Foltz - STS 1010 - Final
Marx's MODE of life
"As individuals express their life, so they are." By changing the shape of material things, we also change ourselves
According to Winner, What is the conventional idea of what technology is?
"Making" vs. "Use"- User's don't need to know how technology works in the conventional idea
Picturesque
"like a picture; pleasing or charming to look at" Everything is normal, you are on top and in control of what you think about and do with your life.
3 steps of redefinition of "progress in 20th century
- Enlightenment understanding of progress was comprehensive, covering all aspects of the human condition - intellectual, educational, economic, political, social, scientific, technological, etc. - later understanding of progress became compressed to materialism, especially in America - by early to mid 20th century, technological progress = social primary stand-in for social progress - technological progress = social progress
Forms of desire for overcoming bodily limits:
- Limits of SPACE - Limits of TIME - Intersections of spacial and chronological limitation - Death - the ultimate limit
Use of technology for control:
- Nature and environment - Society
Bentham's Panopticon
- Prison designed to allow the watching of prisoners without their knowledge that they are being watched. - putting workers in a "prison" for a sense of control - Prisoners would internalize control and discipline themselves
Postman's 6 questions:
- What's the problem - Who's problem - Which people or institutions might be harmed - Unexpected consequences of the solved problem - Who gets the power from it - How does it change language (conversation and community) (removes ethic of reciprocity)
America was understood philosophically by europeans in what two ways?
- a new eden, untouched by problems of vastly expanding urban life - a "clean slate: for civilization
3 disruptive forces that led to the end of tradition as the dominant worldview
- migration of vast population - urbanization - industrialization
Role of convenience
- once we have a new norm it is impossible to go back, - never going back from phones, cars, etc - convenience becomes necessities, not luxuries
Prefrontal Cortex
- responsible for decision-making - control of emotions - WEAKENS with cognitive and information overload
Social motivations for embracing the new way of knowing (science)
- support of rising middle class - support of medical science
2 claims of determinism
- the technical base of a society is the fundamental condition affecting all patterns of social existence - changes in technology are the single most important source of change in society
2 claims of Cultural determinism:
- the values, feelings, beliefs, and practices of the culture cause particular - technologies to be developed and used changes in culture result in changes in technology
How has the progress story been used?
- to judge others - to sell things - to control populations - to promote a version of a better life
According to Winner, Why has a philosophy of technology never fully flourished?
1. Concept of progress in the industrial revolution2. Conventional View of Technology 3. Technology has a Promiscuous Utility
According to Winner, What is the problem with this accepted wisdom of "making vs use"?
1. It is not just "occasional, limited, and nonproblematic interaction" (Accepted wisdom isn't always right)2. Moral negotiation IS a component (Accepted wisdom doesn't account for current/Future morality) 3. Different Worlds created (different perspectives)
According to Winner, What happens as a result of our current approach of judging technology on a very narrow scale?
1. We only care about things like profit, efficiency, convenience2. We don't discuss the implications of technology, we just accept it with understanding repercussions.
historical contributions to progress
18th century - invention of "progress" 19th century - invention of "invention" 20th century - death of the belief in enlightenment understanding of progress 21st century - technological picturesque.
Classifying effects of technology into various categories--intended effects, primary effects, secondary effects, etc.--is a characteristic of
Cultural determinism
Striatum
DOMINANT area for multitasking (heavy media multitasking) - procedural memory
categorical features of culture
Dominant - the status quo ( present / right now ) Residual - Past - What WAS the dominant value Emergent - Future - What may become the status quo, depending on our selection
2 essential components of the progress story
Evolution: adaption doesn't necessarily mean "better" Sublime - a glimpse of perfection - combo of dread and reverence at the same time
Progress is ultimately inevitable ( T or F )
False
Greek value
Meeting the demands of the body
Contemporary notions of convenience have lead to a switch from thinking of technology in terms of ____________ to ________________
Progress talk -> Change Talk We tend to view any technological development as progress when its really just a "change"
Responses of public for science and technology:
Science : Love and fear, or ambivalence - we dont know how to feel about it because we have mixed feelings Technology - Fear and awe - the expansion of the technological sublime.
According to Winner, what is technological somnambulism? Does it still work?
Somnambulism = sleepwalking We know about the issues of technology but we don't ever question it. - In this passive approach, it is much more simple and we just accept technological innovation without double checking it This way of thinking and being passive doesn't work in modern situations. "Lack of approach" to technological development.
Why cultural Determinism is wrong?
Technology enhances the impact of human choices, effectively changing the consequences of those choices. We cannot anticipate all effects stemming from using technology: CD fails to meet requirements for determinism)
What is technological determinism? Does Winner agree with it?
Technology is the main cause of change in a culture and is a means and end in of itself"No, too strong"
Sublime
That moment where you are "in the moment" and taken away from life itself. You are "below" the world and are just in awe or discomfort
Perpetual dissatisfaction
The FINAL consequence of contemporary notions of comfort and convenience, especially pertaining to the body
In Langdon Winner's text, what did the professor think of the "crash" as?
The professor thought the crash was a flimsy (not good) array of arguments and observations that collapsed from how far stretched they are.
Hegel's Master and Slave Dynamic
The slave ends up becoming the "master"The master no longer knows how the operation worksthe master ends up needing the slave more then the slave needing the masterthe master relies more on the slave even though they are supposedly viewed as lesser
According to Winner, What is the purpose of philosophy of technology?
To examine critically the nature and significance of artificial aids to human activity
Early in the post-traditional world, the masses were much more trusting of new technological innovations than they were of scientific developments ( T or F )
True
Why technological determinism is WRONG?
We cannot predict future technological developments with accuracy. (In other words, TD fails to meet the requirements for determinism itself.) Human agents are necessary to conceptualize, design, build, operate, maintain, and further develop any technological artifact, not solely technology itself.
Cognitive Dissonance in terms of Determinism
We tend to believe that both TD and CD can exist, even though the ideas are incompatible. - results from ignorance - unwillingness to accept responsibility for our technological choices, we blame tools (TD)
What makes culture?
Work of tradition - what is passed down work of selection - what we choose to keep with us
Hobson's choice
a choice between options whose difference is superficial. (all or nothing)
Received view:
a configuration of beliefs and practices the "story" is the 5 chapters - progress, convenience, determinism, and control.
Technological Momentum
a powerful sense of inertia when technologies are developed and deployed that shapes, guides, or even pushes the further development and use of technology
Taylorism
an attempt by management to control what works do - application of scientific principle to labor - NOT dehumanizing
Tradition
an understanding of the universe which passed down w/ minor modification from generation to generation + which anticipated all the decisions the individual was called upon to make
Cognitive Dissonance
believing that two things can happen at once, even though they are incompatible
By the early 20th century, the influence of science made technology increasing _____________ to the masses.
confusing
Effect of scientific knowledge on technology
due to the application of scientific principles, technology, especially industrial technology, became incomprehensible to the masses who used it.
Material betterment
external - bettering material things - wealth, conveniences, fame
Tradition world (time period)
fall of Rome to the enlightenment
What is necessary to prove progress?
has to move forward has to be something everyone agrees on
Wittgenstein's "FORMS of life"
he argued that the speaking of language is a part of an activity, or of a form of life. other examples: the giving of orders, speculating about events, guessing riddles, making up stories, etc - to indicate the range of language games involved in various "forms of life"
changes from the "traditional" to the "modern" way of life
heterogeneity impersonality individualism
Determinism
infinite chain of cause and effect - nothing happens that hasn't been set the motion of previous causes.
Moral betterment
internal - bettering myself and my own life/personality/happiness
Role of Medical Science
it became the primary "gateway" for mass acceptance - it was the beginning of science as an investment
What did tradition do?
it governed both the ways of doing (technology) and the ways of knowing (science)
What is necessary in order to change the received view for the better?
it is necessary to question and challenge the progress story
Hippocampus
key part of declaritive memory circuit - necessary for high-level thinking - used for focusing on one single task
Winner advocates a "return to..."
making
Megatechnics
notion that society can be viewed as a well integrated megamachine. - controlling populations = dehumanizing MegaMachine - everyone worked together toward one task but each have different position + function.
contemporary value
overcoming the limits of the body
Machine in the garden
picturesque version of how we see technology
4 examples of revolutionary technology (mistaken for evidence of TD)
printing press industrial technology computers social media
Role of education:
problematic because it presents technology with oversimplification - we are the ones who make the tools b/c of our demand for it.
Technological Sublime
religious like reverence paid to machines
"curated" identity
since we cannot upload our entire selves, we make "exhibits" of ourselves online, especially through social media
structural changes that isolated science from modern life
specialization professionalization - science has to be paying the person Institutionalization - science gets more focused and only certain people can do science
five categorical criteria for how technology matters
sustenance security communication convenience entertainment
modes of cultural change:
symbolic, structural, material, affective.
promiscuous utility
technologies can be used for a range of purposes, so they are taken as fundamentally neutral as regards to their moral standing.
Manifest Destiny
the belief that the continuing expansion of the country across the continent was ordained by god
Eudaimonia
the good life
paradox of convenience
the more convenient we make things, the less convenient life gets and the more work we have to do.
Progress
to move forward toward something
traditional world vs modern world
traditional: village, rural, agriculture Modern: City, urban, industry
What did emerson say ?
we were offered days and works, and we took works