subject: Control of Technology [print this page] Control of Technology Control of Technology
Introduction
Theextenttowhichtechnology is under human control is an important question, the answer to which has profound implications for how people perceive technology. On the one hand, there are the social constructionists who believe that technology is a tool shaped by the bidding of its creators or, at least, that it is social groups who define and give meaning to artefacts. This article describes about control of technology by taking self care.
Background
A motor car is, after all, not just a means of transport: it can be a status symbol, a reflection of self-image, a source of Treasury revenue, a criminal's machine for ram-raiding, a competitor to rail travel provisions, the basis for a manufacturing or service job, and much more besides. On the other hand there is the view that once launched, technology assumes a life of its own as an autonomous agent of change, driving history. Far from being society's servant, technology is society's master, increasingly shaping our destinies in ways which seem inevitable and irreversible. According to believers in this technological determinism, we are progressively being manoeuvred into ways of acting, both in the home and in employment, which are not of our deliberate choosing, but which are dictated by the technologies we have created. Instead of our values shaping technology, technology is shaping our values. The motor car was not invented to support out-of-town shopping and the depopulation of city centres; air pollution by exhaust emissions was not a planned outcome; the sacrificing of tracts of countryside and areas of natural beauty for additional roads to reduce traffic congestion was never intended by the pioneer manufacturers; nor was the association of fast cars with crime.
Society
Betweenthepolesofsocial constructivism and technological determinism there are intermediate positions for which historical evidence lends some support. Large, complex technological systems seem capable of developing a momentum of their own and technologies can display latent inclinations that predispose people to develop certain lifestyles rather than others. Fortunately, neither momentum nor inclination is irresistible. An example is the development of anti-pollution technology, with legislation to support it, in the case of the motor car. What does appear to be the case, however, is that technology is not only a moral activity, but a political one as well.
Conclusion
The exercise of technological choice requires democratic political institutions where the effects and possible impacts of technological change can be openly addressed and their compatibility with personal and society's goals assessed.
