Exploratory Essay Part 2

The first question I thought of was: is the definition of technology dependent on time? I have noticed just in everyday life that when someone mentions the word “technology”, they are usually referring to something new and advanced in very recent history. I think everyone would consider an iPod as being technological, but also that most people would not put a record player under that category. Sure, the record player was considered the height of personal technology in the 1960’s, but now audio technology has evolved to a new level, making inventions like the iPod superior in the sense that they are more advanced and efficient. Just because it has been replaced, however, does that not make it technology anymore? Has it been stripped of the title and reduced to the category of relic? I began to search for sources that may supply some sort of an answer for my question, and I came upon a term that seems to encompass the issue: modernity.

I found that modernity is essentially the “sense or the idea that the present is discontinuous with the past, that through a process of social and cultural change (either through improvement, that is, progress, or through decline) life in the present is fundamentally different from life in the past.” (Hooker) The source then goes into addressing the “crisis of modernity,” which is “the sense that modernity is a problem, that traditional ways of life have been replaced with uncontrollable change and unmanageable alternatives. The crisis itself is merely the sense that the present is a transitional point not focused on a clear goal in the future but simply changing through forces outside our control (this idea that the present is characterized by directionless change we call the ‘postmodern’).” (Hooker) Basically, modernity is what we consider an ever-changing cultural and developmental status of the present world as we move into the future. The term, much like “technology,” is also a rough, amorphous concept that cannot be solidified into one logical definition, at least not one that everyone can agree with. However, it does shed some light on my question in that it shows reason behind technology’s dependence on time.

I believe that my source’s definition of the term “modernity” has a great deal to do with the fact that technology is often synonymous with the present output of mankind’s struggle to move in a new direction at all times. In fact, it seems that technology has somehow become directly linked with modernity and that it is almost always referring to something replacing something else. The American Heritage Dictionary defines technology as “the application of science, especially to industrial or commercial objectives.” If this is the true definition of the term, then why isn’t the typewriter or the phonograph still considered to be technological? Even though they are obsolete when compared to their current generation of products, are they not still examples of applied science? Because of these conflicting views of what can be defined as technology and also because of the term’s relation to the concept of modernity, I am now convinced that the current dictionary definition of technology is not accurate or up to date with today’s world, and so my quest to discover the truer definition continues.



Source: Hooker, Richard. "Modernity." Washington State Universtiy. July 14 1999. 28 Aug 2007 .

The Exploratory Essay: Part 1

When faced with the challenge to discover the true meaning of the word “technology”, I struggled to think of exactly one definition for the idea. The term “technology” is so broad and amorphous that I even thought it to be impossible at first glance. It is not even something that has a clear list of items that fall under its name. Sure, you can think of random things off the top of your head – a cell phone, a car, plumbing – but when you really think about how incredibly open a term “technology” is, the act of simply making a list of things that can be considered technological is ultimately meaningless because the list would theoretically never end. Once I figured that out, I had to think about what I really wanted to know about this vague concept, and I came up with some questions regarding the matter.

First of all, is the definition of technology dependent on time? If something is said to be technological, will it remain “technological” for the rest of time? For example, when did the word technology virtually become synonymous with the word electronic? Second of all, in what way is technology linked to the cultural development of human civilization, and are the two dependent on one another? Thirdly, how much does practicality play a role in defining what is technological? For example, certain forms of art can be just as much a groundbreaking creative output as, say, a brand new iPhone, but why is the iPhone considered to be technology while art is not? Finally, who really decides what is technology and what isn’t? Is it more influenced by the public, the marketers, or the manufacturers? Before I could even think of throwing a label on the term “technology”, I knew I would have to find the answers to these questions first in order to get to the bottom of this vastly deep subject.

I am not so interested in exactly what is considered to be technological as of today, but rather in why certain things are given that name. I believe that the question is not only significant in clearing up the subject and making sense of it, but that it may also raise awareness, sub-questions, and hopefully answers pertaining to the future of human society. Are certain advances in technology helping the overall human condition or gradually making things worse? Will there be a price to pay for our steadily increasing knowledge and understanding of science and the universe around us? I may seem to be taking a huge stretch at the possibility of consequences in the future, but I believe that this possibility has already begun to rear its ugly head (i.e. global warming, pollution, nuclear weapons), and that if we do not know exactly what our so-called technology is, we may lose sight of why it exists in the first place.

What is technology?

In today’s time and age, technology is an incredibly large part of our lives, and we cannot possibly imagine the world as it is today without any of it. As our technology becomes more and more advanced with every day that passes, it gets increasingly harder to draw the line between humans’ lives related to the natural world and the technology that assists us in living. I feel that in order to make sense of technology’s role in our lives and its progress throughout history, the question of discerning what counts as technology is significant towards our understanding of the subject. It believe that it should be no question at all concerning why we rely on technology; it makes our lives easier and it helps us further comprehend our world and the universe around us. With that said, over the past century there have been countless numbers of new electronic devices and forms of entertainment that have seamlessly integrated with our everyday tasks, and it is almost impossible to imagine the present world without them. How much of it is so important, though, that people think they cannot live without it? In order to find what is actually technology, we must ask ourselves what is helping us and what is holding us back from the things that really matter in life? Also, what will be the price, if any, for our steadily advancing technology? Perhaps it will be our environment or our freedom, as in 1984. Only time will tell.