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