ANTH222 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Stainless Steel, Industrial Revolution, Chalcolithic
25 Oct 2018
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I. Technology = Techne (ancient Greek)
a. Technology of war (because the Greeks were extremely warlike).
b. Term was coined in the 20th century, although has Greek roots.
c. For the Greeks, techne meant skilled, esoteric labor.
i. Typically, only one individual did it.
d. E.g. the Greeks lived during the Bronze Age (bronze = copper + tin alloy| more
copper = brass, less copper = bronze).
i. Stone Age, Copper Age (Egyptians/ it is very soft & weak, unless Arsenic
is added to it), Bronze Age (2 combined metals), Iron Age (most common
substance/ made metallurgy democratic – anyone could have it), Steel Age
(carbon + iron/ high carbon = stainless steel), Plastic Age (lightweight,
cheap), Composite Age (carbon fibers/ lightweight, expensive/ lend
themselves to additive manufacturing = 3D printing).
e. Bronze smiths kept their secrets hidden (esoteric). They worshipped Hephaistos.
f. Metal is only found in civilizations, not tribes.
II. Erga = Collective labor (Greek)
a. Unskilled, common, collective labor.
b. E.g. Honey is the Erga of bees, fishing
III. There is more of a focus on technology in the West, as opposed to Ergology.
a. Western civilization began with the Greeks.
b. 2 things that make a culture Western:
i. individualism
ii. competition
c. In the nonwestern world:
i. Erga
ii. E.g. farming wet rice.
iii. Cooperation among the group, not competition.
d. Most of our political clashes come from this difference.
IV. Logos = knowledge (Greek)
a. “The study of”
V. What is Technology?
a. Effect:
i. Technology is effective.
ii. Efficient.
iii. Yields more kilocalories than it takes.
iv. Empirical universe.
v. **Not to be confused with affect.
1. Feelings (how do we feel about….?).
2. Affects human psyche; art.
b. Empirical:
i. Physical world.
ii. The macroscopic world of our senses.
iii. Sometimes our senses can fool us → hallucinations etc.
iv. What do we do to ensure we get empirical information? We use
instrumentation.
1. Measurements (microscope, telescope, rulers, scales, etc.).
