Choice and Control in the Electronic Jungle or How to be at peace in the Information Age
Bryan Duggan School of Computing DIT Kevin St http://www.comp.dit.ie/bduggan bryan.duggan@comp.dit.ie
Overview
What is technology? Loss of control Evaluating technology
– Reductionism/Mechanistic view – Goals of technology – Effects of technology
Technology Evaluation Framework
There is more to life than computers
Based on
Taming the Beast: Choice & Control in the Electronic Jungle
– Jason Ohler – Agency for Instructional Technology (December 1, 1999) – ISBN: 0784208735
What is technology?
Anything people create, anything else is nature Level 1
– Technology as apparatus
Level 2
– Technical activities
Level 3
– An ecosystem (or tecosystem) – “Technology has got out of hand”
What is technology?
A metaphor
– Saying one thing and meaning another
Seeing a car…
– … as a metaphor for mobility
A hammer
– … as a metaphor for building
Imagination outpaces technology
“Technology is how we try to speak to ourselves in tongues of aspiration, through images of our becoming: saying mobility in terms of car, community in terms of television, individualisation in terms of cubist office environments” Technology is how imagine out loud
“Technology replaces life threatening problems with slower acting and more persistent problems”
– Antibiotics – Office equipment
Aspects of technology that lead to a loss of control
Amplification
– Pulling a trigger, making a phone call – “The power of the Gods, without the wisdom”
Ubiquity
– Pervasive, interconnected
Stealth
– The ability of technology to create lies
Aspects of technology that lead to a loss of control
Ephererality
– Attachment to change?
Sovereignty
– Who controls who, ideas with clothes on, social forces
Dehumanisation
– Victims of technology
How do we regain control?
We gain stage 4 literacy, seeing and evaluating
– Stage 1:
To see To absorb To forget Seeing and evaluating
– Stage 2:
– Stage 3:
– Stage 4:
Example
STA
Science and Technology Administration Purpose to evaluate all new technologies before they are introduced
Reductionism vs holism
Bacteria? Humans? Individual vs. environment?
3 Aspects
The Technology itself
– Unique properties and characteristics
The goals of the technology
– How technology is imbued with purpose and manipulated towards a particular end
The effects of the technology
– Holistic: Ourselves, our environment, society
The Technology Itself (how? and what?)
What is it?
Who uses it? What does it do? How is it powered? Is it an information producing machine or a work producing machine? What is it made of? How does it work? What is its capacity? How does it extend peoples senses and capabilities?
– What subsystems are present? – Is there writing anywhere? If so, what does it say? – Is there pictures anywhere? If so what do they tell us?
How does it limit peoples capabilities? What is its range? Is it temporary or permanent?
– Can we get rid of it if we need to?
How dependable is the technology?
The Goals of the Technology (why?)
What are the inherent biases of the technology? Who is selling the technology and why? Is there a bigger picture to the sale? What is being commoditised? How is it being sold? Is the need real or created?
– Before it was invented, did we need it?
How well did we function without it?
“with each new invention it becomes possible to awaken and satisfy an appetite latent in the human constitution” “The human being is by nature a creature of infinite appetite”
Bias
Burns petrol…
– This encourages us to go to war in Iraq
Goes more than 60 MPH
– encourages us to seek employment away from home and hence leads to the growth of suburbs
Solar power, nuclear power
The Effects of the Technology
How does it affect the physical environment? Consider the entire lifecycle How does the technology affect the human body?
– Long term, short term, benefits and risks
The Effects of technology
How does the technology affect social relationships?
– Does it make us more or less involved with the people around us? – Group activities? Family relationships
How does it affect work?
How does it affect self-relationship?
Does it empower or take away power? Does it alter our expectations of self? More free time? Does it make us more or less expressive? – More in touch with ourselves? – Does it make you feel cool? – – – –
The power structure
– Who stands to gain? – Lack of Phonebooks in communist Russia
How does the technology affect education? Do people need to be trained? Does the technology facilitate self training? Technologies of the future?
`
Technology
User Organisation Society The World The Universe