Technology

his article is about the use and knowledge of
techniques and processes for producing
goods and services. For other uses, see
Technology (disambiguation) .
A steam turbine with the case opened. Such
turbines produce most of the electricity used
today. Electricity consumption and living
standards are highly correlated. [1] Electrification
is believed to be the most important engineering
achievement of the 20th century.
Technology ("science of craft", from Greek
τέχνη, techne, "art, skill, cunning of hand"; and -
λογία, -logia [2] ) is the collection of techniques ,
skills , methods, and processes used in the
production of goods or services or in the
accomplishment of objectives, such as scientific
investigation . Technology can be the knowledge
of techniques, processes, and the like, or it can
be embedded in machines to allow for operation
without detailed knowledge of their workings.
The simplest form of technology is the
development and use of basic tools. The
prehistoric discovery of how to control fire and
the later Neolithic Revolution increased the
available sources of food, and the invention of
the wheel helped humans to travel in and control
their environment. Developments in historic
times, including the printing press , the telephone,
and the Internet , have lessened physical barriers
to communication and allowed humans to
interact freely on a global scale.
Technology has many effects. It has helped
develop more advanced economies (including
today's global economy) and has allowed the
rise of a leisure class . Many technological
processes produce unwanted by-products known
as pollution and deplete natural resources to the
detriment of Earth's environment. Innovations
have always influenced the values of a society
and raised new questions of the ethics of
technology . Examples include the rise of the
notion of efficiency in terms of human
productivity, and the challenges of bioethics .
Philosophical debates have arisen over the use
of technology, with disagreements over whether
technology improves the human condition or
worsens it. Neo-Luddism , anarcho-primitivism ,
and similar reactionary movements criticize the
pervasiveness of technology, arguing that it
harms the environment and alienates people;
proponents of ideologies such as transhumanism
and techno-progressivism view continued
technological progress as beneficial to society
and the human condition .
Definition and usage
The spread of paper and
printing to the West, as in this
printing press , helped
scientists and politicians
communicate their ideas easily,
leading to the Age of
Enlightenment ; an example of
technology as cultural force.
The use of the term "technology" has changed
significantly over the last 200 years. Before the
20th century, the term was uncommon in
English, and it was used either to refer to the
description or study of the useful arts[3] or to
allude to technical education, as in the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (chartered
in 1861). [4]
The term "technology" rose to prominence in the
20th century in connection with the Second
Industrial Revolution . The term's meanings
changed in the early 20th century when American
social scientists, beginning with Thorstein
Veblen , translated ideas from the German
concept of Technik into "technology." In German
and other European languages, a distinction
exists between technik and technologie that is
absent in English, which usually translates both
terms as "technology." By the 1930s,
"technology" referred not only to the study of the
industrial arts but to the industrial arts
themselves. [5]
In 1937, the American sociologist Read Bain
wrote that "technology includes all tools,
machines, utensils, weapons, instruments,
housing, clothing, communicating and
transporting devices and the skills by which we
produce and use them." [6] Bain's definition
remains common among scholars today,
especially social scientists. Scientists and
engineers usually prefer to define technology as
applied science, rather than as the things that
people make and use. [7] More recently, scholars
have borrowed from European philosophers of
"technique" to extend the meaning of technology
to various forms of instrumental reason, as in
Foucault 's work on technologies of the self
( techniques de soi ).
Dictionaries and scholars have offered a variety
of definitions. The Merriam-Webster Learner's
Dictionary offers a definition of the term: "the
use of science in industry, engineering, etc., to
invent useful things or to solve problems" and "a
machine, piece of equipment, method, etc., that
is created by technology." [8] Ursula Franklin, in
her 1989 "Real World of Technology" lecture,
gave another definition of the concept; it is
"practice, the way we do things around here." [9]
The term is often used to imply a specific field
of technology, or to refer to high technology or
just consumer electronics , rather than technology
as a whole. [10] Bernard Stiegler, in Technics and
Time, 1 , defines technology in two ways: as "the
pursuit of life by means other than life," and as
"organized inorganic matter." [11]
Technology can be most broadly defined as the
entities, both material and immaterial, created by
the application of mental and physical effort in
order to achieve some value. In this usage,
technology refers to tools and machines that
may be used to solve real-world problems. It is
a far-reaching term that may include simple
tools, such as a crowbar or wooden spoon , or
more complex machines, such as a space
station or particle accelerator . Tools and
machines need not be material; virtual
technology, such as computer software and
business methods , fall under this definition of
technology. [12] W. Brian Arthur defines
technology in a similarly broad way as "a means
to fulfill a human purpose." [13]
The word "technology" can also be used to refer
to a collection of techniques. In this context, it is
the current state of humanity's knowledge of
how to combine resources to produce desired
products, to solve problems, fulfill needs, or
satisfy wants; it includes technical methods,
skills, processes, techniques, tools and raw
materials. When combined with another term,
such as "medical technology" or "space
technology," it refers to the state of the
respective field's knowledge and tools. " State-of-
the-art technology" refers to the high technology
available to humanity in any field.
The invention of integrated circuits and
the microprocessor (here, an Intel 4004
chip from 1971) led to the modern
computer revolution.
Technology can be viewed as an activity that
forms or changes culture. [14] Additionally,
technology is the application of math, science,
and the arts for the benefit of life as it is known.
A modern example is the rise of communication
technology, which has lessened barriers to
human interaction and as a result has helped
spawn new subcultures; the rise of cyberculture
has at its basis the development of the Internet
and the computer . [15] Not all technology
enhances culture in a creative way; technology
can also help facilitate political oppression and
war via tools such as guns. As a cultural activity,
technology predates both science and
engineering , each of which formalize some
aspects of technological endeavor.
Science, engineering and
technology
Antoine Lavoisier conducting an
experiment with combustion generated
by amplified sun light
The distinction between science, engineering,
and technology is not always clear. Science is
systematic knowledge of the physical or material
world gained through observation and
experimentation. [16] Technologies are not
usually exclusively products of science, because
they have to satisfy requirements such as utility,
usability , and safety. [ citation needed ]
Engineering is the goal-oriented process of
designing and making tools and systems to
exploit natural phenomena for practical human
means, often (but not always) using results and
techniques from science. The development of
technology may draw upon many fields of
knowledge, including scientific, engineering,
mathematical , linguistic , and historical
knowledge, to achieve some practical result.
Technology is often a consequence of science
and engineering, although technology as a
human activity precedes the two fields. For
example, science might study the flow of
electrons in electrical conductors by using
already-existing tools and knowledge. This new-
found knowledge may then be used by engineers
to create new tools and machines such as
semiconductors , computers, and other forms of
advanced technology. In this sense, scientists
and engineers may both be considered
technologists; the three fields are often
considered as one for the purposes of research
and reference. [17]
The exact relations between science and
technology in particular have been debated by
scientists, historians, and policymakers in the
late 20th century, in part because the debate can
inform the funding of basic and applied science.
In the immediate wake of World War II , for
example, it was widely considered in the United
States that technology was simply "applied
science" and that to fund basic science was to
reap technological results in due time. An
articulation of this philosophy could be found
explicitly in Vannevar Bush 's treatise on postwar
science policy, Science – The Endless Frontier:
"New products, new industries, and more jobs
require continuous additions to knowledge of the
laws of nature ... This essential new knowledge
can be obtained only through basic scientific
research." [18] In the late-1960s, however, this
view came under direct attack, leading towards
initiatives to fund science for specific tasks
(initiatives resisted by the scientific community).
The issue remains contentious, though most
analysts resist the model that technology simply
is a result of scientific research. [19][20]
History
Main articles: History of technology , Timeline
of historic inventions, and Timeline of
electrical and electronic engineering
Paleolithic (2.5 Ma – 10 ka)
A primitive chopper
Further information: Outline of prehistoric
technology
The use of tools by early humans was partly a
process of discovery and of evolution. Early
humans evolved from a species of foraging
hominids which were already bipedal , [21] with a
brain mass approximately one third of modern
humans. [22] Tool use remained relatively
unchanged for most of early human history.
Approximately 50,000 years ago, the use of
tools and complex set of behaviors emerged,
believed by many archaeologists to be
connected to the emergence of fully modern
language . [23]
Stone tools
Hand axes from the Acheulian
period
A Clovis point , made via
pressure flaking
Hominids started using primitive stone tools
millions of years ago. The earliest stone tools
were little more than a fractured rock, but
approximately 75,000 years ago,[24] pressure
flaking provided a way to make much finer work.
Fire
Main article: Control of fire by early humans
The discovery and utilization of fire, a simple
energy source with many profound uses, was a
turning point in the technological evolution of
humankind. [25] The exact date of its discovery
is not known; evidence of burnt animal bones at
the Cradle of Humankind suggests that the
domestication of fire occurred before 1 Ma; [26]
scholarly consensus indicates that Homo erectus
had controlled fire by between 500 and 400
ka. [27][28] Fire, fueled with wood and charcoal,
allowed early humans to cook their food to
increase its digestibility, improving its nutrient
value and broadening the number of foods that
could be eaten. [29]
Clothing and shelter
Other technological advances made during the
Paleolithic era were clothing and shelter; the
adoption of both technologies cannot be dated
exactly, but they were a key to humanity's
progress. As the Paleolithic era progressed,
dwellings became more sophisticated and more
elaborate; as early as 380 ka, humans were
constructing temporary wood huts. [30][31]
Clothing, adapted from the fur and hides of
hunted animals, helped humanity expand into
colder regions; humans began to migrate out of
Africa by 200 ka and into other continents such
as Eurasia . [32]
Neolithic through classical antiquity (10
ka – 300 CE)
An array of Neolithic artifacts, including
bracelets, axe heads, chisels, and
polishing tools
Human's technological ascent began in earnest
in what is known as the Neolithic Period ("New
Stone Age"). The invention of polished stone
axes was a major advance that allowed forest
clearance on a large scale to create farms. This
use of polished stone axes increased greatly in
the Neolithic, but were originally used in the
preceding Mesolithic in some areas such as
Ireland . [33] Agriculture fed larger populations,
and the transition to sedentism allowed
simultaneously raising more children, as infants
no longer needed to be carried, as nomadic
ones must. Additionally, children could
contribute labor to the raising of crops more
readily than they could to the hunter-gatherer
economy. [34][35]
With this increase in population and availability
of labor came an increase in labor
specialization . [36] What triggered the
progression from early Neolithic villages to the
first cities, such as Uruk , and the first
civilizations, such as Sumer, is not specifically
known; however, the emergence of increasingly
hierarchical social structures and specialized
labor, of trade and war amongst adjacent
cultures, and the need for collective action to
overcome environmental challenges such as
irrigation, are all thought to have played a
role. [37]
Metal tools
Continuing improvements led to the furnace and
bellows and provided, for the first time, the
ability to smelt and forge of gold, copper , silver ,
and lead – native metals found in relatively pure
form in nature. [38] The advantages of copper
tools over stone, bone, and wooden tools were
quickly apparent to early humans, and native
copper was probably used from near the
beginning of Neolithic times (about 10 ka). [39]
Native copper does not naturally occur in large
amounts, but copper ores are quite common and
some of them produce metal easily when burned
in wood or charcoal fires. Eventually, the working
of metals led to the discovery of alloys such as
bronze and brass (about 4000 BCE). The first
uses of iron alloys such as steel dates to around
1800 BCE. [40][41]
Energy and transport
The wheel was invented circa
4000 BCE.
Main article: History of transport
Meanwhile, humans were learning to harness
other forms of energy. The earliest known use of
wind power is the sailing ship ; the earliest record
of a ship under sail is that of a Nile boat dating
to the 8th millennium BCE. [42] From prehistoric
times, Egyptians probably used the power of the
annual flooding of the Nile to irrigate their lands,
gradually learning to regulate much of it through
purposely built irrigation channels and "catch"
basins. The ancient Sumerians in Mesopotamia
used a complex system of canals and levees to
divert water from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers
for irrigation. [43]
According to archaeologists, the wheel was
invented around 4000 BCE probably
independently and nearly simultaneously in
Mesopotamia (in present-day Iraq), the Northern
Caucasus (Maykop culture ) and Central
Europe. [44] Estimates on when this may have
occurred range from 5500 to 3000 BCE with
most experts putting it closer to 4000 BCE. [45]
The oldest artifacts with drawings depicting
wheeled carts date from about 3500 BCE; [46]
however, the wheel may have been in use for
millennia before these drawings were made.
More recently, the oldest-known wooden wheel
in the world was found in the Ljubljana marshes
of Slovenia. [47]
The invention of the wheel revolutionized trade
and war. It did not take long to discover that
wheeled wagons could be used to carry heavy
loads. The ancient Sumerians used the potter's
wheel and may have invented it. [48] A stone
pottery wheel found in the city-state of Ur dates
to around 3429 BCE, [49] and even older
fragments of wheel-thrown pottery have been
found in the same area. [49] Fast (rotary) potters'
wheels enabled early mass production of pottery,
but it was the use of the wheel as a transformer
of energy (through water wheels, windmills, and
even treadmills) that revolutionized the
application of nonhuman power sources. The
first two-wheeled carts were derived from
travois [50] and were first used in Mesopotamia
and Iran in around 3000 BCE. [50]
The oldest known constructed roadways are the
stone-paved streets of the city-state of Ur,
dating to circa 4000 BCE[51] and timber roads
leading through the swamps of Glastonbury,
England , dating to around the same time
period. [51] The first long-distance road, which
came into use around 3500 BCE, [51] spanned
1,500 miles from the Persian Gulf to the
Mediterranean Sea , [51] but was not paved and
was only partially maintained. [51] In around
2000 BCE, the Minoans on the Greek island of
Crete built a fifty-kilometer (thirty-mile) road
leading from the palace of Gortyn on the south
side of the island, through the mountains, to the
palace of Knossos on the north side of the
island. [51] Unlike the earlier road, the Minoan
road was completely paved. [51]
Plumbing
Photograph of the Pont du Gard in France, one
of the most famous ancient Roman
aqueducts[52]
Ancient Minoan private homes had running
water . [53] A bathtub virtually identical to modern
ones was unearthed at the Palace of
Knossos. [53][54] Several Minoan private homes
also had toilets , which could be flushed by
pouring water down the drain. [53] The ancient
Romans had many public flush toilets, [54] which
emptied into an extensive sewage system. [54]
The primary sewer in Rome was the Cloaca
Maxima ; [54] construction began on it in the sixth
century BCE and it is still in use today. [54]
The ancient Romans also had a complex system
of aqueducts, [52] which were used to transport
water across long distances. [52] The first
Roman aqueduct was built in 312 BCE. [52] The
eleventh and final ancient Roman aqueduct was
built in 226 CE. [52] Put together, the Roman
aqueducts extended over 450 kilometers, [52] but
less than seventy kilometers of this was above
ground and supported by arches. [52]
Medieval and modern history (300 CE –
present)
Main articles: Medieval technology ,
Renaissance technology , Industrial Revolution ,
Second Industrial Revolution, Information
Technology , and Productivity improving
technologies (economic history)
Innovations continued through the Middle Ages
with innovations such as silk , the horse collar
and horseshoes in the first few hundred years
after the fall of the Roman Empire . Medieval
technology saw the use of simple machines
(such as the lever, the screw , and the pulley )
being combined to form more complicated
tools, such as the wheelbarrow, windmills and
clocks. The Renaissance brought forth many of
these innovations, including the printing press
(which facilitated the greater communication of
knowledge), and technology became increasingly
associated with science, beginning a cycle of
mutual advancement. The advancements in
technology in this era allowed a more steady
supply of food, followed by the wider availability
of consumer goods.
The automobile revolutionized
personal transportation.
Starting in the United Kingdom in the 18th
century, the Industrial Revolution was a period of
great technological discovery, particularly in the
areas of agriculture , manufacturing, mining ,
metallurgy , and transport , driven by the discovery
of steam power . Technology took another step
in a second industrial revolution with the
harnessing of electricity to create such
innovations as the electric motor, light bulb , and
countless others. Scientific advancement and the
discovery of new concepts later allowed for
powered flight and advancements in medicine ,
chemistry, physics, and engineering . The rise in
technology has led to skyscrapers and broad
urban areas whose inhabitants rely on motors to
transport them and their food supply.
Communication was also greatly improved with
the invention of the telegraph , telephone, radio
and television. The late 19th and early 20th
centuries saw a revolution in transportation with
the invention of the airplane and automobile.
F-15 and F-16 flying over Kuwaiti oil
fires during the Gulf War in 1991.
The 20th century brought a host of innovations.
In physics, the discovery of nuclear fission has
led to both nuclear weapons and nuclear power .
Computers were also invented and later
miniaturized utilizing transistors and integrated
circuits . Information technology subsequently led
to the creation of the Internet , which ushered in
the current Information Age . Humans have also
been able to explore space with satellites (later
used for telecommunication) and in manned
missions going all the way to the moon. In
medicine, this era brought innovations such as
open-heart surgery and later stem cell therapy
along with new medications and treatments.
Complex manufacturing and construction
techniques and organizations are needed to
make and maintain these new technologies, and
entire industries have arisen to support and
develop succeeding generations of increasingly
more complex tools. Modern technology
increasingly relies on training and education –
their designers, builders, maintainers, and users
often require sophisticated general and specific
training. Moreover, these technologies have
become so complex that entire fields have been
created to support them, including engineering ,
medicine , and computer science , and other fields
have been made more complex, such as
construction , transportation, and architecture.
Philosophy
Technicism
Generally, technicism is the belief in the utility of
technology for improving human societies. [55]
Taken to an extreme, technicism "reflects a
fundamental attitude which seeks to control
reality, to resolve all problems with the use of
scientific–technological methods and tools." [56]
In other words, human beings will someday be
able to master all problems and possibly even
control the future using technology. Some, such
as Stephen V. Monsma, [57] connect these ideas
to the abdication of religion as a higher moral
authority .
Optimism
See also: Extropianism
Optimistic assumptions are made by proponents
of ideologies such as transhumanism and
singularitarianism , which view technological
development as generally having beneficial
effects for the society and the human condition.
In these ideologies, technological development
is morally good.
Transhumanists generally believe that the point
of technology is to overcome barriers, and that
what we commonly refer to as the human
condition is just another barrier to be surpassed.
Singularitarians believe in some sort of
" accelerating change "; that the rate of
technological progress accelerates as we obtain
more technology, and that this will culminate in
a "Singularity" after artificial general intelligence
is invented in which progress is nearly infinite;
hence the term. Estimates for the date of this
Singularity vary, [58] but prominent futurist Ray
Kurzweil estimates the Singularity will occur in
2045.
Kurzweil is also known for his history of the
universe in six epochs: (1) the physical/chemical
epoch, (2) the life epoch, (3) the human/brain
epoch, (4) the technology epoch, (5) the artificial
intelligence epoch, and (6) the universal
colonization epoch. Going from one epoch to the
next is a Singularity in its own right, and a period
of speeding up precedes it. Each epoch takes a
shorter time, which means the whole history of
the universe is one giant Singularity event. [59]
Some critics see these ideologies as examples
of scientism and techno-utopianism and fear the
notion of human enhancement and technological
singularity which they support. Some have
described Karl Marx as a techno-optimist. [60]
Skepticism and critics
See also: Luddite , Neo-Luddism , Anarcho-
primitivism, and Bioconservatism
Luddites smashing a power loom in
1812
On the somewhat skeptical side are certain
philosophers like Herbert Marcuse and John
Zerzan, who believe that technological societies
are inherently flawed. They suggest that the
inevitable result of such a society is to become
evermore technological at the cost of freedom
and psychological health.
Many, such as the Luddites and prominent
philosopher Martin Heidegger, hold serious,
although not entirely, deterministic reservations
about technology (see "The Question Concerning
Technology " [61] ). According to Heidegger
scholars Hubert Dreyfus and Charles Spinosa,
"Heidegger does not oppose technology. He
hopes to reveal the essence of technology in a
way that 'in no way confines us to a stultified
compulsion to push on blindly with technology
or, what comes to the same thing, to rebel
helplessly against it.' Indeed, he promises that
'when we once open ourselves expressly to the
essence of technology, we find ourselves
unexpectedly taken into a freeing claim.' [62]
What this entails is a more complex relationship
to technology than either techno-optimists or
techno-pessimists tend to allow." [63]
Some of the most poignant criticisms of
technology are found in what are now considered
to be dystopian literary classics such as Aldous
Huxley 's Brave New World, Anthony Burgess 's A
Clockwork Orange, and George Orwell 's Nineteen
Eighty-Four . In Goethe's Faust, Faust selling his
soul to the devil in return for power over the
physical world is also often interpreted as a
metaphor for the adoption of industrial
technology. More recently, modern works of
science fiction such as those by Philip K. Dick
and William Gibson and films such as Blade
Runner and Ghost in the Shell project highly
ambivalent or cautionary attitudes toward
technology's impact on human society and
identity.
The late cultural critic Neil Postman
distinguished tool-using societies from
technological societies and from what he called
"technopolies," societies that are dominated by
the ideology of technological and scientific
progress to the exclusion or harm of other
cultural practices, values, and world-views. [64]
Darin Barney has written about technology's
impact on practices of citizenship and
democratic culture, suggesting that technology
can be construed as (1) an object of political
debate, (2) a means or medium of discussion,
and (3) a setting for democratic deliberation and
citizenship. As a setting for democratic culture,
Barney suggests that technology tends to make
ethical questions, including the question of what
a good life consists in, nearly impossible
because they already give an answer to the
question: a good life is one that includes the
use of more and more technology. [65]
Nikolas Kompridis has also written about the
dangers of new technology, such as genetic
engineering , nanotechnology, synthetic biology ,
and robotics. He warns that these technologies
introduce unprecedented new challenges to
human beings, including the possibility of the
permanent alteration of our biological nature.
These concerns are shared by other
philosophers, scientists and public intellectuals
who have written about similar issues (e.g.
Francis Fukuyama , Jürgen Habermas, William
Joy , and Michael Sandel). [66]
Another prominent critic of technology is Hubert
Dreyfus , who has published books such as On
the Internet and What Computers Still Can't Do .
A more infamous anti-technological treatise is
Industrial Society and Its Future , written by the
Unabomber Ted Kaczynski and printed in several
major newspapers (and later books) as part of
an effort to end his bombing campaign of the
techno-industrial infrastructure. There are also
subcultures that disapprove of some or most
technology, such as self-identified off-
gridders . [67]
Appropriate technology
See also: Technocriticism and Technorealism
The notion of appropriate technology was
developed in the 20th century by thinkers such
as E. F. Schumacher and Jacques Ellul to
describe situations where it was not desirable to
use very new technologies or those that required
access to some centralized infrastructure or
parts or skills imported from elsewhere. The
ecovillage movement emerged in part due to this
concern. [68]
Optimism and skepticism in the 21st
century
This section mainly focuses on American
concerns even if it can reasonably be generalized
to other Western countries.
In his article, Jared Bernstein , a Senior Fellow at
the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities , [69]
questions the widespread idea that automation,
and more broadly, technological advances, have
mainly contributed to this growing labor market
problem. His thesis appears to be a third way
between optimism and skepticism. Essentially,
he stands for a neutral approach of the linkage
between technology and American issues
concerning unemployment and declining wages.
He uses two main arguments to defend his
point. First, because of recent technological
advances, an increasing number of workers are
losing their jobs. Yet, scientific evidence fails to
clearly demonstrate that technology has
displaced so many workers that it has created
more problems than it has solved. Indeed,
automation threatens repetitive jobs but higher-
end jobs are still necessary because they
complement technology and manual jobs that
"requires flexibility judgment and common
sense" [70] remain hard to replace with
machines . Second, studies have not shown clear
links between recent technology advances and
the wage trends of the last decades.
Therefore, according to Bernstein, instead of
focusing on technology and its hypothetical
influences on current American increasing
unemployment and declining wages, one needs
to worry more about "bad policy that fails to
offset the imbalances in demand, trade, income,
and opportunity." [70]
For people who use both the Internet and mobile
devices in excessive quantities it is likely for
them to experience fatigue and over exhaustion
as a result of disruptions in their sleeping
patterns. Continuous studies have shown that
increased BMI and weight gain are associated
with people who spend long hours online and
not exercising frequently. [71] Heavy Internet use
is also displayed in the school lower grades of
those who use it in excessive amounts. [72] It
has also been noted that the use of mobile
phones whilst driving has increased the
occurrence of road accidents — particularly
amongst teen drivers. Statistically, teens
reportedly have fourfold the amount of road
traffic incidents as those who are 20 years or
older, and a very high percentage of adolescents
write (81%) and read (92%) texts while
driving. [73] In this context, mass media and
technology have a negative impact on people,
on both their mental and physical health.
Complex technological systems
Thomas P. Hughes stated that because
technology has been considered as a key way to
solve problems, we need to be aware of its
complex and varied characters to use it more
efficiently. [74] What is the difference between a
wheel or a compass and cooking machines such
as an oven or a gas stove? Can we consider all
of them, only a part of them, or none of them as
technologies?
Technology is often considered too narrowly;
according to Hughes, "Technology is a creative
process involving human ingenuity". [75] This
definition's emphasis on creativity avoids
unbounded definitions that may mistakenly
include cooking “technologies," but it also
highlights the prominent role of humans and
therefore their responsibilities for the use of
complex technological systems.
Yet, because technology is everywhere and has
dramatically changed landscapes and societies,
Hughes argues that engineers , scientists , and
managers have often believed that they can use
technology to shape the world as they want.
They have often supposed that technology is
easily controllable and this assumption has to
be thoroughly questioned. [74] For instance,
Evgeny Morozov particularly challenges two
concepts: “Internet-centrism” and
“solutionism." [76] Internet-centrism refers to the
idea that our society is convinced that the
Internet is one of the most stable and coherent
forces. Solutionism is the ideology that every
social issue can be solved thanks to technology
and especially thanks to the internet. In fact,
technology intrinsically contains uncertainties and
limitations. According to Alexis Madrigal's review
of Morozov's theory, to ignore it will lead to
“unexpected consequences that could eventually
cause more damage than the problems they
seek to address." [77] Benjamin R. Cohen and
Gwen Ottinger also discussed the multivalent
effects of technology. [78]
Therefore, recognition of the limitations of
technology, and more broadly, scientific
knowledge, is needed – especially in cases
dealing with environmental justice and health
issues. Ottinger continues this reasoning and
argues that the ongoing recognition of the
limitations of scientific knowledge goes hand in
hand with scientists and engineers’ new
comprehension of their role. Such an approach
of technology and science "[require] technical
professionals to conceive of their roles in the
process differently. [They have to consider
themselves as] collaborators in research and
problem solving rather than simply providers of
information and technical solutions." [79]
Competitiveness
Technology is properly defined as any
application of science to accomplish a function.
The science can be leading edge or well
established and the function can have high
visibility or be significantly more mundane, but it
is all technology, and its exploitation is the
foundation of all competitive advantage.
Technology-based planning is what was used to
build the US industrial giants before WWII (e.g.,
Dow , DuPont , GM ) and it is what was used to
transform the US into a superpower. It was not
economic-based planning.
Other animal species
See also: Tool use by animals, Structures built
by animals, and Ecosystem engineer
This adult gorilla uses a branch as a
walking stick to gauge the water's
depth, an example of technology usage
by non-human primates.
The use of basic technology is also a feature of
other animal species apart from humans. These
include primates such as chimpanzees, [80]
some dolphin communities, [81] and crows. [82]
[83] Considering a more generic perspective of
technology as ethology of active environmental
conditioning and control, we can also refer to
animal examples such as beavers and their
dams, or bees and their honeycombs.
The ability to make and use tools was once
considered a defining characteristic of the genus
Homo . [84] However, the discovery of tool
construction among chimpanzees and related
primates has discarded the notion of the use of
technology as unique to humans. For example,
researchers have observed wild chimpanzees
utilising tools for foraging: some of the tools
used include leaf sponges, termite fishing
probes, pestles and levers . [85] West African
chimpanzees also use stone hammers and anvils
for cracking nuts, [86] as do capuchin monkeys
of Boa Vista, Brazil. [87]
Future technology
Main article: Emerging technologies
Theories of technology often attempt to predict
the future of technology based on the high
technology and science of the time. As with all
predictions of the future, however, technology's
is uncertain.
In 2005, futurist Ray Kurzweil predicted that the
future of technology would mainly consist of an
overlapping "GNR Revolution" of genetics,
nanotechnology and robotics , with robotics being
the most important of the three. [88]
See also
Main article: Outline of technology
Book: Technology
Technology portal
Architectural technology
Critique of technology
Greatest Engineering Achievements of the
20th Century
History of science and technology
Knowledge economy
Law of the instrument – Golden hammer
Lewis Mumford
List of years in science
Niche construction
Science and technology in Argentina
Technological convergence
Technology and society
Technology assessment
Technology tree
-logy
Superpower § Possible factors
Theories and concepts in technology
Appropriate technology
Diffusion of innovations
Human enhancement
Instrumental conception of technology
Jacques Ellul
Paradigm
Philosophy of technology
Posthumanism
Precautionary principle
Singularitarianism
Strategy of Technology
Techno-progressivism
Technocentrism
Technocracy
Technocriticism
Technological determinism
Technological evolution
Technological nationalism
Technological singularity
Technology management
Technology readiness level
Technorealism
Transhumanism
Economics of technology
Energy accounting
Nanosocialism
Post-scarcity economy
Productivity improving technologies
(economic history)
Technocracy
Technocapitalism
Technological diffusion
Technology acceptance model
Technology lifecycle
Technology transfer
Technology journalism
Engadget
TechCrunch
The Verge
Wired (magazine)
Other
STEM fields
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Further reading
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Wikiversity
Ambrose, Stanley H. (2 March 2001).
"Paleolithic Technology and Human
Evolution" (PDF). Science . 291 (5509):
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10 March 2007.
Huesemann, M.H., and J.A. Huesemann
(2011). Technofix: Why Technology Won’t
Save Us or the Environment , New Society
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York, Viking Press, 14 October 2010,
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