1. SOLIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Managa – naga Bulan, Sorsogon
MODULE 1: THE RELATIONSHIP OF SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY
2. The first module will aim to present the STS problematic by presenting three
perspectives on the relation between society, technology and science to
establish a theoretical background in “perspective lectures”. Following these
lectures, the discussed topic/ perspective will be continued to be dealt by the
students through making critical presentations of the required readings in
each class.
These perspective lectures will discuss how in the past decades, the image of
science has changed dramatically by presenting three basic views of the
science-technology- society relationship. It will be made clear that all three
views have their specific value and are suitable to address specific questions.
After discussing modernism and the idea of progress in relation to
technological developments, the first perspective of “Science and
Technology Shaping Society: Technological Determinism will be discussed.
The second perspective is “Society Shaping Technology and Science”. The
emergence of this perspective can be linked to the 1970s. Here the
technological determinist’s image of technology and the context-
independent, rational image of science are relativized.
The third perspective is “Interrelations between Science, Technology and
Society”. This view asserts that science and technology are social processes. It
is not the impact of one upon the other but the linkages and interrelationships
between science, technology and society.
MODERNISM AND THE IDEA OF PROGRESS
“ A sense of technology’s power as a crucial agent of change has a
prominent place in the culture of modernity. It belongs to the body of widely
shared tacit knowledge that is more likely to be acquired by direct
experience than by the transmittal of explicit ideas. Anyone who has
witnessed the advent of the computer, for example, knows a great deal
about how new technology can alter the very texture of daily life, and has
gained this understanding as more than a bystander. Even those who do not
use computers have had to accommodate their ways to some of its
requirements in supermarkets, post offices, banks, libraries, schools, airlines etc.
But of course the computer is only one of the radically new science-based
technologies- along with television, jet aircraft, nuclear weaponry, antibiotics,
the contraceptive pill, organ transplants and biogenetic engineering- whose
transformative power has been experienced by millions alive today.” (Source:
Introduction and OBJECTIVES
LET US LEARN!
3. Smith & Marx, 1994, ix-x)
This citation reflects the image of “Science and Technology Shaping Society”.
This image is related to the Post War period and the experiences with the
Manhattan Project which supported the belief in science and technology,
and promoted the “Basic Sciences” as a driving force in economy and
society. In the United States, this approach is expressed in, among other things,
Vanevar Bush’s “Science, the Endless Frontier”, the creation of the American
National Science Foundation (NSF), the early work of OECD and the efforts to
standardise statistics on R&D.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY SHAPING SOCIETY:
TECHNOLOGICAL DETERMINISM
Many people consider technological development a process animated by an
inherent force. According to this perspective technological change has its
own logic and direction. It seems to feed on itself, growing ever larger and
gathering increasing momentum. Moreover, that growth and impetus seem
unstoppable and irreversible.
3 Varieties of Technological Determinism
Bimber and Thomas Misa effectively analyze varieties of
technological determinism. Bimber distinguishes between normative,
nomological, and unintended-consequences accounts (Bimber 1994).
Normative accounts, evident in the writings of such critics of technology as
Lewis Mumford, Jacques Ellul, and Jurgen Habermas, claim that society is
relinquishing control over technology, or replacing political and ethical norms
with those of the technologist's goals of efficiency and productivity
Nomological accounts, such as that by Heilbroner (1967), evoke the two-part
definition of technological determinism given above: technology develops
autonomously according to an internal logic and forces a prescribed social
change.
In unintended consequences accounts (e.g., Winner 1977) technology
produces unpredictable social change, a view that challenges determinism,
but reinforces the idea that technology is out of control. Bimber argues that
the term ‘technological determinism’ should be reserved for nomological
accounts, which are the only ones that satisfy his strict definition of the term.
4. SOCIETY SHAPING SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
This approach of “Society Shaping Science and Technology” presents a
different explanation of technological development. The technological
determinist image of technology and science was replaced by another form
of determinism: “social determinism”, in which technological innovation is
seen as socially determined, shaped by political, economical and cultural
values.
Emerging as a critique of the technological determinist approach, such views
have often gone too far: science and technology appeared as mere social
products, simply neutral tools subject to manipulation and control by social
actors.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND
SOCIETY
Science and technology is the best thing society could ever ask for. Since the
industrial revolution in the 18th century science has been in progress. Some
sectors that have been boosted by science and technology are energy,
physical sciences, information and communication. The society has greatly
gained with the invention of technology.
Infrastructure in the society has grown with the help of science and
technology. Modes of transport like electronic railway lines were realized and
these actually benefited the society by offering them a better means of
transport. In the past, almost everything was analog but thanks to the science
and technology we are now being digitalized by the day. The invention of the
telephone and radio services has broadened human communication.
Without society then there would be no science and technology and that is
why the invention of certain tools and equipment have helped achieve big
things. Society can not do without the industries we have today. The society
needs science and technology. The creation of computers is work of art by
individuals was a milestone that would come a long way in helping the
society. A computer helps us to leverage ourselves by gaining valuable
information that we can use to enrich our lives. The impact of science and
technology can seriously be recognized. Many people around the world take
for example scholars in colleges and universities have taken the lead
examining the relationship between science and technology.
The evaluation of this relationship has emerged as an important area of
research. Public interest groups and academic organizations throughout the
world are recognizing the importance of STS. The reason is that people need
5. to recognize that there are people who are affected by the science and
technology. Controversies such as modified foods, stem cell research are the
issues that have brought policy makers and scientists together to have a way
forward on this.
Science and technology has actually largely contributed to the vision of man
about himself. Science has been modified the opinion about the origin of man
and place of origin too. Through the results of scientific discoveries the
perception of man about his behavior and his place of origin has been
modified diversely. Experiments in science today are in one way or another
affecting the society.Take for example the experiment on cloning a human
being. The experiment brought a lot of controversy since the society was
skeptical about it.
How is science and technology related to society: The developing world has a
long tradition of participatory action research, popular education and
community organization joining up to solve some science and technology
issues that affect the society. How is science and technology related to the
society is something that is calling even for the government intervention.
Science and technology related issues are actually been discussed worldwide
today. Progress in this has resulted to the ability to produce diverse types of
material items. Answering the question how science and technology is related
to society.
