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Computers and its effect on society
Relationship between technology and society
Computers and its effect on society
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William Ogburn designed a theory of social changed based on technology. He believed three processes of technology called Invention, Discovery, and Diffusion that have changed societies. Invention is a combining of existing elements and materials to form a new ones, like microchip and cars. Inventions is not only used for computers or other gadgets, there are social inventions too, such as democracy, citizenship, capitalism, socialism, bureaucracy, and gender equalities. Discovery is identified as a new way of seeing reality as a second process of change. The reality is present, however people are seeing it for the first time. An opinion of the discovery is, it brings extensive change only when it comes at the right time. Diffusion is explained
Upon hearing the news as everyone else did about the gold being discovered in California, the Wilsons started their journey. They traveled to California and the wife, Luzena Stanley Wilson, had recalled the events in her memoir, which was taken down by her daughter in 1881.
The Social Construction of Technology, or Social Constructivism, is a theory introduced by Wiebe Bijker and Trevor Pinch. The theory proposes that the development of technology is an interactive sociotechnical process within relevant social groups (e.g users, producers). As a methodology, social constructivism analyses artefacts in the context of society and explores the dynamics of technological change. According to Pinch and Bijker (1987), social constructivism is “fundamentally a sociological approach towards technology”. This school of research attempts to understand the mechanisms behind different social groups’ interpretations of technological artefacts.
Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) Theory, developed by Rogers in 1962, is one of the oldest social science theories. It originated in communication to explain how, over time, an idea or product spreads through a specific population or social system. The end result of this diffusion is that people, as part of a social system, adopt a new idea, behavior, or product. Adoption means that a person does something differently than what they had previously. The key to adoption is that the person must perceive the idea, behavior, or product as new or innovative. It is through this that diffusion is possible (Boston University of Public Health, 2013).
The novel is also useful in examining the level at which emerging technological development has transformed modern social values, moralities, and goals. The most common theme that characterises the Brave New World is the contribution and role of modern industrial progress in shaping contemporary social settings. As Huxley observes, emerging technological development has played a critical role in facilitating the advancement of the fruition theme. Currently, the mentality of human beings revolves around invention and industrial development.
Information technology has advanced in multiple ways in society, where organizations has implement the structure into their work environment. Industries have outsource their manufacturing to other places in the world and rely on telecommunication to keep the marketing. The geographic distribution has changed significantly by reducing the distance it takes to complete an operation, due to information technology. These are just a couple of examples of how this advanced technology has reshape our society and continuing.
Technology can be regarded as a phenomenon with vast uncertainties. Technological change is rapid and we are struggling to keep up to date with the latest advances, while learning new ones and trying to prepare for the next changes proposed for the future. In order to do so, however, we need to be clear about what we mean, and what we consider to be a technology and evaluate some of the assumptions of our understanding of our technologically advanced society.
The purpose of this section was to define society, culture and technology. Thinking of technology as a system wraps these ideas into a cohesive package. If technology is a system, specifically one that allows us to achieve goals, then it follows that society and culture interact with this system. For instance, in “Culture,” written by Joseph R. Gusfield, he states “The origins of [culture] lie in the concept of cultivation, distinguishing that which is grown under human control, [...] from the products of nature.” From this perspective, technology and culture are mutual necessary for each other to function. Without technology, a means of achieving a specific goal, there would be no way means of cultivation. Without culture, something that is transmitted from generation to generation, there would be no need for technology. Using the definition society from the powerpoint, “societal organization is an adaptive mechanism through which individuals cooperate to their mutual benefit,” we can interpret society as a guide of technology. Supposing a society at one point in time values profit above environmental protection then they will use manufacturing techniques which produce more at the expense of the environment. In other words, the values, beliefs and norms of a society shape the technology and culture it uses and perpetuates.
Throughout the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Enlightenment, and the Industrial Revolution, technology has changed the world, conforming it into the techno-savvy world of modern times. While technology can cause slight problems, like in the example about the Next Generation identification, the possibilities of technology are continuously changing for the better. The everyday items of modern society were simply fiction several decades ago. While technology is used to complete tasks in fractions of the time, heal epidemics, and open doors of possibilities never dreamed achievable, this technology is only a beneficial resource to society if used with true intentions.
Such benefits, need to be analyzed on a multi-leveled and cross-disciplinary effort, since more often than not there are hidden costs to apparent advantages of new technologies. Disadvantageous and non-progressive aspects of technologies are now clearly seen to be often found in spaces that are far removed from the advanced tech user. The typical Iphone owner will not see in first person what rare earth metals have been mined to create their product, or what fossil fuels have been used to charge it. Without examining where these technologies originate from first hand, it is easy to see why so many view further development of technology as progress. Further critique of this western notion of progress must continue to occur, if society is to ever mediate the problems that post industrial economies have
The most prominent of those scholars is Everett M. Rogers who is considered to be the foremost authority on the diffusion of innovation theory. He published his first book The Diffusion of Innovation in 1962, in it he compiled about five hundred different studies conducted by other researchers and from that he postulated that a unifying theory could explain why, how and at what rate innovations would be adopted by a certain culture (Singhal 2003). E.M. Rogers as stated compiled other people’s research, which were predominately surveys of individuals, from that research he was able find the elements that he believed had an impact on diffusion. One of the strengths of this theory is that it can be used on an individual, group, or some other social order, which makes it qui...
Technology is crucial in influencing society, therefore it is imperative to understand what influences technological development and how it changes society, such as social shaping and theories of technological determinism. Langdon Winner supports the social determination of technology through the findings of others and his theories of politically influenced technologies, thus Winner accounts for technological determinism through defining the theory in this context.
Today, Americans are faced with the increasing change of technology in our everyday life. Sometimes the change happens and we do not realize how it affects our lives. I think it is always a good idea to talk to someone that is older than yourself, like your grandparents to remind you of the times in their younger years. Hopefully, that will open your eyes to the changes we face in this generation and the generation to come. In this chapter, the author explores the relationship of changing technology to changes in both the environment and social institutions.
...opments and make every effort to determine whether we can use those advances for the betterment of society and humanity as a whole. Technological advances carries a sometimes unknown element of surprise and change in our systems, as very small differences in the initial conditions of these systems can grow into very large differences as time passes (Cornish, 2004), which is not good for our future generations.
The evolution of technology has changed society in both positive and negative ways. People all over the world use and benefit from modern technology. Technology has simplified the access to many tools people need in education, medicine, communication, transportation, etc. However, using it too often has its drawbacks as well. In most cases, the time of finishing projects is cut by more than half with the help of technology. Many people do not realize that technology has its negative affects society as well, and its rapid advances has changed life for worse in a number of different ways.
Culture has been a part of our society, and way of life, forever. It is almost impossible to come up with an idea that isn’t influenced by culture. As new technology is introduced into a society, the culture reacts in a positive or negative way and is thus changed forever. Despite the fact that we cannot really ignore that there are a number of ways in which technology negatively impacts our society, for the better part it has greatly helped to make lives better. It has also helped us a great deal to be able to save on many resources such as time and money and these are great benefits that cannot be ignored. It has also worked well in bringing unity into the world by turning it into a global village which has in turn helped people to more easily overcome their cultural, racial and continental barriers. Like we saw in the case of Ireland where technological advancements have shaped and molded the country into a completely new one that is better than the one it was before. Technology is made and used in such a variety of ways because many people who use the technology of today come from all walks of life and have different necessities, so to compensate for that technology must adapt to all different cultures. Consequently, as cultures change so does the technology they develop. Ultimately, advances in technology directly affect how cultures evolve, complex interactions are all the result of the dynamic and perpetual relationship between technology and