Richard Slove's Future
Why the Future Doesn’t Need Us
Richard Sclove defines the term “polypotency” as “potent in many ways” which is an applicable term in today’s technologies vocabulary. Sclove considers technologies “polypotent” because all technologies are associated with various hidden social effects and meanings, and that it is mostly in moral excellence of these effects that technologies come to function as a social structure. Technologies essentially work to structure the social characteristics in society by going beyond its intended purpose. People portray technologies in terms of a single primary intended function or occasionally several functions it is intended to accomplish. Society has come to recognize that technologies …show more content…
Technology has a profound effect on the way we structure our societies, people should actively engage in discovering the optimistic and pessimistic characteristics of new technologies. During its use, we discover it does more than what it was originally designed to do. My example to demonstrate what Sclove terms the “polypotency” of technology is the automobile. Automobiles were designed to provide a way to transport people and cargo at a quicker and more convenient way over the current methods that existed at the time, such as horses, horse-drawn carriages, trains, and …show more content…
Individuals recognize the automobile in different functions, in today’s society, whereas an automobile has become more than just a modest mode of transportation anymore, but part of a social characteristic status. E.g. exotic car owners vs. truck owners vs. fuel-efficient owners. Some people are more interested in the automobile’s options, energy efficiencies and the manufacture brand rather than the true purpose of the vehicle. One of the main concerns is the ownership of the most modern and up-to-date models. Peer pressure in society, can focus on who can purchase the newest model with the most options, have the ability to determine an individual’s popularity or hierarchy in the social structure. The top of the line model is the most preferred automobile; however, most families cannot afford the additional financial burden and possibly have the likelihood of upsetting the relationship among the family members or the social interactions with others. The usage of automobiles has led to other modern day social technologies characteristic habits. For example, advancements in cell phone technology, while good have led to texting or talking while driving on cell phones, therefore accidents or deaths in automobiles have increased over the past decades. Another social characteristic of automobile ownership is the impact it has on
Richard Sclove defines the term “polypotency” as “potent in many ways” which is an applicable term in today’s technologies vocabulary. Sclove considers technologies “polypotent” because all technologies are associated with various hidden social effects and meanings, and that it is mostly in moral excellence of these effects that technologies come to function as a social structure. Technologies essentially work to structure the social characteristics in society by going beyond its intended purpose. People portray technologies in terms of a single primary intended function or occasionally several functions it is intended to accomplish. Society has come to recognize that technologies …show more content…
Technology has a profound effect on the way we structure our societies, people should actively engage in discovering the optimistic and pessimistic characteristics of new technologies. During its use, we discover it does more than what it was originally designed to do. My example to demonstrate what Sclove terms the “polypotency” of technology is the automobile. Automobiles were designed to provide a way to transport people and cargo at a quicker and more convenient way over the current methods that existed at the time, such as horses, horse-drawn carriages, trains, and …show more content…
Individuals recognize the automobile in different functions, in today’s society, whereas an automobile has become more than just a modest mode of transportation anymore, but part of a social characteristic status. E.g. exotic car owners vs. truck owners vs. fuel-efficient owners. Some people are more interested in the automobile’s options, energy efficiencies and the manufacture brand rather than the true purpose of the vehicle. One of the main concerns is the ownership of the most modern and up-to-date models. Peer pressure in society, can focus on who can purchase the newest model with the most options, have the ability to determine an individual’s popularity or hierarchy in the social structure. The top of the line model is the most preferred automobile; however, most families cannot afford the additional financial burden and possibly have the likelihood of upsetting the relationship among the family members or the social interactions with others. The usage of automobiles has led to other modern day social technologies characteristic habits. For example, advancements in cell phone technology, while good have led to texting or talking while driving on cell phones, therefore accidents or deaths in automobiles have increased over the past decades. Another social characteristic of automobile ownership is the impact it has on