英國dissertation：信息技術與知識管理作業需求technol
WEEK1
SOME DEFINITIONS:
Before留學生essay需求 you read the given definitions for each term, think about how you describe the term. For example, what is ‘technology’?
The following definitions explain ‘technology’ as related closely to human actions.
“Technology” =
“ … all aspects of the process of action upon matter…” - Lemonnier
“The cumulative sum of human means developed in response to society’s needs or desires to systematically solve problems.” - Market and Backer
“Technological systems” =
“material culture” - Lemonnier
Do the quiz in Markert & Backer p.12. How would you define technology now?
Culture has different meanings across individuals and communities. To some, culture is art form – music, dance, drama. To others, it is the daily routine – how we dress, what we eat, what materials we value and what we don’t value. Culture has been defined as a way of life, as values and beliefs, as a guide for making decisions. “Culture” sometimes also means a state of refinement – persons are considered to be cultured if they are knowledgeable about the fine arts and acceptable, status-related ways of behaviour in a community. Hofstede provides a technology-based analogy -
“Culture” =
• “The collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one category of people from another.” - Hofstede
Science and technology are popularly seen as related and complementary areas. It can be said that science provides the theory and the ideas, while technology is the application of scientific theory for practical uses.
“Science” =
“A stream of human events involving a mathematical or systematic study of nature resulting in a boy of knowledge that is practical as well as theoretical.”
According to Market and Backer, science is:
Based on Evidence – it can be proved
Systematic – there is a discernable pattern or method
‘pure’ vs. ‘applied’ – ‘pure’ science consists of theories that can be abstract, whereas ‘applied’ science functions practically to achieve goals and objectives.
“Technology as fate” – Both Goyder and Lemmonier see technology as something that was with human beings right from pre-historic times, because humans needed to use items from their environment in order to fashion simple tools for existence. Humans have been “born into a technological environment” for “countless generations” (thanks to tools). Thus, humans have experimented with tools and technology, and the consequences of experiments can be expected as well as unexpected. Humans are a mix of reason and impulse, and so while they have used reasoning to carve out their existence, they are also likely to respond in a non-logical manner to the environment and give their responses meaning that is more social than practical. Fate can be changed through choices.#p#分頁標題#e#
Which comes first?
Technology society
Society technology
Reciprocal causation.
Tools are an integral part of evolution; (see Six factors in Leakey’s model, Readings Chapter 1 Goyder p.6). Leakey’s model depicts the interlinking of tools and human development.
Humans have taken deliberate actions in forming and using tools + they have invested “Cultural” purposes and meanings to such actions. Using tools = method = rational = knowledge arrived at through experiments. Therefore, “Technology is … the application of knowledge to the achievement of particular goals or to the solution of particular problems” (Moore, 1972).
Technology =
“techne” = art (making things)
“logos” = study
We have a vast variety of ‘technologies’ from the traditional engineering technologies to police technology, reproductive technology, computer technology, business technology, etc. Each of these not only has the hardware of technology but also the software in terms of methodologies and patterns of processes that are the technology. Technology is not merely hardware and equipment but rather the system and the method used to produce outcomes.
DIMENSIONS: Each technology consists of the following dimensions -
Material – i.e., material objects
Source of Power – i.e., energy required to run the technology
Knowledge-base – i.e., the ideas and theories that invent the processes and shape the materials. Therefore, Material Source of Power Knowledge-base are essential dimension of technology.
Given that technology comprises of both material objects and abstract ideas, there has always been the question, which comes first, theory or practice. This leads to a further question, i.e., who is more important in society, the thinkers or the workers? It has often been acknowledged that the thinkers need to come up with the theory first (though this may not always be the case, as we shall see later in the course).
Thinkers = Innovators
Innovation’s goals:
Standardize and automate technology so that it can
Be performed with minimum effort
Provide a platform for further innovation.
Today, thanks largely to the spread of the Internet, innovation is no longer the domain of a few. Several persons can post their ideas and share them with others.
In his chapter on ‘Naturalizing technology’ Hickman(2001) considered that Technology is habitualized practice. Technology that is established becomes ‘transparent’ = Used unconsciously, e.g., Driving a car, typing an e-mail.
“Normal” activity has become routinized, and is undertaken by many in an unquestioned manner.
Hickman emphasizes the need for inquiry into these technical platforms – study of technique = technology.
Why we need to define technology:
To understand its role in human progress
To realize that technology is a combination of systems and tools#p#分頁標題#e#
To accept that there are a variety of ways of doing things
To reflect on technology so that we continually innovate.
Class 2: Critics of technology
The impact of technology on society has been seen by some as positive, by others as negative, and by yet others as both positive and negative. We need to examine all three views, to understand for ourselves what the place of technology is and how we should approach it.
CRITICS: As technology developed, various concerns have been voiced about its impact on society. Three persons who questioned the impact have been McLuhan, Ellul, and Franklin. The main reason to critique technology is to be aware of its negative effects, so that we adopt it and use it with an awareness of its consequences.
In the 1960s, technology was firmly entrenched in consumer consciousness: household appliances, and the media.
McLuhan in Canada and Ellul in France questioned the hold of technology on society. He was deeply concerned about man's willful blindness to the downside of technology.
Marshall McLuhan (“high priest of pop culture”) made 2 main points:
1. “The medium is the message” = “Societies have always been shaped more by the nature of the media by which men communicate than by the content of the communication”. = the nature of technology changes society more than do the functions or uses of technology.
2. “Global village” = technology has reduced the world into one big village – homogenized culture.
In his later years, and partially as a response to his critics, McLuhan developed a scientific basis for his thought around what he termed the tetrad. The tetrad allowed McLuhan to apply four laws, framed as questions, to a wide spectrum of mankind's endeavors, and thereby give us a new tool for looking at our culture.
The first of these questions or laws is "What does it (the medium or technology) extend?" In the case of a car it would be the foot, in the case a phone it would be the voice.
The second question is "What does it make obsolete?" Again, one might answer that the car makes walking obsolete, and the phone makes smoke signals and carrier pigeons unnecessary.
The third question asks, "What is retrieved?" The sense of adventure or quest is retrieved with the car, and the sense of community returns with the spread of telephone service. One might consider the rise of the cross-country vacation that accompanied the spread of automobile ownership.
The fourth question asks, "What does the technology reverse into if it is over-extended?" An over-extended automobile culture longs for the pedestrian lifestyle, and the over-extension of phone culture engenders a need for solitude.
Jacques Ellul cautioned that technology was taking over humanity. Ellul's most important work, The Technological Society (1964) was originally titled: La Technique: L'enjen du siècle, "the stake of the century." In it, Ellul set forth seven characteristics of modern technology:#p#分頁標題#e#
The characteristics of technique which serve to make efficiency a necessity are rationality, artificiality, automatism of technical choice, self-augmentation, monism, universalism, and autonomy. The rationality of technique enforces logical and mechanical organization through division of labor, the setting of production standard, etc. And it creates an artificial system which "eliminates or subordinates the natural world." (Fasching, p. 17)
According to Ellul, technology is "progressively effacing the two previous environments"; nature and society (Ellul, 1989, p. 134). Ellul defined an environment as that which, "enables us to live, it sets us in danger, it is immediate to us, and it mediates all else" (p. 133). In support, Ellul argued that we cannot live without our gadgets. At the same time, we are put at risk by our technology and its hazardous consequences. Not only are we surrounded by technology, but our primary means of communication are mediated by technology.
Instead of technology being subservient to humanity, "human beings have to adapt to it and accept total change" (p. 136). As an example, Ellul offered the diminished value of the humanities to a technological society. As people begin to question the value of learning ancient languages and history, they question those things which, on the surface, do little to advance their financial and technical state. According to Ellul, this misplaced emphasis is one of the problems with modern education.
This is why there is such an incredible stress on information in our schools. The important thing is to prepare young people to enter the world of information, able to handle computers, but knowing only the reasoning, the language, the combinations, and the connections between computers. This movement is invading the whole intellectual domain and also that of conscience. (p. 136)
Ellul's commitment to scrutinize technological development is expressed in his close to this chapter.
...what is at issue here is evaluating the danger of what might happen to our humanity in the present half-century, and distinguishing between what we want to keep and what we are ready to lose, between what we can welcome as legitimate human development and what we should reject with our last ounce of strength as dehumanization. I cannot think that choices of this kind are unimportant. p. 140
Ursula Franklin examined Technology as practice and system which "involves organization, procedures, symbols, new words, and most of all, a mindset." (p.12) Technology involves both a body of knowledge, discourse, and expertise as well as activities, uses and practices; "structures as well as the act of structuring."(p.14). Technology as practice, as "ways of doing something".
This analytical stance connects technology directly to culture, in that technological practice requires a sort of defining of a knowledge community. This kind of imagining of a knowledge community can also result in "credentialling" of expertise, so that only certain groups of people are able to use or control technology. In addition, the practice itself can define the content, so that "the technology of doing something defines the activity itself."(p.17)#p#分頁標題#e#
Technology is developed in two ways: work-related technologies, which enable the actual practice, and control-related technologies, which are geared towards increasing control over the operation.
She also identifies two forms of technological development which are derived from to the relationship of the maker/user to the technology: holistic technologies, which allow the creator/user in control of the process of making/doing; and prescriptive technologies, which confines each user to a particular function in the process of making/using technology.
These two forms of technological development can be thought of in relation to the capitalist development of the division of labour (although, as Franklin points out, it is not restricted to this particular economic/historical configuration). When work becomes broken down into a linear progression of codified steps, control of the work shifts from individual creators to a central organizer. As Franklin notes, "[in] political terms, prescriptive technologies are designs for compliance."(p.23)
In the present historical and economic context, prescriptive forms of technological practice are the norm, since they have some distinct advantages: they yield predictably quantifiable results, for example. However, they also "eliminate the occasions for decision-making and judgement in general and especially for the making of principled decisions.” Franklin proposes, "technology itself becomes an agent of ordering and structuring…[which] has now moved from ordering at work and the ordering of work, to the prescriptive ordering of people in a wide variety of social situations." (p.25) This shifts the terms of the debate from the "nuts and bolts" of machines, to social organization.
Fundamental to the different conceptions of scale are two tropes: a growth model, which holds that size must be appropriate to function and context (and that growth occurs, it is not made); and a production model, in which all components are predictable, and context is irrelevant and reduced to "externalities" which need to be eliminated. According to Franklin, it is the production, not the growth model which has informed much of technological practice dealing with human beings. As a result, machines and technological devices become the reliable, trustworthy, controllable elements of the technological process, and people become messy, unreliable, data-skewing "externalities". At this point, production-based models are so entrenched in our social, economic and political structures that they are difficult to resist or challenge.
"What will it take to initiate genuine change?"
"the crisis of technology is actually a crisis of governance."(p.120) = managing people and systems.
She argues that change must occur at both the grassroots and institutional level, with the former influencing the latter through collective action and movement.
"Whose benefits and whose costs?"(p.124) Franklin identifies a "checklist" for public projects: does it promote justice; restore reciprocity; confer divisible or indivisible benefits; favour people over machines; maximize gain or minimize disaster; favour conservation over waste; favour reversible over irreversible? (p.126) #p#分頁標題#e#
Advocacy around technology also includes transforming people's experiences from an appearance of marginality and irrelevance to an active engagement in the technological decision-making process. Focus should be shifted to an interest in what Franklin terms "redemptive technologies" (p.127), in a bottom-up process which aims for an active interest in utility and positive change for the people most affected.
Langdon Winner, writing on the Web, observed;
As the twentieth century draws to a close, it is evident that, for better or worse, the future of computing and the future of human relations-indeed, of human being itself-are now thoroughly intertwined. We need to seek alternatives, social policies that might undo the dreary legacy of modernism: pervasive systems of one-way communication, pre-emption of democratic social choice corporate manipulation, and the presentation of sweeping changes in living conditions as something justified by a univocal, irresistible "progress." [30]
According to Winner, the reality of technological progress has too often been a scenario where the innovation has dictated change for society. Those who had the power to introduce a new technology, also had the power to create a consumer class to use the technology, "with new practices, relationships, and identities supplanting the old." Later he wrote, "those who had the wherewithal to implement new technologies often molded society to match the needs of emerging technologies and organizations."
In a technological world that values individualism and material satisfaction, vigilance must be given to ensure the place of community and sacrifice. In a world where anything is possible, we cannot accept the conclusion that everything is permissible. Moral choices cannot be made by simply observing the state of our surroundings. Or to put it in terms familiar to readers of the 18th century philosopher David Hume, no "ought" from an "is." [31]
Sandra Harding
Harding is a critic of mainstream, Western science. Harding argues that:
mainstream science benefits Western profit objectives
with a culturally-distinct conceptualization of the order of nature.
Harding challenges the notion that science is value-free or culture-free. She addresses questions about Truth, Relativism, and Science’s Political Unconsciousness.
Harding proposes the inclusion of feminist and multi-cultural values and systems, and argues that many scientists’ conclusions reflect sexist beliefs.
Example: Two hypotheses are in competition in explaining human evolution of tool use:
"man-the-hunter" – male view
"woman-the-gatherer" - feminist view
Harding questions whether (European/North American) science is multicultural and claims that its claim of universality is dysfunctional, because this science:
maintains inequality
obstructs the growth of knowledge (i.e., knowledge that resides outside of Europe/North America)#p#分頁標題#e#
obstructs democratic tendencies.
Harding emphasizes science cultures in Africa and Asia and emphasizes the need to seek the knowledge that resides in these cultures.
Theories of Technology
This “Lecture” section has three parts:
Theories of technology
Some critics of technology
Technological progress as evolutionary theory
Various theories have been put forward about the development of technology and about technology’s relationship with society and culture. There are two views on the issue – one that says technology is a positive factor, and one that says that technology is a negative factor. We need to look at some of the views and theories so that we can understand why and how technology is related to society and culture.
Two positivist views are Technological Progressivism and Technological Determinism.
TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESSIVISM
According to technological progressivism, “progress” is evidence that the human race has moved forward, and therefore has improved and is better.
Today, ‘progress’ is closely allied with technology.
Is more technology always better?
Is the world a better place now than it used to be?
Is technology used only for ‘good’ purposes, or is it also used for “bad” purposes, i.e., those that can harm others? Sometimes even good intentions can go wrong, technology can malfunction, disasters happen.
Moving forward by inventing new technological devices and upgrades (such inventions often occur because the technical configurations are possible rather than because there is a felt need for the technology) doesn’t always make life easier or happier. The term “technological progress” is used to sell us new technology. New products and upgrades are advertised as great improvements in the previous model, and we are urged to buy the new version that will improve our lives vastly. It is heresy to question technological progress – if we dare ask “why do I need it?” we are often labeled as backward and not ‘cool’.
How do we define the “good life”? Are we seeking material progress, or moral progress? Material progress is much more visible; it is easy to measure tangible things, to feel them and put them to use to produce visible results.
During the time when the USA was taking shape as ‘pioneers’ moved west across the country, US President Jefferson saw technology as a means for progress, not an end in itself. He thus put moral issues ahead of technology and focused on the overall upliftment of mankind rather than the mere progress of technology.
The expansion of the US across the continent by European settlers was seen as ‘civilization’ taming Nature. The Europeans saw themselves as the saviours of all mankind undertaking the moral task of civilizing other human beings. Much of this way of thinking came out of the philosophy of Calvinism – evangelical Protestantism – which interpreted the notion of “predestination” to mean that they were the chosen few, chosen by God to bring morality and civilization to the world – this was their Manifest Destiny = ordained by God. European settlers brought European science and technology to the North American continent. This technology had been a major factor in civilizing European nations – mechanization of wheels and other tools had led to rapid industrialization which had in turn led to prosperity for many. Simultaneously, there had been religious upheavals in Europe led by middle-class individuals who had benefited from the industrial revolution. In this way, technological progress was a part of the general material and moral progress of Europeans.#p#分頁標題#e#
TECHNOLOGICAL DETERMINISM
Technological Determinism says that Technology is cause of progress in society. According to this theory, Technology has effects on society and these effects determine culture. According to Langdon Winner, this theory proposes two hypotheses:
Belief that the technical base of society is the fundamental condition affecting all patterns of social existence
Belief that technological change is the single most important source of change in society.
Technological Determinism is the prevalent view of technology today. Most people believe that technology has changed, and will continue to change society for the better.
SOME CRITICS OF TECHNOLOGY:
Mander, Naisbitt, Postman, Nardi & O’Day.
Why critique technology? Because we need to be aware of its effects and consequences, so that we can design better technology and improve existing technology to help others. The following individuals studied the relationship between technology and society and made some interesting observations.
Mander: Fantasy and Reality:
See Readings: Mander, J. 1991. “Fantasy and Reality”, in In the absence of the sacred – the failure of technology and the survival of the Indian nations. pp. 30-36.
Jerry Mander quotes Winner’s term “technological somnambulism” to explain how we ‘sleepwalk’ through the process for reconstituting the conditions of human existence. Such “sleepwalking” has been going on for millennia. In the development of agriculture, humans have used technological systems and tools to improve yields and enhance the value of products, focusing on successful technology and disregarding failures. Patriarchy has reinforced the unquestioning acceptance of technology because men needed to establish their dominance through the use of technology, using it as a symbol of their successes. The scientific revolution reinforced the notion of technology as useful to human beings, because it brought about many inventions that speeded up routine manufacturing tasks and helped cure several diseases.
Factors that contribute to our unquestioning acceptance of technology are:
1. Manner in which technology is introduced to us – ‘best-case’ scenarios are presented by those who develop it and/or for whom it is advantageous. The negative potential is not disclosed, even though negative results are as likely as positive results.
2. Pervasiveness and Invisibility : Marshall McLuhan woke us to the realization that technology is all over our environment. We relate to the objects and begin to merge with them and assume some of their characteristics – e.g., workers on an assembly line. Because technology is pervasive, it is invisible – we are unaware of its presence.
Previously, evolution was an interaction between humans and the natural world, but now it is the interaction between humans & our own artifacts. The environment is now a single worldwide machine, and we live inside it. Because it is so big, we cannot find a single focus which we can question.#p#分頁標題#e#
3. Limitations to the personal view: We define technology as it affects us personally, not globally. For example -
Computer – what we can access, but not whether it makes nuclear annihilation possible.
TV – if we can find the channel we like, not whether it is confusing millions of people around the world.
4. Inherent appeal of the machine: “… we are hypnotized … dazzled … impressed ..” p.34.
Genetic inclination – how we use our senses as learned from thousands of generations. Today we are faced with new images and products which our senses don’t know how to react to – e.g., images on TV, film, the Internet = virtual reality Vs. images we see ourselves in real-time presence, actual reality.
The machines do what they promise to do, in the short term. We realize the ‘Faustian bargain’ only much later, i.e., how community life is changed because of the machines.
Assumption that technology is neutral: place the blame on how we use it and who controls it, not on technology itself. However, technology as it is developed has a bias. For example, nuclear energy is autocratic, not democratic – needs governments and military institutions. Solar energy is democratic – can be done by individuals and small groups.
Mander: The importance of the negative view.
See Readings: Mander, J. 1991. “The importance of the negative view”, in In the absence of the sacred – the failure of technology and the survival of the Indian nations. pp. 37-50.
According to Mander, it is imperative that we question technology about its effects and especially about possible negative effects. To demonstrate that such questioning is possible, he refers to some groups who have opposed the popular view that technology is positive. The Luddite movement that occurred in the 19th century protested the replacement of skilled textile workers by machines (look up Luddites on Wikipedia). The Ecology movement of the 20th century questions the use of technology primarily as a possible destructor of the natural environment.
Mander says that the mere existence of TV/computers causes society to be organized in new ways. People now indulge in passive intake of information rather than participate in active information gathering. He draws comparisons between humans and the technological environment - “Our minds were being channeled and simplified to match the channeled and simplified physical environment – suburbs, malls, freeways …” p. 40.
However, saying ‘no’ to a technology is beyond us. We don’t debate its emergence. The real decisions are made only by the corporate sector.
Mander emphasizes that we need to ask questions, to assume that technology is ‘guilty until proven innocent’. Who benefits, and who does not? Who gains and who loses? Is power equalized or concentrated? How does the technology affect the way we think? Our relationship with nature? Our health? So, do we need it? At what scale of operation?#p#分頁標題#e#
What if we could ask these questions before cars were mass marketed? Are such forecasts done? Yes, though public is not informed. (National Science Foundation of the USA). Some forecasts were made about the telephone (see p. 45).
Read Ten recommended attitudes p. 46-47.
John Naisbitt: “High tech, High touch”
Naisbitt, J. (John) 1999. High Tech, high touch: Technology and our search for meaning. New York, NY: Broadway Books. pp. 274. BCIT T 14.5 N33 1999.
Naisbitt identified six symptoms of High-tech Intoxication:
We favour the quick fix, from religion to nutrition
We fear and worship technology
We blur the distinction between real and fake
We accept violence as normal
We love technology as a toy
We live our lives distanced and distracted.
Neil Postman
Postman, N. 1992. Technopoly: The surrender of culture to technology. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knof, Inc. pp. 222.
Postman studied the impact of technology on society, and stated that we are in a situation of “Technopoly” = surrender of culture to technology. According to Postman, technology is a friend whose friendship comes at a heavy cost. Therefore, every culture must negotiate with technology to establish the extent to which it can intrude into human lives.
Postman described 3 types of cultures: Tool-using cultures, technocracies, technopolies.
In Tool-using cultures: tools are invented to
solve specific and urgent problems of physical life
serve the symbolic world of art, politics, religion.
These tools are not intrusive.
Technocracies: are societies which focus on the use of mechanical devices. The Industrial Revolution was a period where technocracies were prevalent. In technocracies, the “common sense” use of technology is encouraged so that there is a coexistence of the technological and the traditional.
A Technopoly is where there is the submission of all forms of cultural life to the sovereignty of technique and technology – where technology is dominant.
Nardi and O’Day
Nardi, B. A. and O’Day, V. L. 1999. Information ecologies: using technology with heart. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. pp. 232. BCIT t 14.5 N344 1999.
Nardi & O’Day view the relationship between technology and society more practically and perhaps less critically than others. According to them, we now have “Information Ecologies” which need to be managed and nurtured – such ecologies take the presence of technology as an inevitable part of the environment. They accept technological change as inevitable, and call for responsible, informed engagement with technology in local settings. The suggest that we ask “know-why” questions rather than “know-how” questions, and recommend that each individual engages in their own values and commitments while using technology.
COTTRELL: TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS AS EVOLUTIONARY THEORY#p#分頁標題#e#
See Readings: Cottrell, W. F. 1972. “Technological progress and evolutionary theory”, in Technology, man, and progress. Columbus, Ohio: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Company. pp. 3-34.
Cottrell looked at the application of the Darwin/Spencer theory of evolution to the evolution and progress of technology and drew interesting parallels between the scientific explanations given to the development of humans in different areas of the world and the application of such scientific theory to the management of human groups and citizens by various government particularly the US government).
Cottrell: “… technological progress has no meaning apart from the complex which has accompanied its evolution.” p. 34. (we cannot offer our technology to others, which is designed to serve our values and our organization, on the assumption that they must believe what we believe; and others cannot borrow our technology on the assumption that they can disregard all the complex patterns that makes it work).
He looked at evolution as a means to understand how technological change takes place, to be able to predict such change.
It was assumed that Evolution was truth = final scientific proof.
The way science works = looking for patterns. Patterns need to persist. If there is an irregularity, then we look for a pattern in the irregularity = discovery of a new pattern.
To explain progress and changes, Darwinists used the dichotomy of heredity-environment. Heredity passes on biologically transmitted patterns, whereas the environment passes on cultural patterns, through human experience and interaction with the environment. That is, there is more to change than genetic transmission. Culture is passed on through a combination of experiences.
Technology = regular way of getting things done in a society.
For some, technology is material culture.
Technology includes
traditional knowledge
skills and judgment learned on the job, in the present
knowledge newly invented by the present generation.
Therefore, technology is neither material nor is it non-material.
Man’s control over fire – is fire a tool?
What are the consequences and uses of fire?
Cottrell also discussed the theory of evolution as it applies to technological change and how the ‘survival of the fittest’ norm was used to justify imperialism and colonialism = the fittest were endowed by biological superiority with the right to rule others.
But, once the group that used this rule reached where it wanted to be, then they abandoned the rule – competition became distasteful, and adaptation became the mode – i.e., that others must adapt the rules of the survivors and must pass through the same stages of evolution in order to ‘progress’.
According to Cottrell, a belief in biological superiority is similar to a denial of a place for values in human evolution. Values are factors that affect choice. The assumed inevitability of scientific method leaves no place for choices based on human values.#p#分頁標題#e#
However, man is the product of evaluation as well as variation and selection. Man is led to choose not only by experience in his own lifetime but by that of his forbears = learning. Learning also occurred through experience.
Man shapes his culture, and on the basis of its effects alters or retains it. So, there is goal-oriented behaviour, and culture may provide the goals. Nature does not confine itself by saying thus far no further, so what is today deviant behaviour becomes tomorrow normal. Man is not wholly rational nor wholly irrational. In a sense nature says, if you want this, these are the conditions under which you can have it.
Technolgogical inventions that result in bringing more energy under man’s control give him an advantage in dealing with other men and organisms with whom he must compete for energy.
New developments that brought sudden enlargements in man’s control over energy were accompanied by what appear to be almost discontinuous change.
When man captured energy and put to use energy from sources other than secured through photosynthesis, he introduced a factor that affected vitally the previously existing thermodynamic balance. (i.e., used too much, or, transported other things when transporting energy).
The relationship between dominance over an area and the growth of population becomes inverted.
A small population can become dominant over a large population.
Cultures which work on preserving organization will be overwhelmed by cultures that work on inventing new organizations – the later rely on feedback to convey the new information
Thus, Cottrell asserts that “… values, organization, technology, and the inorganic world are together involved in producing and maintaining the patterns that govern energy flow. … If man makes himself, he does so in a world that includes other organisms and things that interact with man’s purposes as they are reflected in his choices and resultant behaviour.” p.33.
Class3
Theories of Culture
What is Culture?
As we study the relationship between technology and culture, we need to figure out what we mean by the term ”culture”. Often the term is used only when there is a ‘cultural’ event, i.e., a celebration by an ethnic group like the French, etc. It is also used when we refer to the fine arts, i.e., dance, painting, drama, etc. Or when we refer to a particular visible aspect of an ethnic group, like dress, food, etc.
What culture is not: Culture is not merely a person’s appearance, or their language, or their type of food, though all these are a part of culture.
What is “culture”?
Culture comprises the traditions, morals, values, and beliefs of a group of people; it is the way a group of people does things.
To define culture, we need to find out what our own culture is : what is the culture that is important to us and to which we relate to in our day-to-day lives.#p#分頁標題#e#
ACTIVITY: Do the self-quiz Who Am I? Identify the three most important characteristics that define who you are – e.g., it is important to you that you are male/female? Does being male/female influence the way you do things and make choices? Does being urban/rural have an effect on your lifestyle?
Post your views on the Discussion page, and respond to what others have to say.
What is Culture?
Accordiing to Hofstede, culture is “the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one category of people from another.”
“Programming” = conditioning = a process to which we have been subjected since birth.
Marvin Harris:defines culture as “ … the socially leaning ways of living found in human societies … it embraces all aspects of social life, including both thought and behaviour”.
What influences culture - Genetic influences? Learned influences? Environmental influences?
Ideas guide behaviour?
Do thoughts and ideas guide behaviour? Do we think about an action first before we act it out, or do we first take action and then think about its consequences? Sociologists like Durham and Geertz and philosophers like Plato said that man though first, and acted afterwards. Others have argued that behaviour guides ideas/culture. Harris provides us with some examples of when behaviour helps establish cultural norms. He cites the definition of today’s family as coming out of evolving behaviour, rather than the planning of a certain type of family. The 2006 census results bear this out – the family has changed according to the behaviours of people – nuclear families arising out of a necessity to seek jobs elsewhere (and thus move away from the extended family), women’s role changing because women have gone out to work away from the home. “Rush hour” is now a part of urban culture, because more people buy cars and commute. Harris also quotes the example of the father-daughter relationship in Micronesia – pl. read the chapter to get the details.
Can culture be both Ideas AND behaviour?
Cultural Conditioning
R D Lewis explained the concept of Cultural Conditioning to describe how humans initiate and maintain ideas and behaviour. According to Lewis, taught-and-learned concepts become core beliefs. ‘Universal’ human characteristics exist across different cultures, like honesty, modesty, etc. It is the acting out of these characteristics that usually differs across cultures.We have a tendency to stick to our society’s beliefs. For example, if our society is traditional and has a long history, we will be more interested in investing in preserving our traditions and historical buildings than a society that is relatively new – e.g., immigrants to a new land – which does not have any history of its own here. Europeans would perhaps be more inclined to repair an historical building than North Americans who would favour bringing down an old building to make place for a new one. Think about the recent discussion about BC Place Stadium.#p#分頁標題#e#
Read Lewis’ “Paths for core beliefs” (fig. 2, p.28 in the readings in chapter 3) = our core beliefs take different paths according to the culture we try to impose them on.
Culture is evident only when we say or do = cultural display or event.
What is ‘normal’ culture?
What we consider ‘normal’ could be quite unusual to a person from another culture. For example, we consider our accent when speaking to be the ‘norm’ – the way English should be spoken. When we hear English spoken in a different accent, we assume it is incorrect pronunciation – but it may be the way English is spoken and understood in another culture.
‘Normal’ therefore is whatever is accepted as the way things are – the set pattern in which things are done.
Categorizing Cultures – R. D. Lewis
Lewis categorized cultures into three categories:
Linear-active = task-oriented, data-oriented
Multi-active = people-oriented, dialogue-oriented
Reactive = respect-oriented, listening.
See Figures 6 & 7, Lewis p. 40, 41. Read about Lewis’ categories.
According to Lewis, it is very difficult to pass from one culture to another.
Race & Culture
Raciology, Eugenics, Heredity and Culture:
Sometimes, culture is linked to the race of a person, and this is used to define and segregate one group from others. The notion of ‘raciology’ was the study of races to determine how and why they were different from each other, with particular emphasis on which race was superior and which was inferior. These ideas were used in the notion of ‘eugenics’, i.e., using genetics to describe how people were – saying that a person is below average or above average because it’s in his/her genes, a person can or cannot do a task because genetically they are capable or incapable. Taking this notion further, scientists and governments in the early part of the 20th century decided to use eugenics to control populations – e.g., a low was passed that mentally challenged persons cannot be allowed to have children, as a result of which many many inmates of mental hospitals were given irreversible birth control methods (this happened in Canada as well – but the practice was subsequently banned, and today a few individuals are suing the government). Immigration laws were also put in place to preserve ‘racial purity’. Herbert Spencer and Charles Darwin came up with the notion of the “survival of the fittest” – Darwin found this in the plant and animal world, and Spencer applied it to humans. Galton put forward the “nature vs. nurture” debate – are we who we are because it is in our genes (nature) or it is because we have been brought up (nutured) to think and act in certain ways?
Challenges to raciology = Biology and Culture:
Sociologists and anthropologists who went out and studied different cultural peoples of the world, like Boas, Sapir, Mead, challenged the notion of raciology, and pointed to communities that lived their lives happily though differently. Some of the reasons why these ideas gradually came to be accepted were movements of democracy where all humans were considered equal, and this was popularized largely due to the World War II whose stated objectives was to “make the world safe for democracy”. Subsequently we have had movements for the inclusion of all communities of people, like the Civil rights movement, affirmative action, equal opportunity employment, etc .#p#分頁標題#e#
Role of race in culture: Some fallacies –
Fixed number of races in the world
Races can’t interbreed
Biological ancestry determines racial identity
Races have their own language and cultures.
“A race is not a culture. Race is people; culture is a way of life.”
CAUTION: Race-based explanations of cultural differences are very attractive, so will likely return – M. Harris.
What is our responsibility in a world where we interact with people from all over the world, with their different cultures? We need to achieve ‘empathy’.
Achieving Empathy
Today – global transformation in ideological alignments
Need to achieve cultural syneryg
Question our own values – eliminate one’s own barriers
Sympathy = cultural similarities
Empathy = accepting differences, building on them in a positive manner.
“Weapons for empathy” Lewis p. 443
Recognize universal human values
Identify learned cultural habits
– accept and adapt.
Possibility of conflict: need to manage =
Maximize positive values
Minimize negative values.
Route to understanding between cultures
Examine features of our own culture
Understand the subjective nature of our values
Empathise - develop intercultural sensitivyt.
Stereotyping is dangerous but can also be a guide.
See “National Characteristics” box, Lewis p. 32
Sociological Concepts that relate to Culture
Culture and society are closely related; in fact, culture is a phenomenon of society. To find out how culture functions, we need to look at some theories and ideas that have been proposed by sociologists. The patterns we use in applying technology in our daily lives are based on the patterns we have acquired through our culture and our society.
In this lecture, we will look at the units of society and some theories that explain the various patterns that exist in society and culture.
SELF, FAMILY, SOCIETY
Condon & Yousef (1975) defined the basic units of society as the self and the family.
The Self operates along a continuum of individualism–interdependence, functioning sometimes on its own and sometimes in interaction with others = interdependence with others. Age and gender are two universally defining physiological factors of the self, often used by society and culture to ascribe differentiating characteristics to individuals.
The Family is a unit of individuals (selfs) that operates according to the following factors:
? relational orientations = the relationships between individuals, e.g., father-daughter
? authority = the power one individual has over another
? positional role behaviour = the type of actions each individual performs according to their role in the family unit
? mobility = the level of change in roles that an individual can make within a family unit, e.g., a father is also a son and a spouse.#p#分頁標題#e#
Society functions based on the following assumptions:
? social reciprocity = within society there is a certain amount of reciprocity or give and take – individuals are willing to give their loyalty and friendship in exchange for receiving loyalty and friendship from others.
? group membership = individuals form into homogenous groups so that they can function together and achieve personal, social, and professional goals
? intermediaries = some individuals function between groups as liaisons.
? formality = each society/culture/group establishes the level of ‘formality’ it will use to function – i.e., ‘formality’ is the behaviour that denotes relationships, e.g., how politeness is shown, what type of greetings are used.
? property = the ownership of property has been an important definer of society – i.e., how a society chooses to define how material goods are owned. For example, do individuals have a right to own property, or does property belong to all? Is property to be shared – do all individuals have a right to all available property?
What is a sub-culture?We have defined ‘culture’ and ‘society’. Within broader cultures, sub-cultures often exist. A ‘sub-culture’ is “any collectivity of persons who possess conscious membership in identifiable units of an encompassing cultural unit as well as the larger cultural unit itself” (Rodgers 1978).
“A subculture ... involves a set of shared symbolic ideas held by a collectivity within a larger society” (Gudykunst & Kim, 1984).
What sub-culture do you belong to?
Membership
Membership in social groups is determined by
? mental assent – “Yes, I want to be a part of this group”
? behaviour – e.g., attending meetings, verbalizing beliefs
? whether our sub-culture is acknowledged by larger society.
Membership is maintained because we
? find friendship and guidance
? attain prestige and status
? avoid isolation
? have certain restraints that keep us in a group.
Reference Groups
Reference Groups = a group to which we desire to belong/already belong, which sets our expectations.
? A reference group is a group to which we look for guidance in how to behave (Sarbin & Allen, 1968).
‘In-Groups’ – the group/s to which we belong.
‘Out-Groups’ – groups we consider clearly outside our group, with whom we do not want to associate.
What makes us join certain groups?
•To feel accepted and wanted – to satisfy our need for affiliation
•To feel our beliefs and attitudes and worth having – to satisfy our need for self-effectance
•To share an identity – to satisfy our need to give and receive.#p#分頁標題#e#
CULTURAL PATTERNS
Cultural patterns are defined by our BAVNs – beliefs, attitudes, values, and norms.
In any given culture, these BAVNs are:
A basic set of standards
Shared interpretations
Stable over time
Unconsciously experienced.
Beliefs = assumptions about ‘truth’.
Attitudes = learned predispositions to respond in an evaluative manner to an object
Values = desired characteristics of what is ‘right’ and what is ‘wrong’. Rokeach suggests two types:
Instrumental = ways to be
Terminal = things to have or to achieve.
Values vary in valence (positive-negative) and intensity (strong-weak).
Norms = expectations of appropriate behaviour, i.e., surface characteristics.
CULTURAL ORIENTATIONS
Several sociologists have explained how cultural patterns are formed.
Kluckhorn and Strodtbeck (1961) identified common factors on which value systems are based, and arrived at their table of value orientations based on three conclusions:
1. All cultures have common questions
2. There are limited solutions within a culture
3. Each culture has its preferred solutions.
Edward C. Stewart and Milton J. Bennett (1991) described four major elements of cultural patterns:
1. Activity orientation = ‘doing’ (i.e., performing actions) vs. ‘being’(i.e., the state of how we are). The two main types of activities are Work and play (social interaction).
2. Social relations orientation =
Superiority = who is ‘better’ than others
Rituals = specific series of actions we undertake to signify certain events or certain routines
Responsibility and obligation within the social group
3. Self orientation = does self reside in the individual, or in the group? That is, do we identify ourselves as members of a group and maintain the values of the group (e.g., family unit) or as individuals having independent thoughts and values.
4. World orientation = worldview – how we describe the relationship between man, nature, and supernature (spirituality/God).
Edward T. Hall (1977) organized cultures by the amount of information implied by the setting or context of the communication itself. Cultures differ on a continuum that ranges from high context to low context.
In high context cultures, the meaning of a message is either implied by the physical setting or is presumed as part of the individual’s beliefs and values.
In low context cultures, the majority of the information in a message is explicitly stated.
For example, in an Eastern Orthodox church service, the congregation doesn’t have to be told when to stand, kneel, sit, make the sign of the cross, etc. In low context cultures, the majority of the information in a message is explicitly stated. For example, in many North American Protestant church services, the congregation waits for the pastor to specifically say, “Let us stand as we sing ….” “Let us pray”, etc.#p#分頁標題#e#
Hall looked at three main characteristics of a culture:
1. Covert (implied) and overt (specified) messages
2. Importance of the in-group and the out-group – how strong the boundaries are
3. Orientation to time – is time structured, or flexible.
Geert Hofstede (1984) based his definition of Cultural Patterns on work-related values. According to Hofstede, people carry mental programs that are developed in childhood and reinforced by their culture. He identified four dimensions along which dominant patterns of a culture can be ordered:
Power distance - the culture’s answer to the issue of human inequality-status-hierarchy. Predictors of power distance are climate, population size, wealth.
Uncertainty avoidance – how a culture adapts to changes and copes with uncertainties. This depends on the culture’s level of tolerance of uncertainty, according to which the culture will set down rules for predicting outcomes.
Individualism-Collectivism – extent to which individual autonomy is regarded favourably.
Masculinity-Femininity – the extent to which a culture prefers achievement and assertiveness or nurturance and social support.
Michael H. Bond (1984) developed a definition of cultural orientations based on Confucius’ tenets. According to Bond, four dimensions of cultural patterns are:
Integration – the sense of social stability within a culture – manifested by tolerance, noncompetitiveness, interpersonal harmony, and group solidarity
Human-heartedness – a sense of gentleness and compassion, patience, courtesy, kindenss to others.
Moral discipline – a sense of restraint and moderation in one’s daily activities – personal desires as negative.
Work dynamism – a person’s orientation to life and work – persistence, thriftiness, sense of shame, status differences with personal relationships, and a long-term orientation toward life.
IDENTITY
IDENTITY is an important factor in multicultural society, because we are confronted with our own identity as we examine the identity of those unlike us.
Identity is constructed both by the self and by the groups to which we belong.
Erickson (Martin & Nakayama, 1997, p.64) says that identity is self-created, through conflict, diffusion, and crises.
Identity is a dynamic factor, and is always changing, as we change the way we look at and think about various things and groups.
Social Identity: How do we identify with a group?
The exercise “Who am I?” demonstrates that we identify with various groups, at various degrees of involvement, and in various contexts. Thus, we have multiple identities (Martin & Nakayama, 1997). Depending on the context, one or more of these become salient.
Our identity is established through
1. Avowal – each person stating his/her identity, and #p#分頁標題#e#
2. Ascription – society acknowledging the person’s identity.
We achieve competence in communication if our self identity is confirmed by our social identity.
We express identity through
Core symbols
Labels
Norms
Three types of identity we have are
role identity – family, work, social activities
ethnic/national identity – demography as destiny?
class identity – economic class
Today, our ‘avowed’ identity is usually described by the role we see ourselves playing in society, rather than an ‘ethnic’ or ‘class’ identity.
“Role” = a set of behavioural expectations associated with a particular position in a group. (Gudykunst & Kim, 1984)
Parameters of a role:
is the conduct appropriate to the position?
is the enactment proper? meets standards?
is the enactment convincing? justifies the position?
Degrees of differences in roles:
personalness - how personal can you get/ how impersonal do you have to be
formality expected – what behaviour conventions do you have to follow
hierarchy – is there an established hierarchy, is it vertical, horizontal, or ‘flat’?
deviation allowed from the ideal
Various theories have been put forward to explain why an individual identifies with a particular group and not others. Tajfel’s theory is of particular interest.
Tajfel’s Social Identity Theory
Also look up the following links, and do further research on the social identiy=ty theory:
http://www.tcw.utwente.nl/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20clusters/Interpersonal%20Communication%20and%20Relations/Social_Identity_Theory.doc/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_identity
Tajfel’s theory states that grouping is
A cognitive (mental) process = we categorize ourselves and others, to simplify our world
An affective (emotional) process = we prefer those with similar values and culture
We search out the dimensions on which we differ, and then select the dimensions we value the most, to describe our differences.
Social Categorization (Tajfel) We categorize on a continuum:
Inter-group
Sociological data
Representing group
Your group vs. my group
Canadian vs. American
Inter-individual
Psychological data
Representing self
You vs. me.
Class4
Investigating Technology
WHY DO YOU HAVE TO DO RESEARCH?
In your position as a professional, you can be asked to:
present proposals and recent research findings to your superiors
explain the existence of phenomena, or describe conditions in society
demonstrate the need for change, or for solving a problem.
You can present your information both on paper and in a talk.
In both WRITTEN PAPER AND ORAL PRESENTATION, you will
tell your readers or listeners what your topic is #p#分頁標題#e#
explain the topic with evidence, facts, and an analysis
conclude by arriving at a decision about the results, and if needed, recommend what should be done next.
Steps in the Research Process
1. State the research problem.
2. Define the purpose of the research.
3. Review the related literature.
4. Formulate a thesis statement or question.
5. Define the variables/factors.
6. Select the situation/population and sample.
7. Collect the data.
8. Analyze the data.
9. Communicate the conclusions.
The Research Problem
The topic of a research study is usually stated as a ‘problem’.
Need for investigation arises with a ‘problem’ = a situation that needs to be investigated
We question a situation:
Why does it exist? What are the parts of the problem?
Where did it start? How did it start?
Who is involved? Who is affected?
How can it be remedied or improved?
Purposes of research - Three purposes:
1. Explore –
Discover new ideas
Not much information yet 2. Describe –
Provide new information
Extend available information 3. Explain –
Analyze available information
Arrive at meaningful answers.
Choose the topic
What interests you?
Where do you starting looking for ideas?
Your own interests and observation, colleagues, classmates, instructors, seniors in the field
Television, radio, newspapers, general magazines
Professional journals, textbooks.
ESSENTIAL PARTS
CULTURAL FACTORS - Social, economic, political, psychological, cultural factors
THEORETICAL IMPLICATIONS - Relevant theory on your topic
Seek help in narrowing the topic
1. Start with a general statement or question
“The impact of local business practices on the use of computers”.
2. Consider the components of your statement:
‘local business practices’ = Where? Who? What type of business?
‘use of computers’ = what kind of computers? What kind of uses?
3. How can you make your statement more specific?
“The impact of traditional ways of conducting business on the use of PCs in medium-sized Japanese grocery stores.”
4. Consider time constraints.
Relevance of the research problem
“Who cares?”
Who is affected by the problem?
What amount of public interest is there?
Should there be an awareness? Why?
How are political, economic, social elements involved? How are they affected?
How much research has been done previously?
What’s new about your question?
Formulate the Question
State your question
Identify your factors
Depict the relationship you assume
Literature Search - purpose
Demonstrate that you know the background to the question = establish credibility#p#分頁標題#e#
Show what questions were asked previously, and how your question is relevant
Learn from others and stimulate new ideas.
Literature Search – where to look
Periodicals, Scholarly journals, Dissertations, Government documents.
Ask of each study:
How does this study fit in with other studies?
Is this study based on previous studies?
Will this study lead to new findings?
Is the research question significant? researchable? feasible?
Is the hypothesis testable? justifiable?
Do the measurements taken in the study in fact measure what the researcher claims to be measuring?
Has the researcher accounted for other, uncontrolled variables which may affect the dependent variable (i.e., the main factor being studied)?
The Literature Search - steps
Refine your topic
Design a search - How far back in time will you look? Which materials? Where located?
Locate research reports
Take notes
Organize your notes
Write the review
Follow the pattern of your research question
Link the articles to your question
Make logical connections between articles.
Methods of data collection
Need to : -Be systematic -Collect ‘enough’ data -Categorize and code according to criteria.
TYPES of data: 1.Secondary data = literature review
2.Primary data =
Surveys – Questionnaires, Interviews
Content Analysis
Observation
Methods of analysis Categorize factors and data into areas of similarities.
Go through the Problem-solving Process:
Purpose and question
Background factors (brief history)
Current issues = cultural factors x technological factors
Possible reasons = explanations based on theories
Possible solutions = from theory/previous research
Conclusions and Recommendations
Writing the research paper
Parts of the paper:
Abstract (write this AFTER the paper is completed)
Introduction/problem statement
Literature review
Research design and methods
Findings, Analysis, and Discussion
Implications/Conclusions
References, Appendices
INTRODUCTION
State the purpose and the topic/problem
Explain the rationale = reasons why
Provide a brief background to the topic:
State the thesis
Explain the variables/factors
Briefly state the research methods used.
IMPLICATIONS/CONCLUSIONS
Base your conclusions on your findings
Draw conclusions relevant to the topic
Explain the implications
Make recommendations for:
the relevant group or technology
further research studies
FINDINGS, ANALYSIS, & DISCUSSION
Present your evidence
Base your analysis only on the data you collected and your literature search
Use standard methods of analysis
Include tables and charts to supplement your analysis
Discuss your findings based on relevant theory#p#分頁標題#e#
REFERENCES
List all references in a section called “References.”
Use the APA format
If relevant, include a list of personal interviews, phone conversations, e-mails –
Last name, first name initial/s, year, type of contact, place of contact, date of contact.
Example:
Cottrell, B. 2004. Personal interview. Burnaby, BC. April 30, 2004.
APPENDIX
Include items of interest to some, but not all, readers, such as data-gathering tools like questionnaires.
Information with potentially useful data that would interrupt the flow of the discussion section.
IMPORTANT:
Any information included in your Appendices must be referred to in your report.
Class5
PSYCHOCULTURAL INFLUENCES
Culture depends largely on what groups think about their activities and ideas – how individual and group mental activities function to initiate and implement behaviours that are seen as specific to their “culture”.
In this class, we will look at four theories that describe how psychological activities affect our responses to variety in society and culture:
1. Category Width (Detweiler), 2 and 3: Theories of Attribution: 2. Correspondent Inferences (Jones & Davies), 3. Causal Attribution (Harold Kelley), 4. Identity Validation (Stella Ting-Toomey).
“Psyche” = what does this mean? Research the answer.
Human mental activities are identified as being threefold –
Affective = emotional
Conative = behavioural
Cognitive = mental/intellectual.
Cognition
Cognition = mental processes that transform sensory input into meaning. How we perceive, categorize, and give meaning.
CATEGORIZATION
A category is: (write your definition)
Formation: Categories are based on
easily observed differences
overgeneralization of the familiar
functional use - keep out the out-group, improve in-group image
projection of our own feelings - everyone behaves like us
beliefs we hold in common with others
our selective perception. (Brislin, 1981)
Functions: Categorization helps us
cope with a diverse environment and identify stimuli
reduce need to learn about new stimuli
predict appropriate behaviour
relate one class of events to another (Bruner, Goodnow, & Austin, 1956)
Theory of COGNITIVE CATEGORY WIDTH (Detweiler, 1975, 1980)This theory basically states that individuals accept or reject ideas depending on the width of their cognitive categorization capacity, and this depends largely on individual cultural values and experiences. “Category width” refers to the ability to recognize that a behaviour or idea can have more than one meaning.
Detweiler identified three types of categorizers: Narrow, moderate, and broad categorizers. A narrow categorizer would categorize (give meaning to) others’ behaviour narrowly using his/her own cultural values and experience, and would hesitate to accept any variations to what is ‘normal’ to him/her. The broad categorizer would give meaning to behaviour in a more general way and would be more accepting of the idea that a behaviour or situation can have different meanings.#p#分頁標題#e#
For example: “Ways to Travel” for - Narrow Categorizer = Car, Bus, Walk;
“Ways to Travel” for - Broad Categorizer = Canoe, Yak, Car, Bus, Bike, Scooter, Rickshaw, Walk.
A concept closely related to category width is the degree to which the stereotypes we hold are open to modification. Harvey, Hunt, and Schroder (1961) states that people differ in the degree to which they are willing to modify stereotypes they hold, or in other words, the degree of “openness-closeness” of their stereotypes.
ATTRIBUTION
Attribution = we link or ‘attribute’ observed behaviour to unobserved causes – assumed intentions, dispositions, and external forces. Our impressions about other people and things are often dependent on our beliefs about why people do things – what are their reasons, motives, roles. Attributions influence our impressions of others, and therefore can influence the way we communicate with others.
Two types:
Internal attribution (Nature) – we attribute the behaviour to the inborn nature of an individual, to factors that we assume to part of the individual’s deepest beliefs, or to the way they are. For example, attributing stealing to an inherent inclination to be bad.
External attribution (Nuture) – we attribute the behaviour to circumstances the individual is in. For example, attributing stealing to the circumstances that the individual is penniless and needs to feed her children.
Two key Attribution theories:
Jones & Davis (1965) expanded on the notion of internal, dispositional forces, and put forward the THEORY OF CORRESPONDENT INFERENCES. According to this theory, we infer dispositions from the nature of non-common effects produced by an individual’s behaviour.
For example, if an individual is planning to go to college, and has a choice of two colleges, she compares the factors about the two colleges that are important to her, and makes her choice. Let’s say that the individual considered the following factors, and chose College 2:
COLLEGE 1 COLLEGE 2
Near home Near home
Small Large
High Quality High Quality
Expensive Affordable
Based on an observation of her choice, we can attribute her choice of College 2 to the factors that are not common between the two colleges, i.e. size (small vs. large) and cost (expensive vs. affordable). This theory works alright for one-time observations rather than attributing factors over the long term. It assumes that the observer knows all other possible behaviours of the individual being observed.
Kelley’s 1967 THEORY OF CAUSAL ATTRIBUTION:
In many life situations, we want to know why another person has behaved in some manner. Often, we seek to reach such conclusions on the basis of repeated observations of this person’s behaviour. According to Kelley, we look at a person over time, in context, and ask others about this person.
3 dimensions of attribution: First we consider consensus – the extent to which other persons react in the same manner as this individual to a particular stimulus. Second, we consider consistency – the extent to which this person reacts to the same stimulus in the same way on other occasions. Third, we consider distinctiveness – the extent to which this person reacts in the same manner to other, different stimuli. There is also a continuum of high to low for each dimension.#p#分頁標題#e#
For example, Bob and Nikki have a great first date. The next morning, Nikki finds 12 long-stem roses on her doorstep from Bob. The stimulus – the great date; the behaviour – the gift of 12 roses. Nikki wonders, did Bob do this because “Bob is just like that” (an internal attribution) or because “Bob had a great time with me on our first date” (an external attribution).
Nikki looks for CONSENSUS – she asks her girlfriends if other men react this way to a great date. If the answer is ‘yes’, there is HIGH CONSENSUS. If the answer is ‘no’, there is LOW CONSENSUS.
Nikki looks for CONSISTENCY information from Bob over the next three dates. She observes whether Bob always sends flowers after dates. If the answer is ‘yes’, there is HIGH CONSISTENCY. If the answer is ‘no’, there is LOW CONSISTENCY.
Nikki looks for DISTINCTIVENESS information by asking whether Bob gives roses in other situations too, such as birthdays, anniversaries, and graduation parties. . If the answer is ‘yes’, there is HIGH DISTINCTIVENESS. If the answer is ‘no’, there is LOW DISTINCTIVENESS.
BIASES IN ATTRIBUTION:
1. Fundamental Attribution Error:
Over-attribution – we tend to over-attribute to personality rather than to context or situation, because we assume that persons remain the same over time, though situations may vary.
2. Actor/Observer Bias:
We tend to be kinder to our own actions than the actions of others – we attribute our own actions to external, situational factors, whereas we attribute the actions of others to internal, inherent characteristics.
Actors = situational factors I’m in school because I need a job
Observers = qualities of the actors You’re in school because you’re a studious person
3. Ego-centric (self-serving) Bias:
Take credit for positive outcomes
Deny responsibility for negative outcomes
Causes for the errors (biases)
different perspectives
many possible explanations
observers assume they know the meaning.
The IDENTITY VALIDATION THEORY suggests that the reason we form and maintain friendships with others from other cultures is because we feel (and they feel) that 1) our personal identity is being affirmed (i.e., we experience normal or increased self-esteem and the images we have of ourselves are confirmed as well), and 2) we feel that our cultural identity is being affirmed (i.e., we feel the other person understands and appreciates and confirms our cultural heritage). Ting-Toomey described four factors in identity validation:
Physical proximity, http://www.mythingswp7.com/thesis_sample/xinxihezhishiguanlizuoyexuqiu/which serves the existential validation function of immediate interpersonal support and relational reassurance
Perceived similarity which validates one’s own values, beliefs, and attitudes#p#分頁標題#e#
Uncertainty reduction which clarifies role ambiguities and revalidates salient role identities
Self-disclosure where the communication process validates one’s most inner treasured experience while also validating the empathic role of the other.
In short, identity validation is a self-confirming and other-confirming process.
Also read Stella Ting-Toomey’s discussion and theories at http://www.colorado.edu/communication/meta-discourses/theory.htm
Ideology
Ideologies are screens through which we perceive the world … seldom taught explicitly or systematically … rather transmitted through example, observation, and casual observation. (Marchak, 1988).
“Why is that family poorer than ours?” What would your explanation be if a child asked you this question? What reasons would you give for poverty?
WORLDVIEW
The term “worldview” is used to describe a belief system. That is, what an individual or group of individuals believes as to how and why the world functions, what the goals of the world’s (or human beings) existence is.
Robert Redfield defined the term as follows - the worldview of a people is the way a people characteristically look outward upon the universe. Worldview attends especially to the way human beings, in a particular society, see themselves in relation to all else.
Categorizing worldviews:
According to Redfield, all worldviews could be related to the elements of one triangle,
formed by man, nature, and gods or supernature. The temporal orientation of a worldview describes a culture’s view of time, i.e., the relationship between past, present, and future. He describes five worldviews: monistic, naturalist, tribal, Chinese, and monotheistic.
Monistic world view
According to this worldview, there is only one reality, and distinctions of supernature, man, and nature are only apparent and not real. The world evolved as one reality, and after long cycles of time, will be reunited in one reality. Thus, physical human life is an illusion – ‘maya – which will not last, while within is the atman or soul. Humans strive to devoid themselves of the atman, i.e, to rid themselves of their ego (self) so that they can be re-united with God – Brahman. In the triangular configuration, man and nature are equally at a distance from supernature and both need to strive to merge with supernature. Hinduism and Buddhism are examples of monistic philosophies.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monism
SUPERNATURE
MAN NATURE
Naturalist worldview
The Naturalist worldview rejects the presence of supernature, focussing on man and nature. Therefore, the present is most important, while the past and future are obscure.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturalism_(philosophy)
SUPERNATURE
MAN NATURE
Tribal worldview#p#分頁標題#e#
From the following link, look for the section on Tribal worldview. Also google-search other definitions of tribal worldview. http://missiology.org/EMS/bulletins/hiebert.htm
According to the tribal worldview, supernatural beings and powers (spirits) are very near to human beings. The three elements work closely together. The past is important, because our ancestors (spirits) lived in the past and continue to be with us in a different form.
SUPERNATURE
MAN NATURE
Continued on next page
Chinese worldview
Look up this link for an insider’s explanation of the Chinese worldview.
http://www.robertmundell.net/pdf/The_Harmony_and_Development_of_Human_Beings.pdf
The Chinese worldview is placed within the context of Yin and Yang, which strive to be in harmony with each other. Yin refers to vice and weakness and was associated with feminity, while Yang refers to virtue and strength and was associated with masculinity.
Nature is wither Yin or Yang, which work together to form an eternal order. God is a supernatural being who overlooks the world from a distance.
SUPERNATURE
MAN NATURE
Monotheistic worldview
The monotheistic worldview believes in the presence of one God. In this worldview, man and nature are equal, but man has been given the care of nature. Because God is paramount, the future (eternity) is very important. Islam, Christianity, and Judaism are based on monotheistic philosophies.
http://www.theopedia.com/Monotheism
SUPERNATURE
MAN NATURE
The FreeDictionary: The term means:
The overall perspective from which one sees and interprets the world.
A collection of beliefs about life and the universe held by an individual or a group. 1
LaborLawTalk: "The term denotes a comprehensive set of opinions, seen as an organic unity...At all times, religious and political teachings were bases for forming worldviews; in fact, they were often worldviews themselves. For example, Christianity, Islam, socialism, Marxism, Scientology may be called worldviews; at least they generate clearly identifiable worldviews." 2
Author Palmer Michael describes a worldview as consisting of six parts:
Ideology (e.g. beliefs in God, cosmology),
Narrative (e.g. sacred writings and myths),
Norms (e.g. ethics and morality),
Rituals (e.g. activities designed to renew bonds),
Experience (e.g. emotional and spiritual elements), and
A social element (educating future generations). 3
Professor James Olthuis of the Toronto Institute for Christian Studies has written: "A worldview (or vision of life) is a framework or set of fundamental beliefs through which we view the world and our calling and future in it. The vision may be so internalized that it goes largely unquestioned; it may be greatly refined through cultural-historical development; it may not be explicitly developed into a systematic conception of life; it may not be theoretically deepened into a philosophy; it may not even be codified into creedal form. Nevertheless, this vision is a channel for the ultimate beliefs which give direction and meaning to life. 4#p#分頁標題#e#
Problems with worldviews:
People tend to adopt a worldview early in life, and often do not change it radically in adulthood. They often reject new understandings and discoveries in the fields of religion, culture, science, etc. out of hand because they are incompatible with their personal worldview.
As James Olthuis writes, A person's worldview is often "largely unquestioned." To author James Sire, a worldview consists of: "...a set of presuppositions (assumptions which may be true, partially true or entirely false) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously, consistently or inconsistently) about the basic make-up of our world." 5
If one lacks understanding of their own worldview and/or is not aware of the diversity of worldviews within the culture, one is often mystified by the beliefs of others. This can lead to demonization of others, as is often seen between pro-choice and pro-life supporters. It can also lead to people having difficulty in converting others to their point of view.
Hopefully, those people who become aware of the existence and content of their personal worldview will be able to alter it to accommodate changes in the culture. When adults who are now retired were entering their teens, racial segregation was a way of life; abortions were criminal acts in many states; homosexual behavior was outlawed and widely considered a mental illness; inter-racial marriage was outlawed in many states, and same-sex marriage was inconceivable. If this rate of social change continues into the future, today's youth will have difficulty coping. Teens who are aware of their own worldview may be able to better accommodate change. Unfortunately, the diversity of worldviews and religions in the national culture is not often included in school curricula.
References used:
"Worldview," TheFreeDictionary, at: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
"Worldview," LaborLawTalk.com, at: http://encyclopedia.laborlawtalk.com/
Michael Palmer, "Elements of a Christian Worldview," Logion Press, (1998) Read reviews or order this book Pages 28 - 30.
R. Wesley Hurd, "Me and My Worldview," McKenzie Study Center, at: http://www.mckenziestudycenter.org/
James Sire, "The Universe Next Door: A basic worldview catalog" Intervarsity Press, (3rd edition, 1997). He discusses, from a conservative Christian viewpoint, such worldviews as theism, deism, naturalism, nihilism, Marxism, postmodernism and the New Age. Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
Retrieved on Jan 26 2007 from http://www.religioustolerance.org/wvintro.htm
Overview of "worldview":
The term "world view" (a.k.a. "worldview") is borrowed from the German word "weltanschauung." It means a person's fundamental "world outlook," or life perspective. It refers to their perceptions of deity, humanity and the rest of the universe. "It represents our personal metaphysical outlook on life." 1#p#分頁標題#e#
Understanding one's personal worldview is important, because it is a main source of one's moral code, ethics and many other beliefs. As R. Wesley Hurd of McKenzie Study Center writes: understanding one's worldview helps people make sense of their world and make choices for living their lives. It helps one realize how different individuals can approach a seemingly straightforward issue such as abortion, and end up with opposite opinions. 2 One's beliefs about homosexuality, physician assisted suicide, the death penalty, corporal punishment of children, pre-marital sex, polygamy, stem cell research, inter-faith marriage and a host of other topics often flow logically from their worldview.
People with different worldviews often assign different definitions to words like "pregnancy" and "homosexuality." They may use different definitions for truth. Open dialogue and problem solving is often very difficult among persons with different worldviews -- particularly if they have no insight of the role that their personal worldview has in determining their beliefs.
The United States is generally regarded as the most religiously diverse country on Earth. Because religion and worldview are so closely linked, the U.S. probably has the greatest diversity of worldviews as well.
Retrieved Jan 26, 2007 from http://www.religioustolerance.org/worldview.htm
What is Worldview?
Worldview
The term worldview is used to refer to the common concept of reality shared by a particular group of people, usually referred to as a culture, or an ethnic group. Worldview is an individual as well as a group phenomenon.
Cognitive Culture
Worldview is term for what is called Cognitive Culture. This is the mental organization in each individual's mind of how the world works. Expressions of commonality in individual worldviews make up the cultural worldview of the group. This leads to the social culture, the way people relate to one another in daily activities, and how they cooperate together for the good of the group as a whole, called the society.
This means that every person has a culture in their head. This is what we call their worldview. There is a bit of difference with each individual. The culture in their head, however, includes the areas allowed to be different and those required to be the same or similar. The rigidness or flexibility of the social culture will be a part of that worldview in each member's head and part of the general worldview.
Where do we get this cognitive culture? How does it relate to the social culture? How do we learn it? It appears that the human brain has innate powers of observation, analysis, and generalization. The human mind tries to make sense out of what it observes.
Patterns are generalized from the experiences and the bits of information and observations a child gathers in the early years. This is inductive learning and is largely subconscious.
There is some commonality in our basic experience of the world, of other people and of life-events we share in common. There is also that variation of individual experience, of interpretation of that experience and of behavior based on knowledge gained from that experience. #p#分頁標題#e#
An Ordered Sense of Reality
Human beings view the world from the inside out -- from within ourselves, viewed through the organizational "grid" of our own minds. That grid is made up of the points of contact and particular experiences we have with other components -- human and non-human -- of the world of which we are a part.
The attempt to develop an ordered sense of reality is determined, or at least guided, by our earliest experiences and then altered by conscious and unconscious processes as we broaden our range of experiences. The earliest and most significant experiences of life appear to shape our basic concepts of reality. This process leads to what we call the worldview.
Because this sense of reality determines how an individual relates to other individuals, the way they express themselves in behavior and language enable us to learn about the cognitive worldview. The language can give insights into the cultural worldview of the host culture.
Adequate
Each culture's worldview is self-contained and adequate in the sense that it provides a coherent view of reality as perceived and experienced by the cultural group under consideration. Worldview denotes the complex of beliefs, concepts, sense of order and social constructs, role-models and moral precepts which are unique and peculiar in comparison to other such complexes of other such socio-cultural groupings.
Thus – allowing for the principles of modification in each culture, and varying degrees of openness to change -- each culture's worldview is adequate for that culture and thus valid in its own terms.
Orville Boyd Jenkins
Last updated 03 March 2006
Retrieved Jan 26, 2007 from http://endor.hsutx.edu/~obiwan/worldview/worldvwhat.html
HOW TECHNOLOGIES DEVELOP IN VARIOUS REGIONS
To understand the role of social, economic, and political factors in the development of technology, we need to examine how technologies have developed over the centuries in various parts of the world. What factors have driven the need for technology? What factors have led to the success or failure of technology?
We need to examine the history of technology to find some answers.
Let’s look at how technology developed in previous centuries, as well as how it is developing today.
Major factors in the development of technology have been:
Environment – terrain, climate, flora, fauna
Population growth
War and conquest
Trade and trade routes
Religions and religious travelers.
Environment – terrain, climate, flora, fauna
The availability of materials is a basic factor in the development of technology. What do our surroundings consist of? What do we need to live in these surroundings?
How best can we use the available materials?
Technology has developed in conjunction with the development of civilization. As mankind moved from the nomadic hunter/gatherer to the settler/agriculturist to the industrialist and today to the information specialist, humans have developed technology to serve their changing needs.#p#分頁標題#e#
Four stages of human development can be described as:
The nomadic hunter/gatherer
The settler/agriculturist
The industrialist
The information specialist.
The nomadic hunter/gatherer – prehistoric times, some tribal communities today.
Hunting and gathering for survival, for food and shelter.
Philosophy – take only as much as you need. Respect for flora and fauna.
Technology – manufacture implements that help get what you need: tools to hunt and gather, to build shelter, to fashion clothing.
Nomads – on the move, no need for permanent dwellings. Move to where food is available. Not much need to acquire things for keeping.
The settler/agriculturist – beginning of recorded history, and of civilization. Settling in a specific location, farming the land. Beginning of communities. Later, trade and warfare with other communities. Ownership issues. Education concentrated with a few. Establishment of civilized societies in the East: China, India, Islamic. Middle Ages in Europe.
Philosophy – produce enough for today, and a little extra for tomorrow. Exchange of ideas.
Technology – systems and tools for agriculture and farming.
The industrialist – Renaissance and Industrial Revolution in Europe and North America, colonization in Asia, Africa, South America. Ownership of territory very important.
Philosophy – acquire as much as you can, for profit. Democracy as a concept. Spread of art forms and political/religious/philosophical ideas.
Technology – mechanical equipment and machinery for mass production and distribution.
The information specialist – 20th century to today. Rapid growth of media and information technology, from the telegraph to the computer. Globalization. Exploitation of natural resources. Some critical thinkers.
Philosophy – produce for profit. Capitalism and Democracy acknowledged as the preferred norm in many parts of the world.
Technology – electronic hardware, computer software, management systems.
Differences in technology based on the environment – silk farming and textile manufacture in India vs. China, hydraulic engineering in Persian vs. in India: “Lack of machinery did not mean a backward technology, but indicated a different emphasis in technological development. Adaptation due to environment: rice culture for large farms in China’s north needed ploughs vs. small farms in the south who used hand-tools.
“Technology complex” of a particular region = use of particular systems and tools depending on the need (based on environmental factors).
Camel is too efficient in the desert for wheeled vehicles to take over.
Need for mechanization vs. abundance of manpower and labour.
Population growth
Increases in population led to the need for technology that could provide the basics and beyond. Settlement: The concentration of individuals and families in certain areas precipitated the emergence of methods and systems to protect, feed, and clothe these societies. #p#分頁標題#e#
AD 700-1100: population growth accelerated. Farming and cropping methods. “Survival technology” = basic support of increasing numbers of people.
In China, there was a need to maximize the use of a limited amount of land for a growing population about the Yellow River basin. Chinese iron industry and the use of cast iron. Iron for ploughs and farm tools.
Introduction of a quick-growing variety of rice.
Hydraulic engineering to channel water for consumption as well as for energy – Baghdad in AD 763. Need for dams and the building of the Nahwran Canal.
Which came first, the need for engineering or the administrative set up?
Opposite view to need for large engineering works led to the establishment of bureaucratic governments (Wittfogel) – large canal projects in China were possible “because governments had first developed the administrative capability to manage them.”
War and conquest
The need for weapons and armoury prompted the use of available materials for war and conquest. Early weapons were constructed from wood – spears, bows and arrows.
Methods for using metals for implements, which led to the establishment of the iron industry in China, also led to the development of weapons along with farm tools. Principalities threatened each other, so weapons were invented and refined. The use of gunpowder was evident in China during the 1040s.
The Byzantine Greeks used petroleum seeping through the ground to fabricate weapons – “Greek Fire” – this was passed on to the Islamic civilization, and from the Persian Gulf to the Malay peninsula and Indonesia, and then to China – they converted the concept to ‘fire oil’.
Impact of conquests – nomadic conquests from the North to the South – China, India, Iran and the Mongols. Little understanding of irrigation agriculture – damaged/destroyed, then neglected. Populations declined. Islamic scholars moved to Spain. Mongols had expertise in conquest technology – horse-riding (harness, stirrup), archery, hunting. Were also dependent on trade to maintain their simple lifestyle.
Utilization of conquered armies for labour to build dams – Roman army working for Persian conqueror.
Centres of learning destroyed = Benares in India – loss of records – setback to science and astronomy.
Role of interest groups in power – governmental, administrative, military, religious.
‘Elite’ nature of learning and administration, vs. ‘plebian’ nature of technology = bureaucracies dominate and dictate the development and use of technology.
Britain’s success – willingness to invite and incorporate ideas from all over the world.
Trade and trade routes
Trade between regions was an important impetus in the exchange and spread of technologies. “Commercial prosperity in one region could influence economic conditions in very distant areas”.#p#分頁標題#e#
Hydraulic engineering – Chinese used canals and rivers for transportation. Grand Canal to link Beijing to the south. System of lock gates and the pound lock.
Government officials/administrators were innovators.
Ancient Chinese governments also developed Bridge design and Textile machinery in order to spread their kingdoms and advance their trade.
“Technological dialogue”: Not acting in isolation – links with other civilizations. Active trade links between China and the Persian region, South Asia, Southeast Asia. Champa rice from the south, methods of cultivating and processing cotton from India.
Hydraulic engineering – Roman Empire, Persia, China – dry regions, importance of irrigated agriculture. Dam-building technology, methods to retain floodwaters in Cambodia (Angkor Wat temple)
Arab shipping in the Indian Ocean to India and China – Indian cotton goods, Chinese porcelain to Indonesia and Africa.
Shipbuilding industry – sewn planks used in India, nailed hulls used in China.
Origins and development of knowledge – agricultural crop farming initiated in India, spread to Islamic countries who developed it and took oranges, sugarcane and cotton to Spain, Ethiopia, East Africa.
Role of religious travelers and conquerors in spreading technology – Islam, Buddhism.
Islam – through conquest (North Africa and Spain) and trade (countries of the Indian Ocean).
Buddhism – pilgrimages, texts for translation.
Building of bridges in China became a ‘pious duty’ – important for the overland route to India.
Printed book – use of wood blocks for printing Buddhist texts in India onto cloth – China already copied important inscriptions onto paper from stone tablets. China incorporated the wooden block to print books – Buddhist scriptures (however, the printing press evolved in Europe).
India located on a watershed of exchange, having trade with both Persia (Islamic world) and China (Buddhist world).
Impact of Islam on architecture and dress – rich wore cotton and were clothed, poor went naked (in Africa).
Importance given to records and books – conquests sometimes destroyed libraries, sometimes provided opportunities for access to books (fall of Toledo 1085).
Common themes across Asia were notable – hydraulic engg particularly. Reminder of the close relationship between technology and institutions. Technology development depends on ability to mobilize labour, to foster relevant skills, and to encourage innovation; these depend in turns on the effectiveness of commercial, industrial, and governmental institutions.
The most creative societies were those in which many types of institutions were active and in dialogue with each other.
When institutions declined or were disrupted, there was often a loss of technology – the Roman Empire, Baghdad after 1950, India in the 1190s.#p#分頁標題#e#
“Fine” technology
“Fine” technology refers to those items and appliances that are entertainment and amusement oriented rather than necessary for routine, survival activities. These technologies emerged during times of peace and consolidation of civilizations, i.e., when human beings could relax and think beyond survival techniques.
When governments extended patronage to craftworkers, astronomers. Arts and crafts embodied the dreams and fantasies of societies.
Chinese Emperor’s ‘mandate from heaven’ = need to examine the stars = observatories.
Instruments for astronomical observation and navigation were developed.
Clocks were invented as toys rather than as essential tools – also symbolic as representation of the sun and stars.
Independent invention
Possibility of similar technologies emerging in different parts of the world, not influenced by each other.
E.g., windmills in Europe very different from the Persian windmills. (p.51)
Here is a link to various sites about histories of specific technologies – you may want to look up the history of the specific technology your project paper is about:
http://inventors.about.com/od/timelines/Timelines_of_Invention_and_Technology.htm
Transfer of technology
Successful transfer of technology into Japan – 4 channels:
Import of machines from the West
Employment of foreign engineers in railroads, telegraph, and machine-tools manufacture
Agreements with foreign companies
Rapid expansion of scientific and technical education.
Japanese as practical adapters vs. Westerners more inclined to pursue technical dreams and exotic inventions.
Dangers of waiting for validation of technology from the West – India as an example.
“Survival” technology in the 20th century – the public health revolution
Here is a link to Arnold Pacey’s chapter on Survival technology (Chapter 11)
http://books.google.com/books?id=X7e8rHL1lf4C&pg=PA187&lpg=PA187&dq=%22survival+technology%22&source=web&ots=235IO8adxv&sig=yVae7-UaZp1qVUNR0J88Biqd068#PPA208,M1
Technologies essential to human survival. Bigger impact on human lives than electronic technologies.
A mixture of social, nutritional, domestic, medical and engineering development contribute to these achievements.
Work of women as mothers, professionals in nursing, nutrition, related fields.
Positive vs. negative impact:Improvements in infant mortality – but, loss of trad birth-control methods led to popn explosions in China & India.
Self-sufficiency in food – much of the necessary innovation has originated locally.
Example of DDT in India and China to control malaria –
India mounted a campaign of spraying had an immediate impact, but nothing was done about the poor living conditions which made people vulnerable nor were efforts made to encourage precautions.#p#分頁標題#e#
China couldn’t afford widespread use of DDT. They held meetings to educate people about the sanitation and drainage, teams formed to fill puddles. Impact was probably more permanent than in India.
Importance of local environmental technologies – impact of colonization vs. local wisdom and practices in Africa. Control of the tsetse fly well managed before European advent, but neglected because of superior status given to Western methods and inferior status to local methods.
European belief in the universal applicability of all aspects of their science and technology. Need for an approach that is also sensitive to local environments.
Access the following link, which looks at worldviews about survival technology. Robert Pope, a professor from Australia, delivered this speech in China. He compares and discusses European and Chinese scientific views:
http://www.science-art.com.au/china_lecture.htm.
“Ecological particularism” (Paul Richards, 1985) = implied that African success in the control of the tsetse fly was due to empirical knowledge of the insect in specific local habitats and was based on long experience of specific environments.
Scientists undertook research, only later discovering that relevant information could have been learned from the local Africans. Obstacles – lack of written records, but this would be similar to European ‘folklore’. Notions of ‘backward’ societies vs. ‘advanced’ regions.
“Green revolution” – originated in the USA – genetic-chemical technology. Transferred to developing countries – e.g., India, China, Africa.
Local farmers adapted the new technologies to fit their environments.
“Intermediate technology” (E.F. Shumacher) = need for appropriateness in scale and expense, besides being appropriate for the local environment. Need to first examine local practices and how useful they are to the local people.
Reiterate the need for “technological dialogue”.
Also look up this link : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appropriate_technology
The following link gets you to the group founded by Schumacher: http://www.buildingconservation.com/directory/ad504.htm
Universalism vs pluralism - “Necessity of rejecting the western pretence of universalism. Non-western cultures should develop ‘pluralism’ in their approach to technology, drawing on their own knowledge and skills as well as the western kind. By so doing, the non-western cultures may ‘help westerners themselves in dealing with the new crop of problems they now encounter’ (Alvares, 1980, as quoted by Pacey, 1991).
“It would be folly to deny the value of the universal elements in science and technology, but it is equally important to seek a balance between the universal and the particular.” (Pacey).
The Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) actively studies the relationship between culture and technology: #p#分頁標題#e#
http://www.historyoftechnology.org/index.html
OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) report on policy for science and technology (1991).
The OECD is a world body that monitors and advises on the need for governments and corporations to work together for the overall progress of humanity and the world.
In its 1991 report, the OECD emphasized the need to integrate policies with other aspects of government policy – economic, social, industrial, education, and manpower. Emphasized the role of the firm and the importance of the diffusion process.
The report described the relationship between science and technology as two axis’ that intersect:
Y axis = Knowledge axis = knowledge acquired through R&D, publicly available research, and sharing of information.
X axis = Second axis = acquisition of technologically advanced equipment in which prior knowledge is embodied.
Progress along both these axes is necessary for development.
Need for staff with proper training.
Learning by interacting.
“Technological trajectory” = lifeline of a technology, birth, development, maturity, growing old, death = supplanted by another technology.
Adopting new technologies requires major adjustments – material and intangible. Need for a critical mass.
Need for:
Infrastructure
System of communications
Self-functioning labour market
an appropriate climate of general economic policies notably in taxation and FDI.
Impact of globalization: techno-globalism.
Financial markets, goods markets.
Strategic alliances, cooperative agreements, mergers, large-scale acquisitions across national boundaries. Generation of economies of scope, combined with economies of scale.
Concerns:
Creation of oligopolistic or monopolistic situations
Tensions arising from discriminatory access to publicly funded research
Increasing technological dualism between developed and developing countries
Do these nations lack the capacity to adopt and manage technological change?
Brain drain
Impact on the environment.
Need for proper risk assessment and ensuring of public acceptance.
However, the introduction of new technologies is essential not only for economic growth and social development but also to help correct some of the past errors.
“Thus technology – if properly introduced – can be viewed as part of the solution to environmental problems.”
Also look up the OECD website for their guidelines for multi-nationals, and their latest policy recommendations: http://www.oecdwatch.org/
The OECD Observer provides news on current activities: http://www.oecdobserver.org/
Class7
SOCIOCULTURAL INFLUENCES ON TECHNOLOGY
Where does technology stem from? What are the environments it is initiated in and develops? How do environmental factors impact technology? John Goyder listed three major environments:#p#分頁標題#e#
Three environments for technology - Geographical, sociobiological, social.
Geography – consists of the physical surroundings, the terrain, flora, and fauna. These affect the types of technology that are implemented in various regions. For example, using wood as a building material usually occurs in regions where forests are in abundance. Geography has changed as startlingly as technology, over 225 million years: began as a universal continent and moved and split into significant large land masses; climactic changes like the Ice Age influenced the tools humans needed.
Sociobiology – refers to how human physiology and the biology of nature function to influence human society and social practices. The use of technology is a defining statement about humans that differentiates us from other creatures. The development of some technologies has been biologically inevitable. For example, the average height of basketball players determines the height of the net; in the US, the average height of players is about seven feet. But what about the height of players from Asian countries, which is usually shorter (under six feet) – should the height of the basketball net be adjusted for shorter players?
Social environment – refers to arrangements that are not necessarily biologically inevitable but rather stem from the established patterns of society. These patterns influence the development and use of technology in different cultures. For example, if the value system of a society is based on Individualism, technology will develop processes and equipment that are best used by individuals rather than by teams or collaborative units. When the user friendly personal computer (PC) was first available, it was assumed that each PC would be used by one person only, so a user name and password helped protect use. No one else had access unless they were given the password. Today it is realized that a PC could be shared between members of a family unit, so multiple user names and passwords are possible for access to the one PC.
“Institutional domains” are arrangements made by society to meet various types of collective need – economy, polity, family, education, religion. Institutional domains cross-cut each other. E.g., family is both an economic and an emotional necessity.
Institutional human arrangements often have considerable inertia, remaining in place long after the need has shifted.
Social structure is the ways people and groups are organized and connected within a society
E.g., ‘bureaucracy’ is a form of social structure.
Culture consists of both material things and ideas.
Relationship between geography, sociobiology, soc environment
On the one hand, some links have been shown – Calvin’s argument for climate and evolution of intelligence = need for survival through the ice age etc.
On the other hand, the relationship is not a simple mathematical derivative - Some groups living in physical proximity with similar conditions have developed quite differently, while similarities can be seen in groups situated in very diff geog environments. (Work of anthropologists Margaret Mead and Ruth Benedict).#p#分頁標題#e#
Technology as effect as well as cause –
Can be an independent variable, i.e., the cause; for example, the advent of TVs changed patterns of family communication. Technology can also be the dependent variable, i.e., the effect; for example, the demand for protection from natural elements led to building construction.
For example, the 1969 moon landing by the US was undertaken not only because it was technologically feasible, but also because of the political situation (USA rivalry with the USSR). Here, technology is the effect, or end result, of the political situation.
See Fig. 2.2 pp. 34-35 in Goyder, J. 1997. “Creating Technology”.
Gender bias in technology – how many women work in technology-related professions? Of these, how many are in managerial positions?
Onset of entry of women into science and technology led to major social structural change in the ‘90s.
For more information on women in science and technology, look up Women-Related Web Sites in Science/Technology - http://userpages.umbc.edu/~korenman/wmst/links_sci.html
How do Economic conditions affect the development of technology?
Economic surplus as precondition for tech development
Need for investment in such development. Also, over the years the need for investment has increased. (e.g., increases in investment to develop new models of cars; first car developed June-Oct, today it takes 3 ½ years and much more $$).
Economic systems as accelerators:
Capitalism, patent laws to create an environment which makes invention financially attractive. Protection to the patentor.
Collective ownership of ideas = communism – ownership by the state. Success evident in Sputnik – US reaction was shock and scramble to keep up.
Emergence of Technology – some factors
Technology as value: To accept a new technology, there is need for a change in values. The scientific revolution marked a major change from medieval values (In the middle ages, physics = 4 elements of earth, water, air and fire. This changed to the physics of the discoveries of Galileo, Copernicus, thinking of Descartes, Bacon and Gutenberg’s printing press).
Technologies causing technologies:
Basalla proposed that a technology first emerges as a novelty and for non-utilitarian uses – play, religious, ceremonial.
The wheel was first used for religious and ceremonial purposes.
The car was a rich person’s toy when first developed.
The Concorde airplane was developed because it was assumed that flying was only for rich people. Subsequently, flying became a regular means of travel for the middle class, and the Concorde lost tremendous amounts of money because it didn’t get very many passengers.
Computers emerged as cognitive play and problem solving devices. Only in 90s were computers made available for utilitarian purposes.
According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs – humans move from satisfying basic needs to satisfying non-material needs.#p#分頁標題#e#
Technology creation in Canada
Canada has had many inventors, but the nation was not seen as technology developer because it was not positioned as such. The legacy of invention in Canada has been neglected. There has been a migration of inventors from Canada to the US.
Some inventions in Canada –
Screw propeller 1834 John Patch
Rotary snowplough 1869 J W Elliot
V-chip 1990s Tim Collings
Alexander Bell was a Canadian who moved to the US (born in Scotland, emigrated to Canada, family based in Canada while Bell was in Boston). Ongoing debate about him being American or Canadian.
“As technology became more complicated and more expensive to develop into production form and to market … it became increasingly difficult to keep good ideas in Canadian hands.”
Analysis of why Canada was/is not able to sustain technology creation and rather is a technology-importing country – Laxer:
Ethno-national question of French-English relations distracted from focus on technological innovation and investment.
Turned for investment first to British, then to the US – from being a colony of one to being a colony of the other.
Here is a link to some information about Canadian inventors - http://inventors.about.com/od/cstartinventions/a/Canadian.htm
Social Meanings of Technology
How is social meaning given to technology? Post your thoughts on the Discussion page.
Who gives technology meaning?
Inventor vs. users.
Do inventors respond to social meaning?
“ … social meanings of technology coexist and interact with the personal responses and ‘existential’ experience of individuals.”
2 levels of meaning:
One level – inventor is informed by experience of society, and gains a sense of what desires or needs await a technological response
On another level – inventor is informed by his/her practical experience, visual memories, sense of form
Important question: Whose reality counts? Whose understanding of the meaning of technology prevails?
E.g., 19th cent perceptions of the steam locomotive. Walt Whitman’s poem (p. 80) -
different experiences – making, operating, riding, using for transporting goods, etc.
Variable social meanings
Consider the different meanings attached to everyday items like cups, purses, popcans, keys, cell phones, etc. For example, a pen symbolizes writing, knowledge, the power of the written word, etc. Post your ideas on the Discussions page.
Meaning is attached to technology depending on how an individual/society perceives and uses it.
“The utility of a tool is never simply in the production of foods; the tool also produces meaning.”
High-wheel penny farthing vs. the safety bicycle – style over sensible design?
Symbolic meanings attached to models of cars - Reliability is important, but speed and ‘fast’ (thus liberating) image much more desirable.#p#分頁標題#e#
Such meanings affect design and sometimes compromise safety. E.g., cause of Swissair plan crash off Peggy’s Cove (NS) – malfunction of wiring in the entertainment system.
Computer enthusiasts often cannot/do not critically examine the ends that might guide the world-shaking developments they anticipate – they are insularly focussed on the results for present use.
“People can become enthusiastic about new technology that looks like progress without really understanding its social meanings.”
Langdon Winner’s technological somnambulism.
Public responses and political meaning
American public pays homage to technology – railways, bridges, skyscrapers, plans, etc.
Similar to a religious feeling.
Could be the vast scale of the continent has sensitized the North American public to the sublime.
In the 20th century, technology took over as the principal symbol of national destiny – bridges, skyscrapers, space program, computers.
Role of oil companies and automobile manufacturers – together they established the need for cars to commute long distances. They collaborated with the government to buy up and systematically destroy the railroads, and laid highways so that people would need cars, and oil to get around.
We therefore need to critically examine industry to see whether it is friendly or unfriendly to the idea of a just society.
According to L. Winner, no successful industrial society has resolved the contradiction between democratic and technological values
Assumption that technology is politically neutral
Decisions to adopt technology are based on criteria of economy and efficiency, not justice and freedom.
Public taste is manipulated by owners of electronic media – enforced homogenization
Employees’ rate of work is monitored by computers – enforced homogenization
These repressive models of social integration are often eagerly sought by governing bodies, because they enable control over the people and easier administration (because it is all the same way [homogenized]).
Political meaning vs. individual meaning
Joy of creating something out of technology, vs. power implications of the technology.
Can multiple meanings co-exist?
Computers and entanglement with power, vs. computers as existential joy.
Play and Aspiration
Humans superimpose ‘play rules’ onto more serious preoccupations of adult life.
Technology begins with toys –– According to Basalla, playfulness is involved in the process of invention.
Necessity is NOT the mother of invention.
Need to be aware of where an excessive love of materials could lead us. Dangerous when these things become ends in themselves.
Industry as symbol for male sex drive.
Structure of skyscrapers – but, could also represent higher aspirations – looking upwards to a greater being, reaching upwards and beyond – ascent.#p#分頁標題#e#
Need to keep social purposes in mind when designing and using technology, because social purpose will affect each of us individually though differently.
Examples of relationship between technology and social structures
War between science & medieval Christianity -
The church held power over the public through a set of rigid rules and assumptions of the state of the earth and the role of human beings. Church leaders were the only ones allowed to be thinkers and provide ideas for the public. Explained good and evil as the battle between God and the devil.
Galileo and others threatened the power of the church by putting forward theories the church did not know about. “… many of its tales … must have been written by someone who did not know what the physical universe was really like.”
The rise of Muslim science:
“Dark Ages” of Europe vs. same period in the East – the East was civilized at a time when Europe was going through the Dark Ages.
Exchange of ideas – mathematics developed based on ideas shared between Greece, Egypt, India, Babylon.
Climate of encouragement of scholars and scientists – development of optics and study of the refraction of light.
Patronage of enlightened caliphs and princes who were fascinated by science and learning.
Was science accepted by medieval Muslim society? In that period, science was in the hands of a few, not the public. Science was the private initiative of individual scholars with crucial support from the enlightened nobility with the masses being more or less out of the picture.
Why didn’t the scientific revolution happen in Islam?
Read the chapter and list some reasons.
Study the Comparative table of traditional and modern educational systems on p. 150.
Can this be because of the superiority of the collective European mind?
Some reasons:
Attitudes and philosophy
Concept of education
Nature of Islamic law
Non-existence of socio-economic foundations like autonomous cities and trade guilds
Character of politics in Islam
Mongol invasions
Absence of a centralized church
Superior moral position –the right of the individual to interpret doctrine without the aid of priests.
Here are some links to articles about Islamic/Muslim science:
Islamic world and Western renaissance - http://www.cyberistan.org/islamic/ghazi1.html
Setting the record straight … - http://www.cyberistan.org/islamic/sciencehistory.htm
Lewis Jones explores Muslim science and compares Islam's contributions to knowledge with those of other religions - http://csicop.org/sb/2002-03/inklings.html
Technology, man, and progress
For progress to happen, change is needed.
Social change and technological change – which is cause, and which is effect?
Time sequence explanation is insufficient.
Scientific method takes a cautious view of change – under certain conditions, when this occurred it was followed by that.#p#分頁標題#e#
Bulk of social phenomena is carried from one generation to another as a single bundle of culture.
Causal connections can be shown to be dispensable later.
E.g., Western assumption that science and technology are universal because it works for them = all arrangements characteristic of their society are necessary for achievement in science and technology.
However, though various theories have come and gone, the practical necessity of doing something about technological change remains. “Those who hold values likely to be destroyed or downgraded in the hierarchy of a society as a consequence of tech change are as vitally affected as are those who hope to achieve more of their own values and upgrade them with the same changes.”
“Conscientious sabotage” = The conscious, mindful undermining of a process. Unions and others who resist change sometimes engage in conscientious sabotage in order to make a statement about their objections to particular types of change. Therefore, those who are for change cannot expect everyone to automatically accept the technological superiority of the change.
Stage theory (things happens in ordered stages) doesn’t always work – it cannot be assumed that individuals will agree to a change process mandated by an external body. It is therefore the responsibility of those who want to implement change to persuade those who are resistant = they need to find out what will persuade the resistors to achieve the desired breakthrough. Need to look for ideologies and theories that make sense to the resistors.
We cannot classify technologies without using criteria that is at least in part social phenomena.
Example: Energy and society –
Alterations in the flow of energy on a social system are correlated with social changes in that system; thus, the appearance and survival of particular kinds of social phenomena is dependent on the material conditions necessary to secure and direct that flow. This is a feedback model – social systems utilize energy flows with varying effectiveness. The amount of energy invested to achieve the energy flow is usually greater than the energy flow achieved; however, man ascribes less value to the energy that is invested and greater value to the energy achieved.
Also, value hierarchies are changed as new technologies (new ways of generating energy) are adopted.
“Law of effect” classifies actions in terms of what happens as a consequence of man’s having done some particular thing. When something happens, it is reflected upon, speculated upon in terms of values and past acts, and a decision is made whether to continue. Will they be violating norms of society – limits permissible in their society, with social approval?
Example of the railroad and steam engine vs. horse power -
Differences between the sources of energy for these two types of energy.
Difference between energy input (effort in securing the energy) and energy output = surplus energy – free energy.#p#分頁標題#e#
The steam engine made it possible for man to get mechanical energy from sources hitherto not thought to be available – trees and coal.
Effort put in by the driver of a ten-horse team was greater than the effort put in by the driver of a steam engine. Thus, surplus energy was available from using the steam engine.
QUESTIONS for the Final exam question bank:
Explain two examples of variable social meanings as described by Pacey.
What are Goyder’s three environments for technology? Explain.
Describe a theory of social change.
What factors played a dominant role in the resistance of Christianity and Islam to science?
