In Chapter 2 Postman defines three types of cultures, the first are tool-using culture, technocracies, and technopolies. This chapter focuses on tool-using cultures. Postman defines tool-using societies as thought that used tools solve problems or to serve the symbolic world. He also compared toll-using societies to technocracies. Technocracies were used to strengthen moral s and ideas of mankind. Marx added to this by saying “technologies create the ways in which people perceive reality, and that such ways are the key to understanding diverse forms of social and mental life”. Technology tries to define human morals.
In the beginning tools were not developed attack society or the dignity or integrity of a culture. Tools were governed by law and could not be used to arm Christians. Tools were not introduced to remove God from daily lives, merely to improve the quality of life. Tools were integrated in to cultures in ways that they would not pose significant contradictions to its world-view.
Through reading this chapter I am beginning to understand that Bacon, Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Descartes, and Newton were only trying to improve the condition of life. Bacon understood this concept the best, he understood that science would improve the happiness of mankind and that all knowledge and goodness comes from God. The use of any tools had to be directed to the service of God. Over time, service to God meant less to man, man was more concerned about himself the y the benefits tools had for him.
The first significant step toward technocracy was discovered by Kepler, he hypothesized that the earth was round. This was a clear call for separation of moral and intellectual values, but Kepler still had room for God. Bacon, Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Descartes, and Newton classified their work as hypotheses not as scientific discoveries to stay on the good side of the church.
Science should be used to improve the human condition an advance the happiness of mankind.
Good post, Tara. I appreciated your thoughts/summary of how tools were used, especially when you think of how they are currently used. Take Facebook for example. Facebook was founded by former-Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg (while at Harvard) who ran it as one of his hobby projects with some financial help from Eduardo Saverin. Their purpose was to create a pictoral directory of Harvard and share some common interests. Within months, Facebook and its core idea spread across the dorm rooms of Harvard where it was very well received. Soon enough, it was extended to Stanford and Yale where, like Harvard, it was widely endorsed. Before he knew it, Mark Zuckerberg was joined by two other fellow Harvard-students – Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes – to help him grow the site to the next level. Only months later when it was officially a national student network phenomenon, Zuckerberg and Moskovitz dropped out of Harvard to pursue their dreams and run Facebook full time. Now, Facebook runs ads for restaraunts, collects data on what you like, matches you with people from your high school and college,is a medium for political propoganda, and all sorts of other things that we probably do not even realize. The purpose of the tool has definitely changed - not sure whether it has improved the quality of daily life. At least not if you see the statistics of how many employee hours are lost to its use!
ReplyDelete