COM ARTS 200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Hearing Aid, Technological Determinism, Determinism
5 Feb 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Tools that extend the human: actual extension: prosthetic arm, extend a sense: lightbuld; glasses; hearing aid, more abstract: writing. Things vs. artifacts: thing: object qua object thing in and of itself, ex. Tree, not been created or modified by humans: artifact: thing created by humans, ex. Becomes atoms exist and can be split; it is inevitable that humanity will invent atomic bomb. Society determined what technologies to develop and how they are going to be used. Becomes of the war and nature of humanity it is inevitable that people will create the atomic bomb. Technology influences our choices; our choices influence technology. How do the available means of communication impact politics, education etc. What we can critic is an artifact that has been utilized to create something new. Do artifacts have politics: yes, if something has politics it can be critiqued, technologies are not neutral.
