This rule is also useful in clarifying whether or not the advance of technology is "good." I've had mixed feelings at times about the advance of technology – was it really giving us a better world, or was it making us all slaves to machines? The answer is that technology is neither inherently good nor bad, but it does tend towards evil when it attempts to solve human problems, and it does tend toward good when it focuses on solving problems of the material universe.
Ultimately, our current civilization could not exist without technology, which includes things like public sanitation systems, central heating, running water, electrical grids, and the very computer that I am writing this essay on. Technology is in fact a vital force that is necessary to our existence, but we should remember that it is not the answer to everything – it's not going to make us better people. But it can make us live in a better world.
-Max