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Technology (Gr. τεχνολογια < τεχνη "craftsmanship" + λογος "word, reckoning" + the suffix ια) has more than one definition. One is the development and application of tools, machines, materials and processes that help to solve human problems. As a human activity, technology predates both science and engineering. It embodies the human knowledge of solving real problems in the design of standard tools, machines, materials or the process. Thus standardization of design is an essential feature of technology.
Science, Engineering and Technology
Science is the study of facts, phenomena etc. Engineering is the application of the knowledge learned scientifically to develop products. Technology is the application of scientific and engineering knowledge to achieve a practical result (see P. A. Roussel, K. N. Saad and T. J. Erickson: "Third Generation R&D", HBS Press 1991).
Example: Flow of electrons produces current; this is a fact or concept in science. When current is passed through a semiconductor device such as silicon or germanium, the mechanism is known as electronics. The production of an electronic device using the concept of electronics is known as electronics engineering. Computers are developed using electronics engineering. Using the computer to store digital information, processing it and sending it from one place to another through telecommunication equipments in a secure manner is information technology.
The term technology thus often characterizes inventions and gadgets using recently-discovered scientific principles and processes. However, even very old inventions such as the wheel exemplify technology.
Another definition — used by economics — sees technology as the current state of our knowledge of how to combine resources to produce desired products (and our knowledge of what can be produced). Thus, we can see technological change when our technical knowledge increases.
History of technology
- Main article: History of technology
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Technology in ideology
Generally, more recently-developed means "better" in regards to technology and engineering. For example, more recently-developed computers are faster than older computers, and more recently-developed cars have greater gas efficiency and more features than older cars.
The notion of appropriate technology, however, was developed in the twentieth century to describe situations where it was not desirable to use very new technologies or those that required access to some centralized infrastructure or parts or skills imported from elsewhere. The eco-village movement emerged in part due to this concern.
Intermediate technology, more of an economics concern, refers to compromises between central and expensive technologies of developed nations and those which developing nations find most effective to deploy given an excess of labour, and scarcity of cash. In general, a so-called "appropriate" technology will also be "intermediate".
Certain philosophers like Herbert Marcuse, Jacques Ellul, and John Zerzan believe technological societies to be inherently flawed a priori. They suggest that the result of such a society is to become evermore technological at the cost of freedom and psychological health (and probably physical health in general as pollution from technological products is dispersed).
On the other hand, opposite assumptions are made by proponents of technoprogressivist views, such as transhumanism and singularitarianism, which view technological development as generally having beneficial effects for the society and the human condition. In these ideologies, technological development is morally good. Some critics see these ideologies as examples of scientism, mathematical fetishism, or techno-utopianism and fear the idea of technological singularity which they support.
In economics, definitions or assumptions of progress or growth are often related to one or more of the above assumptions. Challenging prevailing assumptions about technology and its usefulness has led to alternative ideas like uneconomic growth or measuring well-being. These, and economics itself, can often be described as technologies, specifically, as persuasion technology — a concern covered in its own separate article.
Technology can be understood as the knowledge embodied in human action to achive practical results. In this sense knowledge is understood as the posibility to bring forth the possible distinctions of the world to enact the actions of the body acknowledged to a particular technology.(Heidegger, The Question Concerning Technology)
Funds for innovation
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Military technology
Technology has frequently been driven by the military, with most modern applications begining off as being developed for the military before being taken up for civillian use. However, this trend has recently seen a reversal, with the industry often taking the lead in developing technology which is then adopted by the military.
Technology in developing countries
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Concepts in technology
Literature
- Michael Adas, Machines as the Measure of Men: Science, Technology, and Ideologies of Western Dominance, Cornell University Press 1990
- David Noble, Forces of Production: a social history of industrial automation, New York : Knopf 1984, Paperback Edition: Oxford University Press 1990
See also
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External links
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