Technological Determinism Study Guide
Technological determinism: Lag
- Technology advances but society lags
- Can be technological, not just social
- Social and political pressures can impose restrictions on technology
- Technology is always pushing forward, while everything else drags behind
- William Ogburn: “`There is often a delay or lag in the adaptive culture after the material culture has changed"' (Nye, p. 26)
- Alvin Toffler ... argued that technological change had accelerated to the point that people could scarcely keep up" (Nye, p. 27)
Technological determinism: Convergence
- Technology creates social and cultural convergence
- Convergence doesn’t always happen
- Technology and use can go down different paths and have unequal effects (remember Levittown)
- “The future is already here - it's just not very evenly distributed." William Gibson
- An argument that different social groups will become more similar as each makes use of similar technologies in similar ways
- According to David Riesman: “It seemed obvious that the more technological a society became, the more uniform was its cultural life", (Nye, p. 69)
Technological determinism: Inevitability
- Technology is inevitable
- Technology is not always inevitable
- Societies can reject technology (rejection of the US SST)
- Various versions: technology is autonomous, unstoppable, out of control; technology is an end to itself, “progress is inevitable”
- According to Jacques Ellul: ‘‘‘Technique’ had permeated all aspects of society. [It is] an autonomous and unrelenting substitution of means for ends. Modern society’s vast ensemble of techniques had become self-engendering and had accelerated out of humanity’s control.” (Nye, p. 28)
- According to Theodore Roszak: Technocracy is society governed by technical experts appealing to scientific knowledge; it is ‘‘‘ideologically invisible’’’ if you accept rationality and efficiency without question (Nye, p. 29)
- Technology advances but society lags
- Can be technological, not just social
- Social and political pressures can impose restrictions on technology
- Technology is always pushing forward, while everything else drags behind
- William Ogburn: “`There is often a delay or lag in the adaptive culture after the material culture has changed"' (Nye, p. 26)
- Alvin Toffler ... argued that technological change had accelerated to the point that people could scarcely keep up" (Nye, p. 27)
Technological determinism: Convergence
- Technology creates social and cultural convergence
- Convergence doesn’t always happen
- Technology and use can go down different paths and have unequal effects (remember Levittown)
- “The future is already here - it's just not very evenly distributed." William Gibson
- An argument that different social groups will become more similar as each makes use of similar technologies in similar ways
- According to David Riesman: “It seemed obvious that the more technological a society became, the more uniform was its cultural life", (Nye, p. 69)
Technological determinism: Inevitability
- Technology is inevitable
- Technology is not always inevitable
- Societies can reject technology (rejection of the US SST)
- Various versions: technology is autonomous, unstoppable, out of control; technology is an end to itself, “progress is inevitable”
- According to Jacques Ellul: ‘‘‘Technique’ had permeated all aspects of society. [It is] an autonomous and unrelenting substitution of means for ends. Modern society’s vast ensemble of techniques had become self-engendering and had accelerated out of humanity’s control.” (Nye, p. 28)
- According to Theodore Roszak: Technocracy is society governed by technical experts appealing to scientific knowledge; it is ‘‘‘ideologically invisible’’’ if you accept rationality and efficiency without question (Nye, p. 29)