Technology & the Human Condition

The prosperity and progress of a civilization depend on its unending quests for discovery and innovations. Our identities as societies are tied to our artifacts and to our understanding of the culture they represent. Thus, technology in its cultural meaning refers to all the social customs by which people manipulate material entities and substances of all kinds. It includes techniques of manipulating raw materials to produce artifacts, ways of handling or modifying artifacts, and means of manipulating animal and human bodies, including one's own body (Honigmam, 1959:290).The history of technology dates back to thousands of years before Christ when man discovered the know how to make fire. Technology has historically changed its nature. After the growth and development of human civilization, for many years technology remained the means by which people secured food and shelter, established social order as well as shaped and sustained their cultures. Along with language, religion and social structure, technology is part of the culture of a given people and perhaps more than any given factor, is used to shape and symbolize a society's values and beliefs. According to Carlson (2006) "while all cultures have technology, every culture uses technology differently". Moreover, history is witness to the fact that unlike Western culture which uses technology just as the means to pursue material and economic goals, non-western cultures view technology in different ways such as sustaining the social order and expressing cultural perception.

Technology in Society, 2018

One of the great ongoing debates of the 21st century is whether technology—broadly construed—has proven itself to be on balance beneficial or detrimental to, among other aspects, the moral dimensions of civil society. Technology permeates all aspects of modern life, transforming the way we live, communicate, interact, and work. Does it foster or detract from a good society? How can we determine what a “good” society is? “Technophobes” and “technophiles” will give different answers, but so will scholars and individuals who fall between those extremes. Because technologies engender promise and potential as well as uncertainties and risk, we must critically evaluate how technological advancements are shaping or eroding a “Good Society.”

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2019

Respons-Jurnal Etika Sosial, 2018

Hoaxes and hate speeches, which often spread in cyberspace especially in social media, have become a phenomenon particularly during the period of political contestation in Indonesia. This phenomenon, however, has developed into something alarming. Evidence has shown that the polarization and the bitter conflicts that result from it in the society have eroded the sense of unity and brotherhood in our plural nation. Moreover, this phenomenon can develop into a humanity crisis in Indonesia-humans that are friendly, tolerant, open, just and civilized towards each other. The rapid development of modern information technology clearly plays a major role in engendering this problem. Hoaxes and hate speeches, for example, become easily and quickly widespread because they are made possible by social media and their algorithms. A few philosophical thoughts of technology show that modern technology is not a neutral tool as it shapes and changes people's perspectives and ways of life in the world. In addition to the legal approach through the uncompromising application of the EIT (Electronic Information & Transaction) Laws, a critical approach to modern technology is needed to protect Indonesia's unity and humanity from the negative side effects that accompany modern technology.

Technology in Society, 2018

The International Journal of Science in Society

We all too often assume that technology is the product of objective scientific research and that technology's moral value lies in only the moral character of its user. To remove technology from a moral realm, we assume value and context neutrality. Yet the power of technology is a reflection of the values that exist in its developmental context. Technology's moral realm is visible in the reciprocal relationship between culture and technology in the epidemiology of AIDS, clinical research and practice regarding heart disease, and DNA research. Cultural values decide what counts as a scientific question. When we look at the 1980s epidemiological model for AIDS, we see how the presuppositions within a culture frame the type of question asked; that is "In what population does AIDS occur?" This question initially leads scientific research away from individual behavior until a different question is asked. Secondly, that which constitutes a scientific problem in turn directs the kinds of technologies developed. Men who were dying of heart disease showed symptoms in large arteries of the heart when using technologies designed to find these symptoms. Women were also dying of heart disease, but because the large arteries were not overwhelmingly compromised, women were not properly diagnosed until recently. If large arteries are the "problem," seeing smaller vessels as problematic is more difficult. If the cultural standard of the healthy body is a male body, technologies responsive to that body are developed. Thirdly, a type of technology developed will in turn create new or enhanced values. A biological/genetic basis for race or intelligence is a scientific answer to a culturally defined problem, and the cultural issue of race is defined as problematic by scientific fact. Technology directs human values and behaviors in predictable ways; thus, technologies are ethically valenced.

2013

Technology strongly interacts with almost every facet of our lives. It has also come to interact with almost every facet of the natural world. It is this fundamental interdependence that creates the strong linkages between the studies of sustainable engineering, industrial ecology, and the more specific methodologies such as life cycle assessment. Furthermore, the integration of technology with social and environmental systems, a key aspect of sustainability creates another important dynamic. Technology as a human competence is undergoing a rapid, unprecedented and accelerating period of evolutionary growth, especially in the key foundational areas of nanotechnology, biotechnology, robotics, information and communications technology and applied cognitive science (6). It is this influence or impact of technology on man and society that has raised the critical question: Is man in control of technology or is technology in control of man? This has brought about a dialectics, which will ...

Synesis, 4, 2013

It goes without saying that the change we experience today, which is fuelled by a series of new technologies, differs from other profound changes that have defined our culture in the past. The current change affects our everyday lives, but the new tools it offers us can be seen as an extension of our senses, of our various modes of communication and, to a certain extent, of our brains (since the question about whether one regards machines as extensions of living organisms or living organisms as complex machines seems to be a topic of exploration as well). Nowadays, the proliferation of the fields of knowledge, the often vague distinction between art, technology and science, and the "immaterial" form of the new tech-nologies compel us to widen the field of our traditional research disciplines, and most crucially the field of ethics. The debate around the morality of technology has given rise to special moral categories -regarding for example the issues of responsibility, safety and risk -which had not been as important in premodern moral philosophy.

Socio-Cultural Influences on Teenage Pregnancy and Contemporary, 2019

echnology plays a fundamental part in teenagers’ life, since the majority of them are deemed digital natives; growing using communications, media, and digital technologies. As technology evolves, it becomes more available and more affordable to more young people. According to International Telecommunication union report (2017), there are 104 countries where 80% of its youth have internet connections. In Africa and Asia, there are more females online than males (ITU, 2017). Several educators, academics and public health practitioners expect technology to be a remedy to all social problems or a cause for all evil in the world due to the ubiquity of technology. This chapter takes a skeptical outlook at technology by demonstrating how technology could cause social problems and also could part of their solution if used properly. Therefore, technology is a tool that could be used for evil purposes such as increasing teenage pregnancy or to empower youth, thus it could be viewed as a double edged sword. The author attempts to refute the notion of technological determinism. This Chapter aims to look at the role of media, communication, and educational technology and their relationship with teenage pregnancy.

The prosperity and progress of a civilization depend on its unending quests for discovery and innovations. Our identities as societies are tied to our artifacts and to our understanding of the culture they represent. Thus, technology in its cultural meaning refers to all the social customs by which people manipulate material entities and substances of all kinds. It includes techniques of manipulating raw materials to produce artifacts, ways of handling or modifying artifacts, and means of manipulating animal and human bodies, including one's own body (Honigmam, 1959:290).The history of technology dates back to thousands of years before Christ when man discovered the know how to make fire. Technology has historically changed its nature. After the growth and development of human civilization, for many years technology remained the means by which people secured food and shelter, established social order as well as shaped and sustained their cultures. Along with language, religion and social structure, technology is part of the culture of a given people and perhaps more than any given factor, is used to shape and symbolize a society's values and beliefs. According to Carlson (2006) "while all cultures have technology, every culture uses technology differently". Moreover, history is witness to the fact that unlike Western culture which uses technology just as the means to pursue material and economic goals, non-western cultures view technology in different ways such as sustaining the social order and expressing cultural perception.