HIST 125 Week 1 Discussion
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University of Maryland, University College *
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History
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Feb 20, 2024
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HIST 125 Week 1 Discussion Question 4: The underlying assumption for many modern people is that technology equates to progress. Is there any truth to this statement? What does progress truly mean? How many definitions exist in a free society to define progress? Modern society confuses technological advances with progress. This is particularly true in this day in age. People often see changes to material items and assume that they will make society better as a whole. Progress should be recognizable as the technological advances that have a wide-scale effect on a given society. Technological determinism shows technical developments, media, or technology, as the key mover in history and social change. (The Audiopedia, "What is Technological Determinism?") Companies such as Apple and Google release phones annually, claiming they are life changing. These manufacturers sway the marketplace to feel that their products must be integrated into daily consumers' lives. Technological advances in screens, cameras, and software often give consumers the feeling of the latest life-changing advancements in their hands or pockets. This false sense of progress leaves consumers behind a shroud that keeps these companies alive.
Our society's inventors and creators make technological advances as a service to humanity instead of a profit. Another instance of the constraining effect of republican political ideals is Benjamin Franklin's refusal to exploit his inventions for private gain. (Leo Marx, "Does improved technology mean progress," para 13) While consumers marvel at the materialistic advancements they expect every year, far more significant advances exist in the shadows. Progress is happening each day at all echelons of society. While thinner phones are produced, cars are manufactured to run solely off batteries and biofuel. Webster makes the obligatory bow to the democratic influence of technological change. Still, he is casting the new machine power as the prime exemplar of the overall progress of the age, quite apart from its political significance. (Marx, para 20) If all public vehicles could utilize biogas, that would result in societal advancements that improve not only the quality of life on Earth but the health of the Earth itself.
Marx, Leo. "Does improved technology mean progress? Understanding the historical distinction between two contradictory concepts of progress helps explain the current disenchantment with technology." Technology Review, Inc. Last modified January 1987
. https://go-
galecom.ezproxy.umgc.edu/ps/i.do? p=AONE&u=umd_umuc&id=GALE %7CA4646419&v=2.1&it=r&sid=ebsco.
The Audiopedia. "What is TECHNOLOGICAL DETERMINISM? What does TECHNOLOGICAL DETERMINISM mean?" YouTube. December 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch? time_continue=27&v=yYj2RFFOakI&feature=emb_title.
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