Technology, Society and Culture Most

Technology, Society and Culture

Most of the actions performed by people in the present are owed to the great technological breakthroughs done over the last centuries. Technology is a key element in the chain of evolution, as humankind has succeeded in achieving many things that once seemed to be impossible. There is virtually no domain that has remained unaffected by technology, with almost all people constantly being in need of technological assistance in the acts that they carry out.

Numerous accounts have been written with the intention of making the public better acquainted with technology and the benefits that it involves. It is curious to most people how mankind has experienced a remarkable evolution over the last centuries. While some would attribute the evolution to a series of coincidences, most people would certainly realize that man's superior intellect has been a decisive factor.

Morton Winston has gone at finding several answers to questions related to evolution and to technological advancements. Humans have created technology because they needed it, as it is typical for people to progress. In Winston's opinion, some basic technological innovations have made it possible for today's society to function properly.

In its history, man has undergone three major technological revolutions that have brought serious changes to the way that society behaved until the time. The Agricultural Revolution has brought complexity to society, has made the population denser, and has given birth to education. The Industrial Revolution has made living a lot easier, and, with the emergence of industry, the standard of living had increased, people needing fewer skills and goods becoming cheaper. The last technological revolution experienced by mankind is the Knowledge Revolution. It is mainly responsible for having had improved the level of communication between people.

The present society considers the recent technological achievements to have been made possible by systems consisting of a series of elements. The first element to influence a technological achievement is the technique that one uses in order to make the realization. Another aspect influencing a technological achievement is the resources that one uses. The technological products used by one to achieve a technological breakthrough are also a vital element of a technological system.

The technological system depends on the initial function of the technological products that one uses. For one to successfully manage to attain a technological invention, it is necessarily for the respective to have had serious knowledge relating to the activity that he or she performs. The sixth element required for a technological system to work properly is the social context in which the technological achievement has been created in.

Even though technology and science are considered by most people today to be one and the same thing, they are very different. Initially, science was considered to be related to thinking and to knowledge, while technology was considered to be related to more simple matters.

The Industrial Revolution is responsible for the great progress experienced by industry in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In her book Industrial Society and Technological Systems, Ruth Cowan presents her readers with an elaborate account of the Industrial Revolution and the performances that it involved. The U.S. felt the full hit of the Industrial Revolution, with people having experienced serious progress and having abandoned their previous activities in favor of more profitable ones. One of the major achievements brought by the Industrial Revolution is the railroad system. After having been accustomed to traditional means of transport, people observed the clear benefits presented by the railroad system. People could now work together in giving shape to their country, and, the railroad system seemed like the perfect method of doing it. The telegraph and the telephone also made it easier for people to communicate and to send messages instantly. Another major breakthrough owed to the Industrial Revolution is the electric system. With its help, people could enjoy electric power and lightning systems.

In his book, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, David Landes describes the factors which have lead to the financial growth or to the financial decay experienced by certain states from around the world. Apparently, some states have been reluctant to accept certain technological achievements performed by others, in spite of the fact that it had been clear that the respective achievements were beneficial for the whole of humankind.

A great deal of technological achievements completed in the West has been seen as controversial by the Islamic civilization and by the Oriental World. The Mechanical Clock has been invented in Europe in the 13th century, and, despite of the fact that it had been obvious that it would bring benefits to the world, it received little to no recognition from outside of Europe.

Printing has been invented by the Chinese in the ninth century and later perfected by the Europeans, as the Chinese did not seem interested in the act. The Europeans became fond of printing and millions of books had been printed in just a short amount of time. The Islam did not seem to be interested in having the Koran printed, nor did it seem interested in having printing present in their territory. The Asian world also appeared to be reluctant from accepting printing for the important technological advancement that it had been. The Chinese apparently treated every European invention with lack of enthusiasm because of the fact that they did not want to accept European technological superiority. Also, a strong reason for which the Islamic world did not accept most of the western inventions has been that their religion regarded technology and science as being heresies.

Writer Richard Sclove has intended Democracy and Technology to explain how technology can control people and how it can worsen or ameliorate social problems. Subconscious Compliance refers to technology influencing society on all levels, and, people's personalities being changed depending on the way that it is used. Polypotency refers to a certain technological device being able to perform several other actions besides from its initial purpose.

Artifacts/Ideas and Political Culture is a book written by Langdon Winner in an attempt to present his readers with a concept referring to the disadvantages that technology has brought. Winner claims that most people are mainly inclined to produce better technology than their competitors, regardless of the effects that their actions might have.

Technology has put an end to community life and it has lead to globalization, a point where people act as a whole. The notion of privacy has changed over the years, and, in the present, little people can actually claim that they can enjoy privacy. While humans have made use of most existing sources of fuel, they did not manage to control their actions, and, thus terrible accidents have happened.

One of the greatest fears that humans have regarding technology is the fear that the machines that they build will one day decide that humans are obsolete and that they are of no use to the planet.

The media is certainly one of the greatest achievements performed by mankind, as it has succeeded in informing billions of people of the occurrences having happened around the world. Even with the benefits that it has brought, it is also one of the most terrible creations in the history of man. People have often had their minds altered by various communication devices.