Computers, Culture, and Technopoly: Gains, Losses, and Society

Introduction: Computers and the Technopoly

Neil Postman states in his book Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology: "Technopoly is a state of culture. It is also a state of mind. It consists in the deification of technology, which means that the culture seeks its authorization in technology, finds its satisfaction in technology, and takes its orders from technology" (Postman 71). Today, our society is indeed a technopoly, for we not only deify technology, we have become a nation dependent on our technological gadgets. From cell phones to PDAs, we are constantly "plugged in" to our computers, our workplace, and our families. One expert quoted in Postman's book sums up our love of technology simply: "We're a switched-on, tuned-in, visually oriented society" (Postman 108). Technopoly exists, and it is us.

Computers have changed our national culture and our global culture, and not always for the better. When they were first developed for the mass market, computers were meant to increase productivity and reduce paperwork. Today, computers have permeated every section of our lives and our culture. This essay examines what has been gained, what has been lost, and whether society has surrendered too much of itself to the machine.

The Rise of the Personal Computer

Initially, computers were developed for government and extremely large businesses. These machines were huge, costly, and did not seem to have any practical personal use. Personal computers first entered the consumer marketplace in 1973, but it was not until 1981, when IBM launched its IBM PC, that the revolution truly began. In 1982, Time magazine took the unprecedented step of naming the IBM PC "Man of the Year" — the first time a machine had ever won that distinction (Wessells 229–233).

The personal computer took off, and today computers are not a luxury but a necessity in most homes. As one popular culture expert notes:

"Over the past forty years, the electronic computer has made a meteoric ascent into the lives of millions. Once the rare and sacred objects of the high priests of engineering, computers have become familiar household items and indispensable tools in enterprises such as business, education, government, and medicine. In short, computers have become woven into the daily fabric of Western civilization" (Wessells 229).

How Computers Have Changed Human Thinking and Behavior

Computers are a large part of our daily lives, and they have forever changed human thinking, behavior, and lifestyle. Even a decade ago, computers were still a luxury, especially for lower-income families and individuals. However, prices have dropped dramatically, and today almost anyone can afford a basic computer. Human thinking and behavior have changed dramatically as computers have woven their way into the daily fabric of our lives. Today, one can shop at home on the computer without ever setting foot outside. Business can be conducted almost entirely by computer, with neither the supplier in Hong Kong nor the buyer in Bulgaria ever being met in person.

Our lifestyles have become far more sedentary. We lack motivation to leave the computer screen, because these screens are mesmerizing. As one historian notes: "Whether as a TV screen or computer monitor, the cathode ray tube remains a two-dimensional mosaic display favoring acoustic simultaneity. Because the user of the video display terminal, like the TV viewer, becomes the screen, he or she experiences inner, convulsive sensuous happenings" (Berg 126).

We are constantly searching for better, faster, and more efficient ways to complete our work and make our lives easier. The computer fits these needs perfectly, but unfortunately it is also helping to "dumb down" generations of users. Because of the proliferation of computers in homes and schools, many children do not read as much — they spend their time playing video games or surfing the Internet. Postman, writing in 1992, seems prophetic today: "Will the widespread use of computers in the classroom defeat once and for all the claims of communal speech? Will the computer raise egocentrism to the status of a virtue?" (Postman 17).

Social skills have fallen dramatically. Many children and young adults today have little experience relating to anything other than a computer or television screen. Studies have linked rising rates of youth violence, in part, to violent computer games and media. As one expert on children and media culture notes, there is "a disturbing escalation of violent acts committed by youngsters, the increasingly early entry of kids into consumerism, the complex mix of new opportunities and risks provided to youth by the Internet, and the ongoing need for assessing and changing government policies concerning children and the media" (Kinder 3).

Part of this problem, as Postman clearly argues, stems from families that allow computers to control them rather than controlling computer usage themselves. "A family that does not or cannot control the information environment of its children is barely a family at all, and may lay claim to the name only by virtue of the fact that its members share biological information through DNA" (Postman 76). In many families, however, parents are as absorbed by computers and information technology as their children. Parents are tethered to their workplaces through cell phones, PDAs, and laptops, and so no one in the household steps back from the screen.

Computers have also changed the way many families relate to one another, creating a world so focused on technology that it is difficult to see the people behind the computer chips. As one cultural expert states: "Today the young are conditioned by radio and television long before they come near the visuality of the printed book. Moreover, the perceptual effects of low-definition (auditory-tactile) television and other electronic media have retribalized Western cultures by changing their sensory, psychic, and social lives" (Berg 123). We have lost something of ourselves in the process, along with our ability to engage with the sensory and social stimulation around us. Postman captures this social inadequacy well: "Technopoly's experts tend to be ignorant about any matter not directly related to their specialized area" (Postman 87). We may be experts at the keyboard, but away from it our society is changing in troubling ways, and we struggle to relate to one another.

Advantages of Computers in Communication, Education, and Entertainment

Clearly, the development of computers and their continual evolution carry many advantages. The Internet has transformed the way we conduct business and the way we educate. While the Internet is certainly not infallible, it contains an enormous wealth of information on virtually every subject imaginable. Children can research term papers, find educational and reference materials, and construct far more comprehensive analyses by using a computer at school or at home. Communication is instantaneous via email and instant messaging. What once took days or weeks now takes minutes to hours — a transformation that has reshaped commerce, scholarship, and personal relationships alike.

Computers have also transformed entertainment and our perception of reality. Computer-generated special effects in film and television are often indistinguishable from the real, and have so thoroughly permeated our culture that the line between reality and fantasy has become blurred. As Postman wryly observes: "The computer is almost all process. There are, for example, no 'great computerers,' as there are great writers, painters, or musicians. There are 'great programs' and 'great programmers,' but their greatness lies in their ingenuity" (Postman 118). The computer has unquestionably driven innovation in the arts, medicine, and global commerce, but it has done so by reshaping the very terms in which we understand creativity and skill.

Conclusion: Navigating Technopoly

Computers are marvelous inventions, but allowing them to take over our society has made drastic changes in how we live, work, and relate to each other. As Postman eloquently reminds us: "Technopoly also encourages insensitivity to what skills may be lost in the acquisition of new ones. It is important to remember what can be done without computers, and it is also important to remind ourselves of what may be lost when we do use them" (Postman 120).

Computers have changed our lives for the better in many ways, bringing unprecedented access to information, transforming communication, and driving advances in health care, education, and the economy. Yet they have simultaneously created a reliance on machines and technology that has become a full-fledged Technopoly. As Postman states, the computer "is the dominant metaphor of our age; it defines our age by suggesting a new relationship to information, to work, to power, and to nature itself" (Postman 111). We are losing something of ourselves to the wonders of Technopoly, and that is a tragedy worth taking seriously.

Bibliography

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