“How Society Shapes Technology”

By Robert Pool

By Sarah Bachman and Katherine Petta

Who can impact technology?

• One hundred years ago technological development was embraced

• Today we seem to be more skeptical – Special interest groups /

campaigns

How technology is developed

• Large scale development

• Hierarchical in nature

• Group effort vs. individual

How important is it that we understand the technology we use every day?

Society’s Pull on Technology

• Popularity (demand)

• Advertising

• Funding

What is the Nature of Human Knowledge?

• Positivism – accepts as knowledge only that which can be verified by the scientific method (objective / rational)

• Social construction theory – knowledge stems from the interpretations, beliefs and meanings shared by groups of people (subjective)