Assignment 3

How and why does society change in a certain way is the eternal question of social sciences. The theory of Thecnological determinism offers an explication which is that it is the change in the technology that causes change in the society. In case of modern situation we could easily draw parallels between technologies that enable us easier communication and change in the firm of the communication that such technologies bring. If technological development is in most cases something we look forward to it is also something that scares us. And if we look into the past we can see that the relationship between people and technology has always had these two elements amazement on one and fright on the other side.
It was the time of the industrial revolution that we can observe for the first time how new technologies were changing the economy, landscape and social relations. Steam engine was making Europe smaller, production faster and workers no longer needed at the same time as new nations of Europe were being born. It was from the 19th century onwards that we can observe a stronger dependence on technology in everyday life. New machines were being developed that would make products quicker and in a standardized way and changing the demand of the working force. That there was a change happening in the basic social relationships between the employer and the employee we could understand when Marx wrote “Like any other increase, in the productiveness of labor, machinery is intended to cheapen commodities, and, by shortening that portion of the working-day, in which the laborer works for himself, to lengthen the other portion that he gives, without an equivalent, to the capitalist” (Marx, 2004: 280). Technology has since always had a very important function saving money and time. And like the machines of the 19 century influenced the demands of work force and production in a very drastic way, this is what has happened to the ways and forms of communication in the 20 century.
But even if I believe that we are dependant on the tools that we use, and that each historic society is defined by its tools, these tools were created due to the need of the society, or as McLuhan said how we create our tools and they in turn shape us. It is so that the tools in my personal opinion are shaping the society only to the limit of the societies need and desire to use them. There have been thousands of inventions that have appeared needed and practical but were rejected by the society. The Idea of technological determinism is there fore difficult to use in a way in which we would say that the tools made it possible for a society to achieve a certain level. I believe that this concept is much more useful in way in which we could explore what were the priorities in a certain society by examining which technology was the most used and crucial in a certain time period.
If I would apply these thought to the modern situation I am certain that the communicational capabilities that we use are by far not developed to the limit, but are limited by those who use them. This could be understood by a certain degree with sense of insecurity that many of us feel toward technology that has been in use for a short period of time. As there are many examples of abuse of technology that has appeared benign but has showed its “dark side” after time.
-Daniel Chandler, Technological or Media Determinism. Available at: http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/tecdet/tecdet.html
-Marx Karl, Engels Friedrich (2004): Communist Manifesto, Wages, Price and Profit, Capital (selections), Socialism: Utopian and Scientific. The Collector’s Library of essential thinkers. London: CRW Publishing Limited
- Slides Technological Determinism of Marshall McLuhan, http://www.usm.maine.edu/com/techdet/sld001.htm