The need for interdisciplinary research on exponential technologies and sustainability

1Technology has a clear influence on the way we live, our culture and how society functions, and last but not least our environment. At a moment when the transformational factor of technology is accelerating at an exponential pace, it is really important to reflect the direction that we want this acceleration to go. In this paper we present some of the factors relevant to this mater: 1) the influence of technology in the society and the environment. 2) The acceleration of some technologies that have tipped and are tipping in the 20th and 21th century. 3) The problem of sustainability when exponential growth is applied to a scenario with lineal growth of resources. 4) The opportunity that represent exponential technologies to fix current humanities difficulties. And 5) technology, exponential or not, is not enough to fix the problems humanity is facing since the problems are embedded in the culture that is fueling the development of the technology. Finally we conclude that the direction that technology will take will be determined ultimately by the society's prevalent culture, and to make an influence in the culture we need not only technologists but also humanists to enter in this kind of discussions and research.