Society and technology’s relationship is a very complex one, it can be noted to be shaped by social spheres and other cultural influences. It can also be one that is very deterministic; we live our life because of technological advances and the development of technologies. The interconnectedness of society has allowed for many technological advances to bloom, but it also is responsible for the rise of other detrimental parts of society. The sociability of technology and it’s relationship to the use of technological advances can be understood through three theoretical approaches, technological determinism, the critical theory of technology and cultural materialism. These tree theories take a deeper look to the role of the individual’s society
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McLuhan looks our history as only shaped by technology. He specifically looks at electronic mass media. He believes that electronic mass media has moved society away from the “cultural conditioning of print (Murphie and Potts, 2003)”. Because of the speed of this new electronic mass media, would thoughts and our ways of life have become conditioned. The delivery of this media alters our thoughts and feelings, this is where the “medium is the message” and the anxiety hits in. This is the creation of the global village. The speed in which we interact with one another drastically changes with the production of technological …show more content…
During the industrial revolution, there was a boom in new technological innovations to speed up the process of production. This means that skills were transferred from the worker to the machinery, control passes from the individual to the machine. This was done for more efficiency and more effectively controlled work (Feenberg, 1995). This process also produced a surplus meaning more profit. The industrialization of work is a manifestation of the complete growth of capitalism. This was the shift from the mechanical solidarity of society, where community is close-knit and there was only a kinship level of socialization to organic solidarity where individuals are forced to have a community with strangers and people who are different. The way in which labor is divided is different amongst these societies, and the use of technology has shaped the way people interact, and the way political and economic systems are constructed. The industrialization of society takes always the democratization of our economy, where the power now belongs to the machines. This is different that a technological determinist view, technology and society are not mutually exclusive, they influence each other in different ways, the technological changes affect society and people’s interactions, along with the democratization of production or lack thereof affect
McLuhan looks our history as only shaped by technology. He specifically looks at electronic mass media. He believes that electronic mass media has moved society away from the “cultural conditioning of print (Murphie and Potts, 2003)”. Because of the speed of this new electronic mass media, would thoughts and our ways of life have become conditioned. The delivery of this media alters our thoughts and feelings, this is where the “medium is the message” and the anxiety hits in. This is the creation of the global village. The speed in which we interact with one another drastically changes with the production of technological …show more content…
During the industrial revolution, there was a boom in new technological innovations to speed up the process of production. This means that skills were transferred from the worker to the machinery, control passes from the individual to the machine. This was done for more efficiency and more effectively controlled work (Feenberg, 1995). This process also produced a surplus meaning more profit. The industrialization of work is a manifestation of the complete growth of capitalism. This was the shift from the mechanical solidarity of society, where community is close-knit and there was only a kinship level of socialization to organic solidarity where individuals are forced to have a community with strangers and people who are different. The way in which labor is divided is different amongst these societies, and the use of technology has shaped the way people interact, and the way political and economic systems are constructed. The industrialization of society takes always the democratization of our economy, where the power now belongs to the machines. This is different that a technological determinist view, technology and society are not mutually exclusive, they influence each other in different ways, the technological changes affect society and people’s interactions, along with the democratization of production or lack thereof affect