The Interaction of Culture and Technology throughout History
Throughout human history, the expansion of technology has been dependent on the cultural environment into which it was introduced. Intricacies in social and cultural beliefs are among the reasons Europe’s technological dominance and expansion from the 15-1600’s to the early twentieth century. In addition, isolation and cultural conservatism are among the main reasons that Chinese culture, whose inventions range from paper to the wheelbarrow, never capitalized on their large technological advantage to expand their Empire. This and other examples demonstrate the need of our society to create a society that promotes not only the innovation but the adoption of new technologies.
Before delving into the diverse examples of technologies constrained by culture, we should consider the example which has become the poster child for social control of both technology and environment. According to the first chapter of Clive Ponting’s Green History of the World Easter Island flourished as a society for a thousand years starting from approximately the fifth century. Hallmarked by the large stone heads that are scattered across the island, Easter Island collapsed as a society because of the mass deforestation and destruction carried out by the islanders. The large trees that were present on Easter Island were used by the islanders for a large number of traditional applications. Large canoes were fashioned for sea fishing, bark was used for creating nets, and timber was used for building houses. The most significant technology that the trees of Easter Island were employed for was the transportation of the totemic heads that represented tribal status in the Island’s culture. Easter Island, like so many other early and modern civilizations, went about employing the environmental resources of the island around them. Within about a thousand years they had almost completely deforested Easter Island and their complex society and large population had collapsed. What is most important about Easter Island is not that a society overused its environment and collapsed; many different cultures have in the past overextended their environment and many do so today. No doubt we shall continue to do so into the future. What is prevalent about Easter Island is the reason the islanders deforested their environment. The large stone heads that the Easter Islanders employed as symbols of status in their society require trees for their transportation. More than 600 of the heads dot the landscape today and there are others left incomplete in the Easter Island quarries.
The War in Afghanistan was a part of the Cold War, which was fought between Soviet-led Afghan forces and Mujahedeen, which were composed of two alliances– the Peshawar Seven and the Tehran Eight. The United States, along with the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and other countries supported the Peshawar Seven insurgents by training them and giving them weapon and money. The eight alliances were supported by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Afghanistan and the Soviets signed an alliance treaty in 5th, December, 1978. To respond to the treaty, United States President Jimmy Carter signed the first order for secret financial aid to the rivals of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul. The primary Soviet positioning of the Army in Afghanistan began on the 24th of December, 1979, under Soviet general Leonid Brezhnev and the last troop removal started on the 15th of May, 1988, and was completed by February 15 of the following year, 1989, under Mikhail Gorbachev. Due to the perpetual nature of the War, the War in Afghanistan has been known to as the Russia’s Vietnam War or the Bear Trap. The death of the U.S. Ambassador led to a major deprivation in Afghanistan–United States relations.
...designed to simulate the effect of radar waves on different surfaces (CentannialOfFlight.gov). this was a marked advancement in stealth technology, because for the first time scientists realized that utilizing faceted surfaces, they could scatter almost all radar waves the hit an object away from the source thus making the said object invisible to radar detection, or nearly so. In 1977, this discovery was utilized in a new airframe for the F-117 Nighthawk. This new plane was designed entirely to avoid enemy electronic detection. With a revolutionary faceted design coated with RAM, or radar absorbent materials, the new plane was near-invisible to radar detection, and a new type of exhaust system lessened the heat trail coming from the plane’s engines, making for the first time an aircraft with a minimal infrared signature in addition to its minimal radar signature.
The Han and Roman empires both feel strongly about the advancement of technology during their time. Though both China and Rome favor technology, they have varying reasons for doing so such as seeing different advantages and disadvantages . Some political leaders and philosophers care and pay attention to different technologies while others’ have a more indifferent attitude towards it. The use of technology is seen in several ways, such as degrading or superior. The effects of technology were often preferred but they were not always positive and beneficial. A helpful document to be included and used to analyze this topic would be a source from the point of view of a common citizen from each society. A peasant’s voice would have shown what the people felt about the technologies that were used and invented.
Although overthrowing Hafizullah Amin was a big reason why the Soviet government invaded Afghanistan, there were many other reasons. The Soviet Union was looking to free the communists in Afghanistan by fighting Islamic fundamentalism. The Soviet Union thought that an ex...
Patients have long lamented that their doctors do not truly listen to them. A new emerging discipline, Narrative Medicine, seeks to rectify this problem by teaching both medical students and doctors alike the value of empathy and through the use of literature how to listen, dissect, and reconstruct patient’s narratives. Although Rebecca Elizabeth Garden and Rita Charon, agree on many aspects of Narrative Medicine, Garden tends be more critical and points out more flaws in her work entitled “The Problem of Empathy: Medicine and the Humanities,” whereas Charon cites the numerous benefits of Narrative Medicine in “Narrative Medicine: Honoring the Stories of Illness.” Although Narrative Medicine is beneficial because it allows doctors to develop empathy, one should also realize the many potential pitfalls and complications that arises.
Fragile X Syndrome is a genetic disorder that causes individuals, mostly men, to develop developmental problems and cognitive impairment. Although men are mostly affected by this disorder, it can affect women as well. Approximately one in four thousand males are affected by Fragile X while only one in eight thousand women are affected (Fragile X syndrome, 2012). Fragile X causes a variety of symptoms such as possible ADD, anxiety, delayed development of speech and language, mild to moderate intellectual disability and hyperactive behavior. Symptoms of Fragile X can start by the age of two, or earlier. Men affected by Fragile X mostly experience mild to moderate intellectual disabilities. Since Fragile X is more common in males, they tend to experience symptoms more than women do. Intellectual disabilities usually only affect about one-third of women that have Fragile X. Children with Fragile X experience anxiety and tend to fidget more than normal or have impulsive actions. Many children may also have ADD which allows them not to be able to focus as much as a normal child would. Behavioral abnormalities are a common feature of Fragile X. Biting at the hands, flailing hands are arms and gaze aversions. When it comes to deficits, they most likely occur in reasoning, processing the environment and mathematics. Individuals with Fragile X may show features of autism, this mainly occurs in only about one-third of individuals with Fragile X. Another symptom of Fragile X is seizures. Again, since Fragile X is more common in males, seizures are more common in males. While only five percent of women experience seizures, about fifteen percent of males experience seizu...
In the essay Island Civilization: A Vision for Human Occupancy of Earth , Robert Frazier Nash discusses the past and present human impact on the environment and offers solutions for the distant fourth millennium.
Wattendorf, Daniel. "Diagnosis and Management of Fragile X Syndrome." Am Fam Physician (2005): 111-113. Web. 30 May 2010. .
Landes also portrays the supposed innovative manner in which Europe dealt with Chinese inventions. Despite printing having already been invented in China, the ideographic form of block printing limited distribution of publication, sugge...
How many obese children have you seen today? Obesity is one of the largest health problems Americans are currently facing. It can lead to many baleful complications, including heart disease, diabetes, sleep apnea, cancer, mobility issues, high blood pressure, bullying, and lack of self-esteem. According to the CDC, about 17% of children and adolescents aged 2-19 are obese, and 30% are overweight. In adults, around 70% are overweight and 30% are obese. Nevertheless, our nation’s public schools are continuously promoting virulent foods through its lunch programs and on-campus advertisements. Although I understand that unhealthy food is cheaper and tastier, we must remember that those foods are causing our nation’s children to become obese. Factors such as cheap unhealthy foods in school lunches, junk food ads in schools, and teachers eating pernicious foods in class are causing more and more children to make the easy choice, the unhealthy choice. Obesity is a growing epidemic in the U.S, one that we need to promptly eradicate.
Industrial Revolution, which took place over much of the nineteenth century, had many advantages. It provided people with tools for a better life; people were no longer dependent on the land for all of their goods. The Industrial Revolution made it possible for people to control nature more than they ever had before. However, now people were dependent on the new machines of the Industrial Age (1). The Revolution brought with it radical changes in the textile and engine worlds; it was a time of reason and innovations. Although it was a time of progress, there were drawbacks to the headway made in the Industrial Revolution. Granted, it provided solutions to the problems of a world without industry. However, it also created problems with its mechanized inventions that provided new ways of killing. Ironically, there was much public faith in these innovations; however, these were the same inventions that killed so many and contributed to a massive loss of faith. These new inventions made their debut in the first world war (2) ).
The effect of human travel has been twofold on the course of human history. It has served to transfer technologies, and it has also served to facilitate the spread diseases. There are examples of how technology travels from one culture to another all over the place, from the readings and movies we watch to things that we surround ourselves with everyday. Most of these technologies serve to make the lives of humans easier or more fun, but there are some inventions that have served to only destroy or make others lives worse. In some cases the technology’s originally intended usage was preserved, but in others the technology is used in different manners. An example from one of the first readings from this class is the Chinese invention of gunpowder. Originally it was used for religious purposes, but once the technology spread west through human travel, Europeans used the gunpowder and invented guns and ammunition. Once guns were invented, though, their use has not been altered. Though there are many different models, and types of guns, they all operate under the same principles and for the same purpose.
In today's society, the way in which information is spread drastically differs from that of yesterday, especially in different parts of the world - more specifically, the Commonwealth of Nations.
Amir and Khaled Hosseini both endured many graphic and life changing historical events that changed Afghanistan from a once peaceful country to one of brutal tyranny and turmoil. In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in order to expand their Communist government which was declining due to lack of support in the 1970’s (Sullivan). The USSR sent a vast army of soldiers with the intentions of instituting Communistic reforms. This led to the mistreatment of many people in Afghanistan because the Soviet Union sought to eliminate all of the civilians and destroy the country. A bombing caused by the Soviets led to the destruction of many households, villages and millions of people (Zhang). In The Kite Runner, Amir describes the changes to Afghan lifestyle after the Soviet invasion by stating:
Discovered in 1991, Fragile X syndrome is considered a fairly new genetic disorder. According to The Fragile X Association, Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) is caused by the expansion or lengthening of the FMR1 gene on the X chromosome, known as a gene mutation. Fragile X occurs more in males than females. “Fragile X syndrome occurs in approximately 1 in 4,000 males and 1 in 8,000 females.” The X chromosome is one of two sex determining chromosomes. When the gene lengthens it switches off production of a protein that is involved in brain development and other functions.