Argument Essay: Society And Technological Change

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Quotation From Rudi Volti, 2014, “Society and Technological Change”, page 5 “When technology is seen as a combination of devices, skills, and organizational structures, it becomes natural to think of it as a system.” Argument 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. …show more content…

How could it be interpreted as a value? How could it be interpreted as a norm?

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