L21 East Versus West - quest for tech supremacy Flashcards
1974 Gierek
secret nuclear project - Dr. Kalisik - try to make Poland sole from Soviet Union
Dr. Kalisik
achieved first nuclear fusion/ignition without nuclear explosion
The ‘N’ neutron Bomb
fusion/neuron bomb - astronomic quantities of energy (from neutrons releases by fusion reaction) - much stronger than plutonium bomb
The wonder weapon - the ‘clean
bomb’
The ‘N’ neutron Bomb
Technological Determinism
Samuel Florman
Technological Determinism
Against critics of technology
“Technological progress is the true measure of human development”
Made the argument that “engineers are independent from external factors”
Wernher Von Braun’s argument
“Science does not have a moral dimension…once the rockets
are up who cares where they come down. That is not my department”
Ray Kurzweil
Promotor of singularity - Believes AI/technological systems should/will become autonomous from people
Brian Arthur
Believes technology is autopoietic
Technology is defined by him as an evolving system that will become self-creating (autopoietic) with obsolete external agents (human intervention) removed
Lewis Mumford
Author of “The Myth of the Machine”
Lewis Mumford’s argument
Argued that the belief that “unlimited technological progress will eliminate humanity” is false
Supports technology
Technology shows biological progression, limited by biological determinism
Luddite movement (1811)
Important to note that Luddites were NOT against technology
This is despite portrayal in the media/on the internet (commonly portrayed as being opposed to technology) - Truly were against social changes that were brought upon by the factory system
Struggle between 2 systems
- Factory system profits - Factory owners now had control over government - Had hands in law system/parliament/army
- Domestic system way of life, social/cultural change
- Cottage industry was destroyed
1812 - 200 Luddites took to streets to protest and fight factory system
Luddites were murdered by 14000 troops
New law was put in place
Punishable by death to destroy a machine
- First time machines were given similar rights as humans
Jacques Ellul
Argued that we are controlled by technology - Technology should not be used for political/economic ends - Agued we don’t know we are controlled because we are ‘sleepers’ integrated into the system - Relates to Plato’s allegory of the cave - Our reality is controlled by the technology we created
Neil Postman
“what we have lost” - Postman’s 3 main points - 4 signs of ignorance of the past/history
Postman’s 3 main points
- Technology is a trade-off:
Gain, but also lose. NOT a one-way relation - Technology transforms societies
It always has an impact - We are obedient to technology
“Tools of our tools”
4 signs of ignorance of the past/history
- mass media
- New is better/old is obsolete
- Away with the past…
- “Future is friendly”
Technoscience
- Focused on using technology for warfare and money
- Scientism justifies technoscience - Scientism is “to accept unchallenged from science the answers to such questions as how to feel, live, or behave is scientism”
- Scientism led to technopoly
- Technopoly - based on 4 principles
Technopoly - based on 4 principles
- Obedience to technology (both devices and systems)
- Ignorance of what new technologies are doing to lives/human relations
- acceptance of social/mass media/internet as the source of knowledge - transmitted though oral information
- ignorant of the past/history
