Culture And Technology : Introduction

Throughout the evolution of mankind, we made discoveries that change the way we live our lives today. Over time, these breakthroughs demonstrate the progress succumbed by the human race as challenges arise. Nevertheless, technology is a significant factor to the progress in today's world. If there was no tech then there would be no cell phones. Cell phones are one of those vital pieces of tech we use frequently. Tech is always around us. Humans create things to make life easier and resolve a once difficult task at hand. Moreover, inventions brought up in the past make the present and future bigger and brighter because of how much simpler life becomes. Because of the technological advancements

Today’s society is more affected by technology than it ever has been and it is changing every second of every day. Advancements in technology have been changing our culture and society for hundreds of years; from hunters and gatherers to information overload to a future of the most advanced technologies we could imagine. These fast advancements in technology quickly change our society. This statement was greatly expanded upon by three people: Gerhard Lenski, Leslie White, and Alvin Toffler

Arnold Pacey published Technology in World Civilization: A Thousand Year History in the year 1991. Arnold Pacey was an associate lecturer at The Open University in Britain as well as an author to three additional books: Meaning in Technology, The Maze of Ingenuity, The Culture of Technology. He published all four of his books within a ten-year span. Arnold Pacey was trained as an engineer but is well known as a historian of technology because of the conclusions he drew of society and technology and their relationship. Society is defined as the aggregate of people living together in a more or less ordered community. Technology is defined as the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry. Technology influences every aspect of our lives today, but we often forget that it profoundly affected the lives of past generations dating back to the beginning of civilization. Perhaps not to today’s extent, but the impact was still dramatic. New inventions or innovations produced more food, created new processes and tools, made life easier and made war more devastating. This course traces the evolution of technology and its impact on civilization from the creation of elementary tools up to today’s latest devices and even looks into future technologies.

When writing a novel, many authors choose technology as a topic to write about. It’s an easy and creative topic to choose. Another interesting topic is culture. Many authors choose this as one of the themes for their book as well. Although these two themes are widely written about, they are sometimes presented in different ways, besides them being similar.

The advancement in technology has changed the way people listen to rock and roll and music in general. The changes in American lifestyle have affected the way bands and artists are perceived. Today the internet and the use of smart phones have taken over the American lifestyle. The majority of Americans today either have smartphones, iPods, mp3 players, or computers. All of these devices are able to have access to the internet and rock and roll music is been heard less and less through CD’s and albums and more on mobile devices. The American lifestyle today is more about being on the go and communicating and receiving information faster than ever before, compared to the 2000’s and years before that.

Over history technology has changed mankind’s overall culture. From clock to computers use of technology is occurring every day in all most all situations. In Manjoo’s article “Why tech Is Starting to Make Me Uneasy” he introduces how the latest tech ideas are shaping the future. Manjoo explain new surprise of technology ones felt like Christmas morning, it’s now like the darkened basement. He feeling so bad about tech because he thinks smartphones and social networks might be ruining the world. Also, he explains new tech may well improve much about our lives but may also put millions of people out of work, and some worry that it could wreak global havoc.

American culture is being remodeled by the technology around us. Television, radio, and the internet were once great mediums for news and knowledge, now the focus is almost entirely centered around entertainment. Technological expansion has been a marvel of human accomplishment, but we seem to use it for all the wrong reasons. Technology is constantly advancing and easing everyday life, but are we actually hurting ourselves?

technology into a population which was unable to adapt. A society who’s members struggled to

Raymond Williams (Hutchison, 2011) said “culture is one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language” (p. 247). When I thought of culture, I used to picture food, festivities, clothes and country. Just like the nurse, I thought that if learned about one culture, I understood everybody in that culture. But as I started expanding my knowledge the meaning of culture started becoming harder to define. Different subjects seemed to have different definitions of what culture is. The idea expanded until it was not just a check list but “a set of common understandings, manifest in act and artifact. It is in two places at once: inside somebody’s head as understandings and in the external environment as act and artifact” (Hutchison, 2011, p. 246). The definition above explains why social workers need to learn cultural humility. It clarifies that because culture is both behavior and act, it is interpreted differently by different people. In other words, two people can be from the same exact place and still have different cultures.

Technology has a definite impact not only on our everyday lives but also on the ideologies we pursue or abandon. This change can be clearly seen as society has progressed through from an agrarian culture through the growing pains of the industrial revolution, and into the current wave, the information wave. The role of technology was seen as a tool in the agrarian culture and also as a means for physical exploration of humanity 's surroundings. During the industrial revolution that tool, used to better the agrarian age morphed into a guiding force for social change, intellectual idealism, and scientific exploration. As the industrial age drew to a close, marked by

Farming has been an essential way of living for people around the time of 10,000 BC. Farming is one of the main aspects of civilization. Civilization is an area that is advanced in many parts. Before farming, hunting and gathering was the essential way of living. Many people migrated looking for their food source. Hunters and gatherers were always on the move looking for food; because of this, not many civilizations were discovered. Hunters and gatherers were always mobile. They were always moving to different areas to find food. Their family size was decreased because it was a more of a risk to care for someone else. Their family size was small because the mother did not want to carry her child looking for her food. Basically, all of their things were limited. They did not have enough to feed a whole group of people. They did not settle in one area which leads to no civilizations created. Within time, farming was established.

In today's world, the real meaning of technology is not understood and known by all. Technological innovations do not worry people, unless of course, they are done to things we eat or use as medications or ones that affect our lives in any way. Often we do not think of things such as seedless fruits and antibiotics as technology. However, if we look deep into the meaning of technology, it is bought about my human beings and changes the environment so our goals can be met and in such a case even fruits become technology. (Cowan 301-326)

People have become very dependent on technology in recent years. In the course of history, man has created wonderful and effective things that have improved certain areas of society. With the passage of time, technology innovations reached a corner if the earth to become host part of many cultures. Previously, the man did not read a computer, or any technology device to learn and perform their daily tasks but obviously has become increasingly dependent on technology.

Education, work and leisure are all progressively becoming dependent on being able to interact with technology. In society today, technology is appreciated and considered to be a valuable addition to civilization. It affects the

Culture can be defined in many ways due to the fact that everyone can have their own distinct and traditional beliefs and values. “ Culture is fluid, it is not a static entity which one takes out of the box on occasion. It is with us daily” (Cultural Handout). Someone’s culture is set as the characteristics of the group practices in language, religion, types of food, social traits and habits, and the distinct arts and music. There are a variety of different cultures for example, Western Culture, Eastern Culture, Latin Culture, Middle Eastern Culture, and African Culture. All of these different cultures have their own ideas, values, and individualism, laws that are implied, civil rights, and even technology. In our, “ Culture Handout” culture is defined as the tool of the mind, “ it is an individual’s way seeing and interacting within the world. It encompasses one’s values systems, beliefs, and perceptions of the world around them. Race, socio-economic class gender, sexual orientation, ability, geographic location, age, religion language, etc. all impact the formation of culture, but these various context are not culture” (Cultural Handout).