1 / 8

COMP 49 A2 Five Things We Need to Know About Technological Change

COMP 49 A2 Five Things We Need to Know About Technological Change. Danny Silver JSOCS, Acadia University. Neil Postman. Delivered this talk in 1998 to a gathering of theologians and religious leaders in Denver, Colorado

tdupree
Download Presentation

COMP 49 A2 Five Things We Need to Know About Technological Change

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. COMP 49 A2Five Things We Need to Know About Technological Change Danny Silver JSOCS, Acadia University

  2. Neil Postman • Delivered this talk in 1998 to a gathering of theologians and religious leaders in Denver, Colorado • An American author, media theorist and cultural critic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Postman • He is speaking to concerns regarding “faith” in the new millennium • Presents a fear of technology creating false absolutes • But notes that this always existed • https://www.student.cs.uwaterloo.ca/~cs492/papers/neil-postman--five-things.html

  3. The Five Things • Culture always pays a price for technology. • There are always winners and losers in a technological change. • Every technology embodies a philosophy, an epistemological, political or social prejudice • Technological change is not additive, it is ecological. • Technology becomes mythic - seen as part of the natural order of things.

  4. First • Technological change is always a trade-off • It giveth and it taketh away • We always pay a price for technology • The greater the technology, the greater the price • Think of a technology - its pros / its cons ??

  5. Second • That there are always winners and losers from a new technology • Technological advantages are never distributed evenly • The winners always try to persuade the losers that they are really also winners • The printing press enabled the masses, but hurt the church • Other examples … ?

  6. Third • Ebedded in every technology is a powerful idea - an epistemological, political or social prejudice. • Sometimes that bias is greatly to our advantage; sometimes it is not: • The printing press annihilated the oral tradition • Telegraphy annihilated space • The computer is affecting our communities • “The Medium is the Message” Marshall McLuhan • To a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail • Every technology has a prejudice

  7. Fourth • Technological change is not additive; it is ecological • Consequences are always vast, often unpredictable and largely irreversible • Capitalists seen as radical culture changers: Bell, Ford, Edison, Goldwyn, Berners-Lee • Is tech. change too important to be left entirely in the hands of Bill Gates? • Consider the impact of ICT on politics (think Obama)

  8. Fifth • Technology tends to become mythic - perceived as part of the natural order of things - eg. The alphabet was invented – it is not natural • Always dangerous because it is then accepted as is, and not easily susceptible to modification or control. • Tends to control more of our lives than is good for us - eg. the hours of the day TV is on

More Related