CS100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Social Forces, Langdon Winner, Determinism
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Think of entertainment and how your family uses it. Look at (cid:862)the (cid:449)e(cid:271) of hu(cid:373)a(cid:374) a(cid:272)ti(cid:448)ities surrou(cid:374)di(cid:374)g the (cid:373)a(cid:272)hi(cid:374)e(cid:863) What needs to be built to support it. Example: farming; grain output has increased enormously. Farming: energy per grain produced has also gone up. Farming: move towards organic farming has been in steady decline over millennia. People talk about things getting worse in general, yet tend to believe new technologies have made life better. Social and organizational change- gathering workers in one place and watching over them just as significant as technological developments like steam engine. Linear development? (cid:862)all these (cid:448)ie(cid:449)s are (cid:448)aria(cid:374)ts of a(cid:374) attitude ofte(cid:374) referred to as technological determinism, which presents technological advance as a process if steady development dragging human society along in train. Then many social problems are regarded as (cid:271)ei(cid:374)g due to (cid:858)(cid:272)ultural lag(cid:859) (cid:449)hi(cid:272)h arises (cid:449)he(cid:374) so(cid:272)ial (cid:374)or(cid:373)s a(cid:374)d institutions fail to adapt to the latest developments in, say automation or cable tele(cid:448)isio(cid:374)(cid:863)