How Technology Shapes Societies
From Studyplace
Contents |
[edit] Preface
This present title is a bit more deterministic that I actually believe. I am not fully endorsing a Marxist interpretation of the role of technology in societies, although he does come pretty close to telling a kind of story that seems to be make sense on a grand scale. What I'm interested in specifically is the "in-between-ness" of scope that attempts to explain how different technologies affect societies as they are adapted or resisted by various users and non-users.
[edit] A Historical View
There are any number of ways to look at this question. For this specific course, I would like to investigate how different technologies in history has affected and changed our views of society. It is easy to think of inventions as artifacts that create sudden shifts in the way to think, act, and so on, but history (from what I have been reading) has shown that new discoveries seldom much such abrupt impact, no matter how efficient and powerful they may be.
I have elected to choose a historical view because it is too easy for technology advocates to think of the present age as one that has had no precedent in history. That is probably true when we only look at specific inventions, for example, the spread of computers and the Internet. However, it is always possible to see some parallels in history that provide comparable examples and lessons for us to learn from. Understanding this must help technology advocates figure out ways to extend their ideas and tools into public domains, such as education, government, and so on. It can also help end-users establish a transitional space in which they can work with the old and new and gradually adapt their practices to fit with new ideas and technologies.
Ideally, I can incorporate my interests in technology, history, language, and discourse in order to better understand this issue.
[edit] Readings
[edit] Daniel Boorstin
Daniel Boorstin is an American historian who is known for writing an extensive study of American history. However, I have stumbled upon some of his other writings that are as intriguing. Over the years, I have made various attempts to go through Daniel Boorstin's epic trilogy (The Discoverers, The Creators, and The Seekers). I am finally nearing the end of The Discoverers. After that I was going to begin a chronological study of ancient civilization, but I might put that on the backburner for now and focus more on this project.
The Discoverers does a really good job of giving a sweeping history of important discoveries made throughout history. Many of these discoveries are linked to specific ways of controlling or packaging nature into a form that makes sense in everyday human affairs, for example: time, calendars, map-making, and so on. Boorstin gives us a fascinating picture of how different scholars made their case in different contexts that might surprise readers today.
[edit] Manuel Castells
I've decided to read The Internet Galaxy by Manuel Castells, who is perhaps most famous for writing the epic Information Age series. At this point I know little of Castells's main thesis or theses.
