Marx's Theory of Alienation argued that individuals in modern, mechanistic, specialized and capitalist societies see people become estranged from the fruits of

Marx's Theory of Alienation argued that individuals in modern, mechanistic, specialized and capitalist societies see people become estranged from the fruits of their labor. He argued that they lose connection between ones own self worth, and what one produces. In his mind this dehumanized people and society. Personally, I'm not a Marxist, but I think he was right about this. Whatever that intangible human aspect it is he was talking about -- At some point tech and science is probably sufficiently abstracted from normal human experience such that this concept is no longer relevant. Also, on this topic I really recommend reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, a thought-provoking book on quality of life in our age of human interaction with technology.