Should Resisting The Introduction Of A New

Technology Be Seen As Anti-Progressive Essay, Research Paper

Should a group resisting the introduction of a specific technology be seen as anti-progress. Why. Support your argument with one or more examples of disputes about technological developments.

Technology has been defined as the application of science to production , by Webster s Third New International Dictionary, this definition for the sake of this argument is too narrow. The writers on technology in its social context Emmanual G. Mesthene and John Kenneth Galbraith have formulated their definition Technology then, is the product of interaction between man and the environment, based on a wide range of real or imagined needs and desires which guided man in his conquest of Nature. p25 A group that may resist the introduction of a new technology for reasons other than the wish that progress in that area of technology is not made. The motives behind the wish to halt the progress of a technology are diverse and incorporate all manner of causes that include politics, human and environmental welfare, economics and the social consequences of implementing new technologies.

The technological advancement in the science of weaponry and warfare is an area that has always brought forward groups in society that do not wish to see this area progress. The progress in the area of weaponry and warfare is seen by many as an increase in the capabilities for humans to destroy one another and the environment. The dropping of the first atomic bomb in Nagasaki and Hiroshima in 1945, truly demonstrated for the first time the extent to which technology had advanced our defensive capabilities. From the end of World War II it was now safe to say that the human race possessed the capability to destroy all life on the planet, whereas before technology had allowed us only the capability to destroy large amounts of it. With the advent of the development of nuclear and later biological weapons many people had begun to question whether technological advancements in this area were justified or even whether these advancements were moral. Should the capacity to destroy life on a scale never seen before be seen as advancement for science. Some would say that this is not true, for the original intent of science was to aid humankind in understanding their world, and the application of science to create new technologies was to take away some of the burden of everyday existence. Science that develops a vaccine against small pox and polio or automates labour intensive processes in a factory can be seen as advancements in technology. Science that takes the labour intensity out of killing one another or provides the government s of the world a means to cripple the citizens of neighbouring countries with disease is not making advancements in the eyes of many.

It can be said in defence of the development of nuclear capabilities that it did lead to the development of nuclear power for civilian use, however its safety has never been successfully proven. According to environmentalist Denis Hayes The increased deployment of nuclear power facilities must lead society toward authoritarianism . Indeed safe relance on nuclear power as the principle source of energy may be possible only in a totalitarian state . This statement against the use of technology to harness nuclear power, not only has its environmental concerns, but a political element is applied. Hayes then states that dispersed solar sources are more compatible than centralised technologies with social equity, freedom and cultural pluralism . Hayes and many others view nuclear power as not only environmentally unsound but as a symbol for an authoritative political agenda.

Many in society do not wish to see technological progress because of its social consequences. Many critics of capitalism fear that the type of industrial innovations promoted by capitalism would resulting in the domination of many by the few . Jacques Ellul a rather pessimistic writer on technology in society says: But a principle characteristic of technique.. is its refusal to tolerate moral judgements . It is absolutely independent of them and eliminates them from its domain .

There main argument is that modern technology brings about a society that is moulded by the technologies that are of the current flavour. Technology in short, has come of age , not merely as a technical capability , but as a social phenomena .

Opponents to new technologies can readily be found when the new technology is self interested or benefits a few at the detriment of others. In the 1940 s the University of California, developed a device that enabled farmers to harvest tomatoes and sort tomatoes in a way that reduced costs by five to seven dollars per ton compared to hand harvesting.However, the process of harvasting by machines was rough and argricultural researchers had to develop new varities of tomato that were hardier than those previously grown.As the tomato harvester s were very large and cost more than fifty thousand dollars they were only really useful (and affordable) to growers with large tomato farms. As a result of this mechanisation an estimated number of jobs lost in the tomato industry reached 32,000 by the late 1970 s, however there was a substantial increase in the amount of tomatoes produced. It became clear to many in rural communities that only the large growers were benefiting from this in