Technology as Pandora's Box

In Ascension ultimately has a nuanced perspective on technology, looking at it as inevitable, useful and harmful. Characters in the novel are fascinated by many forms of technology and repeatedly suggest the propulsion technology—dubbed "the power"—came from aliens. Throughout the novel, there is a sense that once certain technologies get let out of the bag, they cannot be stopped, taking on their own will. The propulsion technology can be regarded as an allegory representing not only spaceflight and operations of companies such as Space X, but also the internet and the atomic bomb.

Leigh, the narrator, believes any new technology will appear like magic, but also continually questions human advancement. “What it all meant – why we had been given this power, and why now – no one knew. That the experiments were being stepped up was exciting, we were closer to seeing...