The relationship between technology and society

The
nature of the relationships between technology and society is extremely complex
and there is no way to fully explain it. However, there is no doubt that both
elements feed off each other. The common saying is, “What came first, the
chicken or the egg?” This question is a good way of looking at technology’s
role in society.
Social
construction illustrates innovation as a process of co-construction in our
society and relates to how society and technology influence each other. “This
discussion has made evident the interaction of culture and technology at all
levels. The earliest human societies used technology, in the form of tools and
weapons to transform their natural environment. Civilizations are based on,
among other things, the technologies of building and writing” (Murphy and
Potts). Technology’s influence on social change is indisputable. Language is a
technology; almost everything we do or have after we’re born is thanks to
technological advances at some point. Therefore, society as we know it is
dependent on technology.
However,
in Does Technology Drive History?,
there is a passage on the philosophy of “soft” determinism which suggests
technology does drive society, but technology is also shaped by human needs.
“To understand the origin of a particular kind of technological power, we must
first learn about the actors. Who were they? What were the circumstances?”
(Marx and Smith xiii). This quote references how the circumstances of society
motivated the creation of new technology. For example, the Wright Brothers
tried and failed many times to discover what it took to fly, but they were the
ones motivated enough to enhance their society with technology. Technological
breakthroughs do not always happen by accident. The need in society for a
quicker way of transportation necessitated the advancement of air travel. The
mastery of flight, in turn, necessitated social change in how we view time,
space and changed how people can do business and live their lives.
In conclusion, technology and
society are intertwined and cannot be separated from each other. Sometimes in
class I feel as if we talk about them as separate entities. However, I think it
would be valuable, as a class, if we kept the concept of social construction in
mind throughout the rest of the semester.

Marx, Leo, and Smith Roe Merritt. Introduction. Does Technology Drive History? Cambridge: Massachusetts Institute of technology, 1998.

Murphie, Andrew,
and John Potts. Culture and Technology. Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.