Thesis on "Technology Society and Culture"

Thesis 5 pages (1455 words) Sources: 0 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Technology, Society and Culture

Most of the actions performed by people in the present are owed to the great technological breakthroughs done over the last centuries. Technology is a key element in the chain of evolution, as humankind has succeeded in achieving many things that once seemed to be impossible. There is virtually no domain that has remained unaffected by technology, with almost all people constantly being in need of technological assistance in the acts that they carry out.

Numerous accounts have been written with the intention of making the public better acquainted with technology and the benefits that it involves. It is curious to most people how mankind has experienced a remarkable evolution over the last centuries. While some would attribute the evolution to a series of coincidences, most people would certainly realize that man's superior intellect has been a decisive factor.

Morton Winston has gone at finding several answers to questions related to evolution and to technological advancements. Humans have created technology because they needed it, as it is typical for people to progress. In Winston's opinion, some basic technological innovations have made it possible for today's society to function properly.

In its history, man has undergone three major technological revolutions that have brought serious changes to the way that society behaved until the time. The Agricultural Revolution has brought complexity to society, has made the population denser, and has given birth to education. The Industrial Revolution has made living a lot easier, and, with the emergence of industry, the standard of living had increased,
Continue scrolling to

download full paper
people needing fewer skills and goods becoming cheaper. The last technological revolution experienced by mankind is the Knowledge Revolution. It is mainly responsible for having had improved the level of communication between people.

The present society considers the recent technological achievements to have been made possible by systems consisting of a series of elements. The first element to influence a technological achievement is the technique that one uses in order to make the realization. Another aspect influencing a technological achievement is the resources that one uses. The technological products used by one to achieve a technological breakthrough are also a vital element of a technological system.

The technological system depends on the initial function of the technological products that one uses. For one to successfully manage to attain a technological invention, it is necessarily for the respective to have had serious knowledge relating to the activity that he or she performs. The sixth element required for a technological system to work properly is the social context in which the technological achievement has been created in.

Even though technology and science are considered by most people today to be one and the same thing, they are very different. Initially, science was considered to be related to thinking and to knowledge, while technology was considered to be related to more simple matters.

The Industrial Revolution is responsible for the great progress experienced by industry in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In her book Industrial Society and Technological Systems, Ruth Cowan presents her readers with an elaborate account of the Industrial Revolution and the performances that it involved. The U.S. felt the full hit of the Industrial Revolution, with people having experienced serious progress and having abandoned their previous activities in favor of more profitable ones. One of the major achievements brought by the Industrial Revolution is the railroad system. After having been accustomed to traditional means of transport, people observed the clear benefits presented by the railroad system. People could now work together in giving shape to their country, and, the railroad system seemed like the perfect method of doing it. The telegraph and the telephone also made it easier for people to communicate and to send messages instantly. Another major breakthrough owed to the Industrial Revolution is the electric system. With its help, people could enjoy electric power and lightning systems.

In his book, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, David Landes describes the factors which have lead to the financial growth or to the financial decay experienced by certain states from around the world. Apparently, some states have been reluctant to accept certain technological achievements performed by others, in spite of the fact that it had been clear that the respective achievements were beneficial for the whole of humankind.

A great deal of technological achievements completed in the West has… READ MORE

Quoted Instructions for "Technology Society and Culture" Assignment:

1. Morton Winston, *****Children of Invention.*****

Be able to identify the three technological revolutions of human history.

Be able to identify the five elements of a technological system.

Be able to distinguish science from technology and discuss the contributions of Rene Descartes to this understanding.

2. Ruth Cowan, *****Industrial Society and Technological Systems.*****

Be able to identify three historical examples of technologies during the U.S. Industrial Revolution and analyze how they have made humans more dependent on each other.

3. ***** Landes, *****The Invention of Invention.*****

Be able to identify three technologies invented in the West and analyze what factors contributed to their acceptance in the West but not the Middle East (Islamic civilization) or the Orient (China).

4. Richard Sclove, *****I*****d Hammer Out Freedom*****¦*****

Identify three elements of technology as a social structure and then analyze the concept of polypotency.

5. Langdon Winner, *****Artificacts/Ideas and Political Culture.*****

Describe five concepts present in the structure of contemporary technology and analyze how one technology illustrates this definition.

6. Claire Hope Cummings, *****Trespass.*****

Identify one emerging technology and analyze how cultural and social factors may promote or prevent its acceptance.

Review the Timeline of Significant Technological Innovations

Notice how the technologies evolved through the Agricultural Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, and the Information Age (or, Knowledge) Revolution.

How to Reference "Technology Society and Culture" Thesis in a Bibliography

Technology Society and Culture.” A1-TermPaper.com, 2009, https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/technology-society-culture-most/6047472. Accessed 27 Sep 2024.

Technology Society and Culture (2009). Retrieved from https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/technology-society-culture-most/6047472
A1-TermPaper.com. (2009). Technology Society and Culture. [online] Available at: https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/technology-society-culture-most/6047472 [Accessed 27 Sep, 2024].
”Technology Society and Culture” 2009. A1-TermPaper.com. https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/technology-society-culture-most/6047472.
”Technology Society and Culture” A1-TermPaper.com, Last modified 2024. https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/technology-society-culture-most/6047472.
[1] ”Technology Society and Culture”, A1-TermPaper.com, 2009. [Online]. Available: https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/technology-society-culture-most/6047472. [Accessed: 27-Sep-2024].
1. Technology Society and Culture [Internet]. A1-TermPaper.com. 2009 [cited 27 September 2024]. Available from: https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/technology-society-culture-most/6047472
1. Technology Society and Culture. A1-TermPaper.com. https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/technology-society-culture-most/6047472. Published 2009. Accessed September 27, 2024.

Related Thesis Papers:

Technology and Society Wajcman (2002) Criticizes Term Paper

Paper Icon

Technology and Society

Wajcman (2002) criticizes much of the literature on technological change as being implicitly, even if unintentionally, couched in technological determinism, itself based on assumptions that technology is… read more

Term Paper 1 pages (494 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Sociology / Society


Technology and American Culture Term Paper

Paper Icon

Technologies are defined specifically to appeal to women in America since women use technology more than men.

Technology and American Culture

The purchasing power of female electronics consumers does not… read more

Term Paper 8 pages (3361 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Women / Feminism


Blindness Technology and Popular Culture: Challenges Essay

Paper Icon

Blindness

Technology and Popular Culture: Challenges and Opportunities for the Sight-Impaired

There is little denying the reality that popular culture is, in contemporary society, largely shaped by new developments in… read more

Essay 3 pages (913 words) Sources: 3 Style: APA Topic: Mythology / Folklore / Science Fiction


Technology Proposal a Vendor Upgrade From Ex Libris Voyager to Ex Libris Alma Term Paper

Paper Icon

Technology Proposal

Social Networking and Web 2.0 Technology Proposal

Creating greater opportunities for communication, collaboration and education with employees, greater coordination across departments and more effective curation of collections, social… read more

Term Paper 4 pages (1070 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Computers / IT / Internet


Technology -- Blessing or Curse? Building Term Paper

Paper Icon

Technology -- blessing or curse?

Building a better mousetrap, or using technology to solve the world's problems has become reduced to even a more absurd exercise through what Siva Vaidhyanathan… read more

Term Paper 1 pages (474 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Recreation / Leisure / Tourism


Fri, Sep 27, 2024

If you don't see the paper you need, we will write it for you!

Established in 1995
900,000 Orders Finished
100% Guaranteed Work
300 Words Per Page
Simple Ordering
100% Private & Secure

We can write a new, 100% unique paper!

Search Papers

Navigation

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!