How does technology, such as the Internet and other social media create changes in society or how do changes in society push technological development?
There is no doubt that society is changing—in the last decade, technology has advanced so much that it seems unlikely that people alive a century before would be able to distinguish it from magic. Humanity has unprecedented access to information, healthcare, and food; although there are still problems in society today, the problems are growing smaller in the face of technological advancements and changes. Some might argue that society has driven forward technological advancement, but it seems likely that the opposite is true: that technological advancement has changed society. Early in the Industrial Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment, ideas were the driving force behind technological advancement. It was a highly philosophical age, and that philosophical drive encouraged technological advancement. Today, however, the drive is different; technology changes that occur are so fast and so drastic that they are changing society before society has a chance to mold technological changes.
In “Mind Over Mass Media,” Steven Pinker writes that no new technology has ever been developed without an accompanying feeling of dread or anger from some part of the population (Pinker). Pinker calls this “moral panic,” and he notes that it has been an important reaction to almost every major invention that has been recorded in the history of humankind (Pinker). It is in human nature to react negatively to things that are new, unusual, or scary; people are born with a survival instinct that causes them to fear things that are new or life changing, and new technologies are no different. As a result, technologies that are developed that will fundamentally change the nature of human life as these individuals know it are frightening and undesirable. Of course, not everyone has such a reactionary instinct to technological changes—someone has to be developing these new technologies, after all. Once these technologies are introduced into the mainstream culture—whatever it is at the time—most people begin to accept and adopt these changes into their everyday lives. This is important, because this pattern repeats itself throughout human history: Pinker cites the printing press and Twitter as two examples of technologies that have changed society immensely, and the “moral panic” he claims surrounds these technologies (Pinker). The purpose of this discussion is not to decide if the people experiencing moral panic are right or wrong—the purpose is only to discern that their reaction indicates that in many cases, it is technology that is driving forward changes in society, not vice versa (Pinker). As new technologies are introduced and adopted into the fabric of society, people’s perception, standards, and overall opinion tends to change over time—it is the technology that generally changes first, not the opinion of the general public (Pinker).
Birdwell also comments that technology has a serious effect on society, whether people want to admit it or not. Currently, technology touches nearly every part of many people’s lives; there are hardly any parts of the planet, for instance, without cell phone signal; more people than ever before have access to electricity. However, the more technology touches people’s lives, the more technology has the ability to change their lives and their patterns of thinking. Birdwell notes that it is now possible to be addicted to one’s smartphone; when people are separated from their phone, Birdwell writes, they feel anxious—but when addicts are separated from their phones, they feel severe anxiety and even depression (Birdwell). Addictions are serious, and addictions to technology like social media or smartphones can also be dangerous; they can cause many of the same problems as other addictions can, and by definition, they interrupt the life of the addict (Birdwell). This is incredibly different from people’s relationship with technology even two decades ago. In the past, perhaps people would have become addicted to other things, but in this day and age, it is technology that is changing people’s behavior and turning them into addicts.
This is not meant to be an indictment of technology, but it is meant to be a discussion about the ways in which technology changes people’s lives and society as a whole. There is no doubt that society has shaped technology in some ways as well—for instance, the wars of the last century have essentially stalled humanity’s space program in many ways, but surveillance technology has advanced tenfold—but for the most part, technology shapes the direction of humanity, not vice versa. There is a lot of fear in modern science fiction that humanity’s relationship with technology has become toxic or irresponsible—that perhaps humanity is heading in a direction that it should not go. However, humanity still remains able to make ethical decisions about the goals of scientific and technological progress. Although not perfect, as a whole, humanity’s achievements in science and technology have been astounding.
References
Birdwell, April Frawley. 'Addicted To Phones? Cell Phone Use Becoming A Major Problem For Some, Expert Says » University Of Florida'. News.ufl.edu. N.p., 2007. Web. 30 June 2015.
Pinker, Steven. 'Mind Over Mass Media'. Nytimes.com. N.p., 2010. Web. 30 June 2015.
