First I will take an approach to technology based on Gehlen’s ideas. He says that technology allows us to replace, facilitate and strengthen our present state. He believes that using a bow and arrow will allow for man to attack animals far away and compensate for how we are under determined… in the fact that I cant kill a deer 50 yards away. To me the concept of technology lays in the way in which the bow and arrow was constructed. If we are talking about 500 years ago I would assume it was made out of wood, but my bow at home is made of a fiberglass composite, which shoots farther and faster than in the old days. I claim that technology is the difference between an old wooden bow and the new ones. I feel that Gehlen’s claims would hold true for prehistoric men and how they would have used a sharpened stick to kill animals. This would still help compensate for the fact that they couldn’t kill some animals with their hands, which is how we are all still under determined. The only difference between now and then is that now we use newer bows and arrows, and guns, to kill the animals instead of a sharpened stick. I believe that Gehlen’s concept holds true, but that it actually doesn’t apply to technology at all.
I have had an incredibly hard time understanding why we need to talk about technology as we do, and that may be because I am not a philosopher. To me, technology is what we use and how we invent new and more efficient systems. In fact, it doesn’t really concern us how we define technology, but how we use it. I don’t feel that technology is either a crutch or a shoe; I think it is certain objects that people use to interact with the world which should be defined as either a crutch or a shoe. The internet is where I run in to some problems classifying in my head. By this I mean, I see the internet as a series of computers and servers connected by wires, and the concepts that were used to construct the internet are the actual technology. This means that how we interact with the internet isn’t based on the hardware used to construct the internet but the material placed online by users. Hence, this material isn’t a technology, but a product of humans. Hopefully this shows why I am so confused on the concept of technology and why people are addressing it as such. Then again, the definition of technology could change, and my argument would be false, but this would only show that these discussions on technology are based on an assumed definition (application) of the word.
Wes Gotschall | 26-Apr-07 at 4:15 pm | Permalink
I see what you are getting at here. I only think that the word ‘technology’ should be applied to sharpened sticks in the most technical use of the word. I mean come on, its a damn stick. To me, technology is a little more technical than that. However, the internet is certainly becoming a crutch for people. We come back to the disembodiment that it allows some people and the sharing of ideas that leads to better solutions. I can’t imagine where the world would be now without the Internet. I see what you are saying in that the content on the internet isn’t necessarily technology. I think that the word has been applied carelessly in our discussions. The content is where we get the information overload and the medium for disembodiment. However, would you say that as we improve software to make the content more user friendly, accessible, etc. that it becomes a type of technology, or do we need to rewrite the definition of technology?
Brandon Wilkins | 26-Apr-07 at 5:07 pm | Permalink
I appreciate the comment, and I do agree that sharpened sticks may not be a technology now, but it seems to me that something this simple was technology in the past. And I also think that in the future some mechanical systems will not be present day technology, because they will be replaced with electronic systems (such as airplanes becomming fly-by-wire). Now you have presented a statement which I don’t know how to address, and that is how improving software can be a technology. And I agree… and this also skews my past views on technology. I can only assume that future technology will do the same, and this supports my idea that the word technology is overused.
Ryan Riordan | 26-Apr-07 at 7:05 pm | Permalink
I have a hard time determing whether i view technology as a crutch or rather as a tool. Is there a difference? I feel that a lot of the technology we use is not really necessary, but usually helpful. If i were one that believed that technology was bad and unnecessary i would believe that as we develop it we are digging ourselves a deeper hole and problem. I feel that it is a tool in the sense that it helps us get things done in a quicker and more efficient manner. I feel that it is a crutch in the sense that we rely on it too much. I did not get my first cell phone until my senior year in high school, and it did not bother me at all. Some times I would have liked to have one, but it was not something that was necessary. Now I have had a cell phone for over two years and without it, I almost get itchy for it. That in my opinion is bad that i rely on it too much. It’s not bad that I have one. Cell phones are a great and useful invention that has made life a lot easier for most people, but when you forget that, when you forget the “time before cell phones” it seems a little funny to me. I dont know if i would label technology a tool or a crutch, probably a little of both… I dont know.
John Rooney | 26-Apr-07 at 7:49 pm | Permalink
I disagree with you slightly in your views on man a technology. It seems to be your view that technology “allows” us to compensate and do things easier, but I believe that we need and are required to use technology in order to survive. Like Gehlen says, we are ill equipped by nature and it is because of this that we make and create the things that we do. These days, musch technology isn’t required, it simply makes things easier, but I don’t believe that this means we shouldn’t consider something that we have created as technology.
Tariq Mohammed | 26-Apr-07 at 8:42 pm | Permalink
Technology is not something that is required in order for us to live. Technology is merely something that lightens the load on our life. It makes life far more convenient for us. However, since we are exposed to different forms of technology on a daily basis, we have become dependent on it and we need it in order to function. Kind of a weird analysis, but this is how I see it.
Amanda Jakstas | 26-Apr-07 at 9:03 pm | Permalink
I believe that we depend on technology as though it were a sort of crutch but this seems to go hand in hand with our human nature. We are constantly trying to find ways to make everyday life easier, faster, and in turn more successful. So I would view technology as sort of a crutch for us because we constantly yearn to become more efficient as human beings. In my eyes, why not take advantage of the inventions of our peers to make for some of the areas we may fall short on?
Adam Domanico | 26-Apr-07 at 10:32 pm | Permalink
I do agree with Brandon and Gehlen that technology is something that strengths our present state through either replacement or facilitation. Therefore, it is quite clear to me how improving software can be a technology. There is no difference for the old and new technologies for me. A sharpened rock should not be given more importance than a NASA computer. As long as the innovation improves the current state then it should be considered technology, regardless of what that starting state was. In response to Amanda, however, I do not believe technology is implemented as a crutch. I think technologies only become crutches after we get so used to using them that we forget how to work without them. Until that point however, I cannot see it as a crutch. Nothing needs a crutch unless it is broken and simply needing improvement does not mean that it is broken.
Stehpanie Prather | 27-Apr-07 at 2:32 pm | Permalink
I agree with Adam Domanico’s comment. I think it’s so interesting how we are talking about technology now when we’ve been inventing it for the entirety of human existence. I truly believe this quality about us, the determination to invent, is part of what makes us different from other species. It’s only now that we’re realizing exactly how good we are at it. I know today’s technology has exceeded my wildest expectations.