SOC 3116 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Neil Postman, Inattentional Blindness, Digital Divide

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TOPIC 1: A CRITICAL APPROACH TO TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY
New Media: An Introduction (Chapter 1)
5 THINGS WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE (NEIL POSTMAN)
There is always a trade off
- As tech changes, there is always trade off (something given up to facilitate change)
- Trade off is a gradual long-term process (not immediate)
What benefits some harm others
- Tech changes is not universally beneficial (unequal)
- Digital divide (people have/dont have access to tech), no access become marginalized
Embedding in all technology are assumptions and ideas that influence how we behave
- Idea of technology is neutral is incorrect as it ignores use overtime
- Spectrum: continuum of use
- Embedded in technology are “culturally contingent” assumptions
- e.g. a personal computer may get rid of community life
Technological change is not additive, be ecological (accumulative)
- New technology emerges: same setting + new tech, not new setting
- Reason why you can’t undo certain technology
- Drop of water and a glass of water (accumulate, cant undo, affects everything)
- Need to think critically about the adaption of new technologies
Technology is not God given
- We create it -> we can make decision we want about it, we have power over it
- Result: we cant be passive w/ tech, we have control over it, then favourable outcome
- We can’t change weather, tech is not weather, we create it and have a different
relationship with it.
- Recognizing that technology isn’t created by God, rather by people with decisions, is
how we should basis our relationship to lead to a more productive relationship with
technology at our disposal
VIDEO: DIGITAL DUMMIES
- Issues with multi-tasking, on what basis can we critique good multi-tasking
- We’re not really multitasking, we’re just doing single tasks really fast which is not good
- Easy to test: we can identify 3 tasks that need to be completed within 2 hours
doing one at a time equates to more performance than doing them simultaneously
- One at a time produced better work
- Inattentional blindness: being oblivious of your surroundings but not knowing about it
you think you’re attentive but you’re not
- Lack of self-awareness
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Document Summary

5 things we need to know about technological change (neil postman) As tech changes, there is always trade off (something given up to facilitate change) Trade off is a gradual long-term process (not immediate) Digital divide (people have/dont have access to tech), no access become marginalized. Embedding in all technology are assumptions and ideas that influence how we behave. Idea of technology is neutral is incorrect as it ignores use overtime. Embedded in technology are culturally contingent assumptions e. g. a personal computer may get rid of community life. Technological change is not additive, be ecological (accumulative) New technology emerges: same setting + new tech, not new setting. Reason why you can"t undo certain technology. Drop of water and a glass of water (accumulate, cant undo, affects everything) Need to think critically about the adaption of new technologies. We create it -> we can make decision we want about it, we have power over it.

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