Theories Of Technology
There are a number of theories attempting to address technology, which tend to be associated with the disciplines of science and technology studies (STS) and communication studies. Most generally, the theories attempt to address the relationship between technology and society and prompt questions about agency, determinism/autonomy, and teleonomy.
If forced, one might categorize them into social and group theories. Additionally, one might distinguish between descriptive and critical theories. Descriptive theories attempt to address the definition and substance of technology, the ways it has emerged, changed and its relation to the human/social sphere. More substantively it addresses the extent of which technology is autonomous and how much force it has in determining human practice or social structure. Critical theories of technology often take a descriptive theory as their basis and articulate concerns, examining what way the relationship can be changed. The authors mentioned in this article are those that have some concern with technology or media, though they often borrow from one another and of course build upon seminal theorists that preceded them.
Read more about Theories Of Technology: Group Theories, Analytic Theories
Famous quotes containing the words theories of, theories and/or technology:
“Our books of science, as they improve in accuracy, are in danger of losing the freshness and vigor and readiness to appreciate the real laws of Nature, which is a marked merit in the ofttimes false theories of the ancients.”
—Henry David Thoreau (18171862)
“The wise man regulates his conduct by the theories both of religion and science. But he regards these theories not as statements of ultimate fact but as art-forms.”
—J.B.S. (John Burdon Sanderson)
“Radio put technology into storytelling and made it sick. TV killed it. Then you were locked into somebody elses sighting of that story. You no longer had the benefit of making that picture for yourself, using your imagination. Storytelling brings back that humanness that we have lost with TV. You talk to children and they dont hear you. They are television addicts. Mamas bring them home from the hospital and drag them up in front of the set and the great stare-out begins.”
—Jackie Torrence (b. 1944)