Essay Composition On – Technology And Social Change – For W.B.C.S. Mains Examination.
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.Continue Reading Essay Composition On – Technology And Social Change – For W.B.C.S. Mains Examination.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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