The Exploratory Essay Part 4

How much does practicality play a role in defining what is technological? Through my research I have come across many different versions of the definition of technology, but I found one that seems to provide an answer for this very question. According to a man named Bernd Hornung, technology is “the systematic knowledge and the methods and procedures which can be used in a specific area in order to resolve practical problems.” I think this is a very solid definition, in that it explains how technology, in and of itself, is not something physical or a product of applied science. It IS the applied science, and it is the actual knowledge and development behind whatever technological products there may be. He also puts emphasis on where it says, “in order to resolve practical problems.” By this definition, anything that is technology must serve a practical purpose; therefore it must assist in some kind of function or usefulness. You could then say that virtually anything that was made by technology but does not necessarily resolve a problem could be put into the category of art. There is a line between technology and art, and though the two may overlap sometimes, the question of what is practical will separate them.