TECHNOLOGICAL DETERMINISM
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 3499 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Human sciences |
- “The belief that technology develops by its own laws, that it realizes its own potential, limited only by the material resources available, and must therefore be regarded as an autonomous system controlling and ultimately permeating all other subsystems of society” (K. KRIPPENDORFF, 1986, p.74).
KRIPPENDORFF himself evaluates this belief: “Evidence for the first proposition is largely taken from the natural history of technology, its progressive character and the co-occurrence of independent inventions. Evidence for the second proposition stems from the unwarranted generalization that everything that is invented is ultimately installed and ignores human playfulness, individual and collective interests and man's cognitive limitations” (Ibid).
It remains however obvious that the massive uses of technology deeply modifies human individual and collective behavior, generally accelerating and densifying interactions (Good examples are the car and the telephone, and now, the internet). Such changes could eventually lead to a negative feedback due to general overburdening of eco- and sociosystems.