Relationship between the society and technology

Technology is very important aspect of human condition as it provides cloths, shelters, foods, transportations etc. Technological determinism is the theory that technology is an autonomous force that changes society and it is also the key force to our society. This provides explanations for many changes that can be observed in society, and it has a very simple cause/effect form. However, this theory is false, if you think you have an instance, it means you are looking at just one part of a much more complex situation, and ignoring the complex social network that supports the technology.

However, technology is a major and really the main cause of social change as a lot of changes in the society is largely caused by technology but within human control. The computer and email technology has reduced the period it takes to transmit messages between two parties or more as emails sent electronically can be received immediately, thereby saving lots of man hours, and consequently even reducing human and vehicular traffic as people don’t need to sometimes travel to send and receive documents.

The computerization of the banking is not necessarily to reduce wage bills and increase profit as new technologies and this computerization brings new employment opportunities for a lot of IT professionals who will manage this technology. The new innovation in banking is to guarantee efficiency and productivity the same applies in the containerization of cargo.

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Like earlier specified these technologies were not only technologically determined, it did have its economic, social, cultural and political reasons. These technologies did give room for employment as more people gets employed to manage these technologies, the more income and more revenue for government and ultimately growth in economy, thereby causing political stability which has it cultural advantages as a peaceful society is a viable society.

A society is an organized group of person associated together for purposes such as social, political and religious, while technology on the other hand is an application or even sometime seen as object. This report will help us to determine which of the above mention attempt that is best in relating both technology and society, their strength and weakness, merits and demerits and possible whether they have been able to really answer to the obvious question of whether the society is inflecting technology or its technology that is influencing the society.

2. TECHNOLOGICAL DETERMINISM

Technological determinism is one of the three attempts that this report intends to use in determining the relationship between technology and the society. Before I analyze this attitude or theory, it is important to understand what I mean by technology and society.

Technology determinism does explain the relationship between technology and the society, but it does not adequately explain the relationship technology and society. A lot of social changes are also independent as technology does not have any influence. Technology cannot be said to be autonomous as not all social changes and activities are dependent on technology examples are the computer and email technology where information’s, messages and documents are sent electronically, not needing people to take mail from one location to another, but this technology is still largely not dependent as the computer cannot send mails on its own, which means its not out of mans control as people still get employment to receive, read and possibly reply mails, so does not cause any redundancy or unemployment.

2.1 Technological Determinism explains relationship between technology and society which asserts that. Technological Determinism is also a popular view about the relationship between technology and society. It is the same Technology Determinism that says new technologies develop the change in society. And the theory presumes that a society’s technology drives the development of its social structure and cultural values.

Therefore the term ‘technological determinism’ is an idea, a belief, a theory that human, individual and societal change are caused primarily by technology, that technology is the main agent of social change. However, there is still the debate whether technological determinism is a theory or an attitude. This refers to the belief that technology is the agent of social change. It is both popular attitude, reflected in such expressions as ‘you can’t stop progresses and a theoretical position. Looking at the relationship between technological determinism as a theory and as an attitude, determinism is a popular attitude to technology, but it cannot be used as a theory or basis for explaining the relationship between society and technology.

2.2 I believe that quotes B and D are examples of Technology determinism.

2.3 The reasons why I believe quotes B and D are examples of a Technology Determinism approach to technology and society.

3. SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONISM

Social Constructionism is an “artefact” in a social invention or construction by an individual in a particular society. “Also theory that in addition to express the socially designed ways of our social life which can also be in connect with knowledge achieved and develop within society context, as opposed to realism”. (Nilsen)

“Social Constructionism is a term used theories that express the socially originated way of our social life.” (Marshall, 1994). Main feature of Social construction theory is viewing knowledge as socially distributed. Through origin relationship between knowledge and its social base knowledge becomes a social product and a factor in social change. Social distribution of knowledge has implications for social construction of identity, depending on which identity is appropriate or desired at a specific point in time. As a result, “whatever the experts do, the pluralistic situation changes not only the social position of the traditional definitions of reality, but also the way in which these are held in the consciousness of individuals” ( Berger & Luckmann, p. 115).

3.1 The main features of this theory are……………

3.2 The quotes which I think best illustrate SCism are W and Y.

3.3 The reasons why I think W and Y are written from a SCist perspective are………………

4. SOCIAL SHAPING

Social shaping is theory that addressed the outcomes or impacts of technological change, the design patterns and implementation of technology. In recent years, social shaping has increased and also gained its recognition. It thus goes beyond traditional approaches, concerned merely to assess the `social impacts’ of technology, to examine what shapes the technology which is having these ‘impacts’, and the way in which these impacts are achieved (MacKenzie and Wajcman 1985). Technological change is often seen as something that takes its own way.

4.1 This theory about the relationship between tech. and society can be explained as follows………

4.2 identify quotes

4.3 state why you have chosen these quotes.

5. CONCLUSION

6. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Alphabetical list of all books, websites, articles etc used in preparing report.

FORMAT:

Author/editor’s last name then initial, (date of publication), title in italics, place of publication: place of publication.

Forester, T. (1987) High-Tech Society, Oxford: Basil Blackwell.