Acharya Prashant addresses the question of reconciling spirituality with modern, high-tech life by first challenging the premise that technology is a recent phenomenon. He explains that life has always been high-tech relative to its era. For example, a caveman's sharpened stone or the first axe were revolutionary technologies for their time, just as a fusion bomb is today. Technology is a natural product of human intellect and is a function of time; what is considered advanced today will be seen as obsolete in the future, much like we now view early computers. Our tendency is to see our own time as uniquely modern and past eras as primitive, but every generation is eventually seen as backward by the next. Spirituality, he clarifies, is not about a reconciliation with technology, as all technology is merely "mind-stuff." Spirituality is the light that shines upon the mind, enabling one to see the mentality behind its inventions and innovations. It involves asking fundamental questions about the purpose of our creations, such as why we want to colonize Mars or clone living beings. What happens in the external world is a representation of man's inner state. If we do not know what we truly want, no amount of technology can help us. Man has always been trying to do a few things, and the discovery of language, for instance, was an utter revolution, a technology more significant than any other. Knowledge is presented as a double-edged sword. Worldly knowledge, when combined with self-knowledge (the knowledge of the knower), leads to salvation. Technology can be a useful tool for this, as seen with the printing press and the internet, which have helped disseminate the words of the sages. However, knowledge of the external world without self-knowledge leads to deeper slavery and the destructive use of technology. The more worldly knowledge a person has, the more pathetic their condition will be if it is not balanced with deep self-knowledge. This is why modern man's condition is often worse than that of beasts. The question, therefore, should not be about combining old spiritual practices with a modern environment. Instead, it should be about whether the knowledge we possess today exists within an environment of self-knowledge. Technology can assist in salvation, but for that to happen, worldly knowledge must be combined with self-knowledge. Otherwise, without this inner understanding, our knowledge will ultimately consume us.