CCR 633: Technological Determinism notes

Technological DeterminismCommunal Discussion Notes

CCR 633 ::: 1/25/11

CCR 633 ::: 1/25/11

Thursday, January 27, 2011

TD in American CultureMerritt Roe Smith

• Definition: this belief affirms that changes in technology exert a greater influence on societies and their processes than any other factor. (2)


2 views

• Hard - imbues tech with agency nearly absolutely.

• Soft - responds to social pressures.


Recourse of EmpireMichael L. Smith

• the belief that social progress is driven by technological innovation, which in turn follows an “inevitable” course.


Do Machines Make History?Robert L. Heilbroner

• Natural processes of technological advancement.

• simultaneity of invention

• absence of leaps

• predictability of technology


3 Faces of T.D.Bruce Bimber

• Normative - dependent upon social norms

• Nomological - dependent on laws of nature / evolutionary narrative

• Unintended Consequences - effects and knowability of effects (Pandora’s Box)


Limited Def. of Tech.

• Technology is ONLY the artifact rather than the cumulative effect of progress / procedure/techne. (See Kline.)


LaToya:

If in fact as Smith states that “technological systems, with their inherent political qualities, are not value-neutral” (32), we must also ask what are the politics of technological determinism, and automation? What are the desired ends and outcomes? Who do they help/ hurt? Who gains an advantage/ disadvantage?


Kate:In other words, how does technology act on people’s ways of existing and thinking in the world? How can we think and talk about that acting and agency in real ways? ... Although we have been throwing around the concept of agency, it seems clear that for the most part we are talking about how the force of technology requires particular accommodations within the world. This is opposed to human agency which not only suggests physical action (which technologies are capable of as well), but also conscious choices of a particular set of actions over other options of action. No doubt, there are other distinctions between the actions which a technology is capable of and that which a human is capable of—however, this seems to be something worth further consideration.


•Is it possible to think about technology as an agent as a constructed constellation of discourse? What are other ways of thinking about technology as agent?

•What might it mean to consider technological agency as a constructed effect or set of effects (via Lundberg and Gunn)?


SentienceIntention


CCR 633: Technological Determinism notes

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