Technological Determinism and Social Construction of Technology: How Technology Has Changed The World

In this reflection paper I will talk about technological determinism, social construction of technology and actor network theory. Let's start with the basic. Technology is all around the world. Having technology, the world is working. Having no technology, people would not have knowledge. Technology made peoples life easier. Technology has been connected to our daily lives. Such as, education, communication, security, supplies and more. Technology has changed the world. I think, in future technology is going to increase because people do not live without technology. For example, having no Wi-Fi at home. People will be bored, they cannot do their work. My aspect tells, whatever we do in our lives, everything connects to technology. No technology, no life or no working country.

Technological determinism is a term that connects with technology and society's nature. It connects with social, economic, political, and cultural. It is a term that tells how technology had been advanced from past. An example would be slavery and cotton production in the south from 1790 to 1860. For me this was a famous example in past because it tells how life made it easier for now people than in past. In 1790, there were less slaves working to produce cotton. In that time not, many cotton been produced. In 1860, more slaves working, and more cotton been produced. Due to economic aspect, the number of cotton demand/supply is higher at a lower cost. I think this is because of technology because cotton machines were built in 19th century, and they tend to run fast. It made peoples work easier than in past. In 19th century the cotton made much better because of the machine. People tend to like it and buy more.

Moreover, technological determinism also connects with telescope, vaccine, printing press, and smart phone. Vaccine is a biotechnology, that helps people from getting diseases. It has made much easier, especially for kids. In past, many people were sick, there were not many hospitals or technology. Many people had died. Nowadays, vaccine happens all around the world. I think it made people less worry because vaccine is a way to cure the disease fast from our immune system. The biggest example is smart phone. Smart phone has change people lifestyle. Wherever you go, you see many people on their phones. Smart phone has changed the world dramatically because it made work easy. It gives information. This tells everything is open for people.

There are four key concepts about social construction of technology. First is relevant social groups. It gives meaning to a technological artifact. The idea is the object is shared within and between a social group. For example, a computer has a mouse and a keyboard. This gives a social interaction between the main object and small objects. Other examples would be apple or Microsoft. These are all examples of social technology. Second is interpretive flexibility. It is the understanding of technological artifact in a social, cultural way. It gives people's opinion on the design of the object. The object is used for multiple purposes. For example, bicycle. In past they used to call ordinary bicycle. Nowadays they call it safety bicycle. In past women were not comfortable riding the bicycle because their clothes were immense. In past there was one big tire on the front and a small tire at the back. Now, both tires have the same size. This example shows that, objects in past looks a bit same in nowadays. It tells objects have a strong social interaction between them. Third is closure and stabilization. It is about how artifacts history has been embedded in society. For example, when a new iPhone comes to markets, people knew the phone history five months ago. This tells how communication has increased all around the world. The fourth one is wider context. It describes of how social, cultural and political influence the meaning of the tool (artifact). For example, wheel chair. It is a tool of sport, or people who cannot walk. Another example is birth control. It is a tool for women get pregnant. These examples tell there is a connection between the person and the object. It shows how technology had come really close to humans. There are no side effects.

The final concept I want to talk about is actor network theory. It is a way of finding relationships between social and technoscience. It is a theory of how to look at science and technology. Their knowledge production is analyzed through network of actors. It is the surrounding of technology, for both human and non-human actors. As I talked before there is a social interaction between humans, and tools. For example, when baking you need a lot of tools. There is a lot of steps going on to bake. The theory is a procedure. The theory tells how the final product is formed.

To end, I would like to add proofs from Sismondo book. First proof is, 'Actor -network theory's term technoscience eschews a principled conceptual distinction between science and technology' (Sismondo, 2010, p.95). This quote tells how the theory connects with technoscience. They have a strong interaction with scientific research and to develop it. This is how science and technology are separated. Another proofs Sismondo says about ANT, 'ANT is 'supersymmetric' treating both the social and material worlds as the products of networks' (Sismondo, 2010, p.87). This quote shows that how humans interact with non-humans. Also, it tells whether ANT is successful or unsuccessful science and technology, they will be treated the same. Talking about humans and non- humans, Sismondo says, 'Humans and non-humans are bounded up with each other' (Sismondo, 2010, p.92). This quote tells having this relation, the network will be stronger and create technoscience. Talking about how technology impact on economy, Sismondo says, 'the influence of technology on economics and society can stand in for the position of the technological determinist' (Sismondo, 2010, p.96). This quote tells the more technology there is, the more demand will be given in low cost. This will increase the country's economy. Also, it shows there is a connection between economy and technology. As I talked before in 1860, cotton had been produced a lot because of new technology. New machines making cottons had increased the supply of it. The last quote Sismondo talks about the connection with technology and history. For example, 'technology could be almost nothing without history' (Sismondo, 2010, p.103). In my opinion this quote is true because people nowadays are famous because of the past knowledge. People tend to use past information, to discover advance technology in 21st century. An example would be the bicycle. If there was no bicycle been made in past, nowadays no one would know about bicycle. Having more technology now, than in past, they created a new bicycle where there is more safety.