Which Came First Technology Or Society By Thomas P Hughes Analysis

In Author Thomas P. Hughes ' essay, he asks “Which came first, Technology or society”? He then goes on defining technology, and society to give readers a clear understanding of each subject, in his own words. I personally agree with the statements and facts that Hughes made throughout the whole article. Hughes (2004) states that “Technology is- and has always been-all around us. It is a fundamental part of what it means to be human and how society functions.” In that instance, he basically explained that since the beginning of there has always been some type of technology. Whether it was the wheel, making a fire, weapons and so on. I can attest to this because the Ancient mythologists, scientist, engineers by today 's definitions, and were …show more content…
This goes without comparing past human studies and current human knowledge. For example, the average human knows exactly how to start a fire, when cavemen thought that making a fire was probably genius and extremely complex. As for technology being creative, I can also agree that it involved human ingenuity because we have so many capabilities today, that humans did not have fifty years ago, or a hundred years ago. We can fly to different countries, and states, drive to different places, call friends across the world, and even teach courses online. If humans were not clever, innovative, and forward thinking, none of this would even be possible. According to Hughes, “In the middle ages, the mechanical arts of weaving, weapon making, navigation, and agriculture included the use of their available technology.” The middle ages was a time period where war, kingdoms, hierarchy, and being an absolute ruler was in play. So for humans to design tools and equipment to thrive in such an extreme period, were completely necessary. To reiterate, society needed to be designed and set up to allow humans to create and accomplish such tasks. We are able to converse with our peers, read and react to our surroundings well enough to build on what preceded us. Also to create and invent things to serve our daily …show more content…
His argument that society came first was explained thoroughly with quick history lessons, and teachings about word origins. There were a few points that he made in his article that in certain times, what we consider to be technology was not even a thing in past times. He also include an example to support his statement, “Machines in the nineteenth century and mills in the medieval period are called technology today, but they were not so designated by the contemporaries, who simply called them machines or