Technology's effects on society and culture

Technology As Compared To Science

Discussion 1 Provide definitions for technology and science that clearly distinguish them from one another Because technology is often seen as being produced by science, or as subsumed within the scientific disciplines, it is tempting to see the two concepts as the same. However, the following website "Technology is related to science" provides a clear distinction between the two words: (http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/trinity/relate.html). Technology is the practical application of science. Technology takes a 'what works' approach, and rather than approaching things conceptually, in a value-free fashion, it tries to integrate the demands of the real world to design things and create a successful outcome that solves a particular problem or fulfills a need. Science, in contrast, uses experimental research designs that ask open-ended questions and tries to create generalizations, rather than addresses specific needs and issues. In a more generalized fashion, science asks 'why' while technology asks 'how.' Discussion 2 Using the example of cancer research and treatment, discuss what aspects "belong" to technology and to science. The most obvious distinctions between technology and science in cancer research would be the technological question of how to administer radiation, for example, versus trying to find out why certain cancers occur in certain populations. Even if not within the province of IT, designing medications to treat certain aspects of cancer (like tumors) are technological questions. However, science can provide answers that enable technology to become more effective, and also enables people to take proactive steps to improve their health and perhaps prevent cancers by eliminating possible causes or lifestyle contributors to cancer, like smoking. Discussion 3 Neither science nor technology, as the example of cancer treatment indicates, is more valuable than the other. Without science, technology could not address issues effectively and comprehensively, as only the surface of things would be evident. Without science, many technological aspects of modern life would not exist-without the scientific discovery of how some diseases are spread, medical technology would never have patented antibiotics. But technology enables science to be useful and also more accurate. For example, if Galileo had not established the nature of the universe in the form of pure science, we would not understand the orbit of the earth around the sun, but without the technological apparatus of a telescope the observations that proved his hypothesis would not have been as accurate. Technology's Role in Shaping History Discussion 1 The Industrial Revolution generated a greater volume of new technologies than any other time period in history. These new technologies changed the way in which people worked and lived; in other words, they shaped history at that time and the history the future. Many things we take for granted in modern life are the result of the Industrial Revolution. We no longer have to sew our own clothes, make everything we eat from scratch, and we have access to a greater array of cheap consumer goods. People no longer have to work from sundown to sunup, farming for food, sewing, weaving, and fighting to stay alive. We now have greater leisure time, but also the things we produce during our work life are no longer our 'own,' in contrast to an agrarian societies where people own the food they produce on their lands, and make only the clothing and things they need to survive. We receive wages for the goods and services we provide to strangers. Instead, what we do at work is often very different than how we pursue in our private lives-one reason that the Industrial Revolution is often said to have created private life. Discussion 2 The rise of cities during the Industrial Revolution, describe how technology actually contributed to the growth of cities during this time period, a new concept in comparison to the common living on farms. Technology enabled large factories to quickly produce goods, and fueled the demand for a high volume of workers. Workers flocked to cities for employment, especially because farming was less and less profitable. Technology could accomplish in minutes what took days to accomplish by hand. However, rather than working for their own enrichment, or the enrichment of their families, now people worked for strangers, and were forced to rent, rather than own property, and to live in cramped quarters near greater numbers and a wider array of people, all of whom they never would have been acquainted with living on a farm. Discussion 3 Urban living could often be lonely, because people had left their families and local culture. But urban societies also produced a new, industrial culture. For example, the cities of the major nations of the world, like New York, Paris, and London, are often said to have their own unique characters, because of their ethnic diversity, as distinct from the national culture. Also, people in cities often live differently and perhaps more similarly to other international urban dwellers than rural dwellers in the same nation-people in cities live in small quarters, often do not bother to use a car, socialize outside rather than inside of the home, live streets away from the major financial, fashion, and artistic hubs of the world, and thus are more 'cosmopolitan' in their collective culture as a result.