traditional society.

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We invite everyone to participate with us in putting into practice the moral principle that says: "Treat others as you would like to be treated."
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