Hard Technology Determinism Essay

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This is established by the fact that according to Bimber, hard technology determinism is not definite because of the arising uncontrolled consequences that even the definite path, sequence, or deterministic sense of technology could not have anticipated. To this effect, “soft” technological determinism nuances argue that technology is at least partially autonomous; that it is responsible for determining certain social effects, but not all. This is further echoed by Lawson, who states that from Marx’s perspective, it would occur that some, but not all technological developments provide the necessary impetus for social development to occur.
However, they do not intrinsically influence every aspect of social development as argued by “hard” technological determinism narratives. A perfect example is the argument by hardliners that with the invention of automobiles the environment would become cleaner because it would be rid of horse manure, a product of the previous
This is magnanimously echoed by Mackenzie & Wajcman, who state that technology can only be understood as the product of social preferences, bureaucratic mandates, and economic pressures. The import from this statement is that social shaping of technology proponents are concerned mainly with the social forces that give rise to certain technologies, rather than the social effects that result from certain technologies. The social constructivist aspect of the social shaping of technology theory is a great way to demonstrate how technologies inadvertently emerge from procedures of choice and negotiation between relevant social groups to realize the social interests they

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