Technological Determinism and Modern Ideology :: Sociology Technology Essays

Technological Determinism and Modern political orientationAs technology becomes increasingly advanced and literacy becomes increasingly tied to aces use and access to technology, many questions arise about the approachability of this technology. New technologies continue to develop, especially those that directly pertain to literacy or writing. The biggest fuss, however, is the problem of access. Is there opportunity for equal access? When looking at computers and the Internet, this seems to be a large problem. Even with an older technology, like the teleph integrity, many great deal are without access. Although there are around 600 million telephones in the populace, two-thirds of the worlds population still do not use these telephones or do not have access to them (Gergen 15). So how does expert determinism presume our social ideology? Or does our social ideology affect technological determinism? I think that it works both ways. There are disconfirming possibilit ies for all new technology, just as there are compulsory ones.Technological determinism, as defined by George Rodman is a theory that states that the mental home of new technology changes society, sometimes in unexpected ways (40). He goes on to tell that after the introduction of printing, our culture shifted from an oral one to one driven by writing and literacy. The approach of the digital period could have a similar effect. As a science lying writer and proponent of various technologies, Douglas Adams is asked about this subject quite oftOver the last few years Ive regularly been command by nervous publishers or broadcasters or journalists or filmmakers and asked about how I think computers will affect their various industriesBut its a hard question to answer because its based on a faulty model. Its like trying to explain to the Amazon River, the Mississippi, the Congo, and the Nile how the coming of the Atlantic Ocean will affect them. The first thing to visualise is that river rules will no longer apply (117).Obviously, the advent of computers as a tool of literacy will have a huge impact on the face of literacy as it stands right now. Technological determinism seems inevitable, but the effects of the be technologies are not as easy to predict. Depending on our societys view of the emerging technology, it could either be used to bridge the ethnical gap that exists between the income levels in our society, or to widen it.