After reading chapter three of
Culture + Technology by Slack and Wise, a succinct question lingered in my
head: is the world we live in defined by technological determinism or cultural
determinism? Technological determinism stems from the belief that technology is
able to alter society. In other words, technology defines a culture. On the
other hand, cultural determinism is when the existence and changing of a
culture’s values, feelings, beliefs, and practices alter technology. Within the
two terms, the causes and the effects oppose each other. So which one are we?
From a technological deterministic stand point, I could easily say that, in my society, certain forms of
technology define us. I do not think anyone could deny that. For example, we
utilize our social media profiles to portray how we want the world to see us as
individuals. We let technology take control of the task of creating our own
selves through real experience. From my perspective, I see a lot of peers, and I
included, attending a certain event, worrying about posting select pictures and
quotes said by friends immediately after, and using that for future reference.
From that point on, all they have to remember and share with others about such
event is what is posted online and a few faint memories. Therefore, people pick
and choose what to make of themselves in the form of technology. In turn, this
is causing technology to define us as humans.
In a cultural deterministic point of
view, I would say that what my culture does and how they act changes the ways of technology. Humans are constantly changing, which calls for them possessing
more wants and needs. Most of the times the wants and needs evolve from a
desire of convenience. In our American culture, we want things to be as
convenient as possible. Looking at something as broad as the iPhone, we can see
that. Apple has transformed this product numerous times. Why? To make it better
fit for our lifestyles. The iPhone went from 3G to 4G to LTE speed faster than
our provider contracts expired. The American culture just craves tasks to be
handled as fast as their brain can think of them. So, it is technological
developers’ jobs to match to our personal wants, needs, feelings, beliefs, etc.
Gillian Flaccus, for the Associated
Press, wrote “Our Toddlers, Our Selfies: Child Researchers Alarmed by
Smartphone Impact”. This article illustrates how the widespread dependence on
technology is affecting those who have not even learned to read yet. Many
toddlers have acquired the skill of taking “selfie” pictures on their parents’
phones. This research embodies technological determinism by proving that the
advances in technology are changing society by broadening its target audience
age. In addition, it alters the basic skills of a toddler. There are also
points of cultural determinism. The article explained that to appease the
tot-selfie craze, pillows with smartphone pockets were made so diaper changing
time would become more enjoyable for the youngster. Overall, the need for
selfies within this age group is just the advanced product of a child looking
themselves in the mirror for hours. But is it culturally or technologically
determined?
Technology affects use in numerous
ways day in and day out, and despite its unnatural characteristics, the cause
and effect process of technology can be quite natural. So natural that we
sometimes do not notice it until we have technological definitions and examples
in front of our eyes. With this said, what do you think? Is the world we live
in culturally or technologically determined?
I agree with you in the way that technology has permeated every aspect of our culture. The article you shared was particularly telling because it exhibited the level of comfort we have established with technology. We often forget to question the implications of technology’s deeply-embedded role in our lives to the extent that we are exposing young children to it without any certainty as to what the developmental effects could be. In terms of whether cultural or technological determinism drives culture, I don’t believe that the two theories are mutually exclusive. Technology has become an integral aspect of western society and has catalyzed changes in the ways that we communicate, one of the core features of culture. In this way, I agree with you that technology is one of the determinants of cultural trajectory. In addition, though, technology has evolved to adapt to our cultural demands. As our culture has placed increased value on instant gratification in the form of communication, services, etc. technology has changed to reflect the increasing importance of maximizing time. I thought the article also provided some insight into this perspective when it discussed the development of “baby apps” as a response to the demand for a camera that was suitable for young children. I found a list of the “best apps for babies” )http://www.parents.com/fun/entertainment/gadgets/the-best-iphone-apps-for-babies-and-toddlers/#page=2) which I thought was both bizarre and an interesting representation of your point that technology such as this is both motivated by the cultural demand for this type of product (cultural determinism) while its existence alters the way that we interact with young children in many capacities (technological determinism). I think you were right in addressing both sides of the cultural/technological determinism debate because neither can be discounted when considering the influence of technology on the way live. In short, I don’t think one or the other is definitively correct.
ReplyDeleteThank you for that great insight Rachel. After reading this assignment and writing my blog entry I clearly see the two terms as separate. However, after viewing a real example, as shown in my article, I definitely can see the terms as mutually exclusive also.However, in some cases I think one term can explain cultural or technological effects better than the other.
DeleteI definitely agree with your argument that we live in a technologically determined society and therefore let technology define us. One of my high school teachers once stated how our facebook profiles have become a surrogate of our existences in cyber form, and then when we pass away all that will remain of us are the representations we have chosen for ourselves via the internet.
ReplyDeleteWhen you stated that "people pick and choose what to make of themselves in the form of technology. In turn, this is causing technology to define us as humans" i highly agree with these because people are beginning to establish their identities more dominantly on the internet as opposed to in real life. Additionally, people are choosing to judge people by what they post on social media as opposed to how they convey themselves in a real life setting.
Overall I definitely agree that our generation is extremely technologically determined, and mostly seem to prefer to have technology define them as a more convenient and easier way to establish and enforce the identity of their choice
Thanks for the positive feedback, Linsday! I really agree with the point you made about people judging others on social media. Almost every day I see others or even myself doing that, and it seems almost instinctive. We go on facebook, twitter, and instagram, and judge the crap out of others without even flinching. Most of the time it is to make ourselves feel better about what we make public on social media. I cannot imagine what we will start doing as these technologies advance.
Delete