Technological Determinism
“Technological determinism is the theory that a society’s technology determines its cultural values, social structure, and history. According to the theory, social progress follows an inevitable course that is driven by technological innovation. Technological determinism has two central concepts: 1) that technological development itself follows a predictable, traceable path that is beyond any cultural or political influence; and 2) that the technology in turn organizes society in a way to further develop itself. The communications theorist and media scholar Marshall McLuhan laid out one famous example of technological determinism in his book Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, wherein he asserted that “the medium is the message.” This rejection of “content” in favor of the technological medium as an important consideration in media studies is only one facet of technological determinism, but in many ways it is the classic example.” (Technological Determinism.)
Technological determinism has a few basic precepts. First, all technology is communication and extension of ourselves. We are making scarifies for every new technology that go unnoticed but ultimately McLuhan argued that “Every new technology necessitates a new war”. This means that with every new advancement we as humans need to sacrifice something, in the instance of technology there are many sacrifices people can point too. Secondly, these extensions mirror our bodies. Machines extend our hands, cars extend our feet, and the internet extends our central nervous system. The internet functions like our brain. Third, all media to some degree is hot or cool. These refer to the type of media they are. Hot media is hands off (can’t touch it because its hot.) Viewing hot media is more or less a passive experience. Cool media allows users to interact with it and manipulate it. Video games are an example of a cool media. Last, no one can fully understand a medium until it is no longer the dominant medium. This is because McLuhan believed that you needed the medium to be replaced before you could define the lines of the old dominant one. (Technological Determinism, 2011).
Before talking about the strengths and weakness of McLuhan’s theory I wanted to share this video from World Science Festival where Philosopher Luciano Floridi explains why blaming technology for intellectual and social laziness is misguided. This video brings up interesting points when considering the overall effects technology has had on us as a society and individuals. One anology he uses to draw comporrision is to blame the invention of the automobile for making us fat. This technology allowed people to get to the store and purchase food without walking yet most people wouldn't consider this ivention to have a negative impact. He argues that the same point holds true with technology. While it opens up the possibility for many problems it still provides great benefits to the world.
Strengths:
- Understanding that we are directly influenced by our technology. I think that the statement “Every new technology necessitates a new war” is a very interesting thing to think about. I interpreted this to mean that every new technology will come with its own set of challenges. I believe that this is an accurate observation.
- Identifying that these extension mirror our bodies. This was something I had never thought about before but after thinking about it I see the connection. Cars are an extension of our feet because they allow us to travel further, faster, and easier. The internet is an extension of our nervous system because it behaves like the brain with millions of interconnected channels.
- Identifying all media as hot and cool. I believe that this is a very good breakdown of medium and it is helpful to be able to split media into these different categories to better understand the nature of what we are consuming. I like the idea of cool media being interactive and allowing collaboration.
Weaknesses:
- The idea that we can understand the current media. One of the precepts that I don’t agree with is the idea that we can’t understand the media until it is no longer the dominant media. I think that this is inaccurate as a student of communications and media. I believe that there are many ways we can go about understanding the current media.
- While I do see the connection of media as an extension of ourselves I don’t know if it holds the true for every instance. If that was the case I feel like technology wouldn't allow for innovation but just increase efficiency.
- This theory also seems to be a bit dated I believe that perhaps McLuhan didnt forse how prevalent the technological advancement would become.
References
Technological Determinism. Mass Communication Theory. (2011, September 9). https://masscommtheory.com/theory-overviews/technological-determinism/.
Technological Determinism. Technological Determinism — Media Technology and Culture Change. (n.d.). https://mediawiki.middlebury.edu/MIDDMedia/Technological_Determinism
worldsciencefestival. (2015, March 11). What is Technological Determinism? YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKblR2h2t-M.
