Three Perspectives of Technological Progress: Lenski, White, and Toffler

Technological advancement is important and relates to the growth of our economy. Throughout history, there have been sociologists, anthropologists, and researchers who have tried to develop ways to measure technological progress. These important people who have made brilliant theories are Gerhard Lenski, Leslie White, and Alvin Toffler. Technological development keeps our economy moving, which takes a vital impact on improving the world’s living standards. These men theorize that information, controlling energy, and future shock are how technology advances our economy.

Gerhard Lenski was born in 1924 and died in 2015; he lived to be 90 years old. He was a sociologist and spent most of his career as a professor at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Lenski believed that the answer to human progress is information. Lenski’s four stages of technological advancement are: food security, horticulture, agriculture, and production. Lenski’s first stage is at the hunter-gatherer level, where humans work to decrease food insecurity and the next level is where humans collect food from growing plants. The third stage has social orders coming into play due to a surplus in food. When agriculture is organized, society is now equipped with social class, inequality, and a complex division of labor because of advances in arts and crafts, architecture, and engineering. The last stage of Lenski’s technological perspective is where humans start to see food-based economies being replaced with production, which in turn comes the Industrial Revolution with machines and factories. According to Lenski, the more humans understand about using Earth’s natural resources, the more humans can advance in society.

Leslie White was an anthropologist, born in 1900 and passed away in 1975. White believed that controlling energy is the key to cultural purpose, whereas Lenski believed it was information. According to White, there are five phases to human progress, not four. The first phase states that human muscle power is derived by energy while the second phase states that humans acquire energy from domesticated animals. For example, we use animals as livestock for food energy, hunting, transportation, and for battle. The next phase involves the agricultural revolution, which is simply an extension of the previous stage. Phase four includes energy and power from Earth’s natural resources, such as coal, oil, and natural gas. This phase is similar to Lenski’s Industrial Revolution, mentioned in stage four. White’s last phase states that humans accumulate power from nuclear energy, while Lenski believed that nuclear energy was too dangerous for humans. As a side note, Leslie White is famous for his formula: P = E*T. ‘E’ stands for the energy consumed, ‘T’ is the measure of technical factors that come from energy, and P is the final calculation. In summary, White believed that culture evolves as the measurement of energy and efficiency of work increases over time. White related cultural advancement with an equation of energy and efficiency and Lenski related it to information and knowledge.

The last theorist to compare is Alvin Toffler. He was born in 1928 and died in 2016; he was a journalist, social critic, and futurist. Toffler is most famous for his term, future shock, meaning “too much change in too short a period of time.” He believed that society is overwhelmed with an enormous amount of information resulting in most social problems in our community today. Toffler recognized three levels to human and technological progress: the agrarian, industrial, and postindustrial stages. The first level cultivates agriculture within the social movement, from barbarity to civilization. The next level is the Industrial revolution, including machine tools and steam engines. All three perspectives agree with an industrial age within technological advancement. The final level consists of automated manufacturing, robotics, and the computer. In this stage, brainwork has increased and manual labor has decreased.

In conclusion, the advancement of technology associates with the growth of our economy. As stated, Lenski believed that the answer to human progress is information and the more humans understand about using Earth’s natural resources, the more humans can advance in society. White believed that controlling energy is the key to cultural purpose and that culture evolves as the measurement of energy and efficiency of work increases over time. Toffler believed that society is overwhelmed with an enormous amount of information and this is the cause of most social problems in our community today. All three theorists agree with an industrial age within technological advancement. How technology develops and progresses over time is how it will impact the society we live in.