NATS 1700 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Merritt Roe Smith, Technological Determinism, Web 2.0
28 Sep 2016
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Document Summary
Theories such as the social construction of technology (scot) and the social shaping of technology (sst) have been developed to refute the notion of technological determinism. With these theories, human agency determines the shape of new technologies. Instead of humans being passive and absorbing what technology does to them, this shows humans have the ability to control technology. Generally, these theorists argue that determinists place technology outside society, and neglect to account for the human factor in technological innovation. These theorists criticize technological determinism as universalistic; it does not account for the fact that technological development, innovation and use varies within different groups and cultures. Different societies/ cultures may use it a different way. According to historians williams and edge, choices are inherent in both the design of individual artifacts and systems and in the direction or trajectory of innovation programs .
