Nye Reading Response
In the first reading “Can we define Technology?” Edwin Nye discusses various meanings behind the word technology in order to determine what technology is or should be. He first relates technology to tools using several examples with chipmunks, beavers, and humans. With these examples, he crafts an argument stating that “humanity fashioned itself with tools.” Furthermore, he believes that the central purpose of technology is not to provide necessities, such as food and water, but to be used for social evolution. This becomes his main support for why animals are atechnical: “they are content with the simple act of living.” In other words, invention leads to necessity, not the other way around.
Nye continues to discuss some of the history behind the word “technology” and eventually dwells on the topic of technology, art, and science. He questions the relationship between technology and science and mentions that technology should be viewed more like art than science. Technology is made first, analyzed later, like a painting or sculpture. Science is the process that we use to refine technology. He finishes describing the history of technology and concludes by leaving us to think about whether technology is deterministic and if so, should we accept it?
Nye’s second chapter directly builds on the conclusion of the first: technology determinism. He first gives examples of how people talk everyday about technology as if it were deterministic. The statement “the Internet was inevitable” is one such case. More interestingly, he rationalizes that not all technology is deterministic. To support his claim, he mentions the Japanese and their rejection of guns as well as the Amash and their resistance to telephones. The overall tone of this chapter indicates that most people believe technology to be deterministic in some form or another; it is also clear from the author’s voice that Nye not only believes the opposite, but also thinks we should prevent deterministic technology. This feeling is reinforced by the last sentence of the chapter: “As the following two chapters will show… deterministic concepts of technology seem misguided…”
In both chapters of Nye’s book, there is a feeling that people, in general, do not understand what technology really is. His main points usually come in the form of an example of everyday thinking followed by his “correct” thinking. He certainly makes some good points such as some technologies are developed before they are studied scientifically. His mention of the Wright Brothers made perfect sense to me and strongly reinforced his position. However, he seems to be firmly behind the idea that technology drives evolution, not the other way around. While this could be true in some or even many situations, there are obviously conditions where technology was developed due to social changes. I find it funny that he used nuclear weapons as an example to support his claims when it was clear that we developed nuclear weapons as a defense against global threats.
Questions to think/not think about:
- How does deterministic technology relate to a deterministic world in general?
- Are we satisfied with a “simple” way of living? If not, why?
- Do we use technology to evolve or do we improve technology as we evolve?