CMST 1A03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Substantivism, Technological Determinism, Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority
20 Apr 2016
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Chapter 6: technology and society theory and practice. Thinking about technology: (1st 3 sorta grouped together and last 2) Ie: cup easier to drink water from than from hands. Tech has a life of its own. Effects of tech are the result of the tech itself, not the human decisions about tech. Modern condition reflects tech values: rationality, efficiency, priority on control and calculability. Non-tech values are threatened (we are slaves to tha machine) Tech progress causes more problems than it solves; problems are conceived of and solved as tech problems. Negative effects of tech inseparable from the positive. Humans do have choices on how tech is developed. Social forces and political decision-making contribute to tech. Differential access to and ability to use communication technologies (and therefore social benefits they bring) Tech is socially contingent; issues of power, control, freedom at issue. Tech is socially constructed, shaped by social forces.
