Thomas P. Hughes: Assumption that tech can be easily controlled has to be thoroughly questioned
Thomas P. Hughes, American historian of technology, stated that because technology has been considered as a key way to solve problems, we need to be aware of…
What exactly is the ‘appropriate technology movement’?
Appropriate technology is a movement (and its manifestations) encompassing technological choice and application that is small-scale, affordable by locals,…
Nikolas Kompridis: Technology may change our biological nature permanently
Nikolas Kompridis has also written about the dangers of new technology, such as genetic engineering, nanotechnology, synthetic biology, and robotics. He warns…
Technology’s impact on practices of citizenship and democratic culture
Darin Barney has written about technology's impact on practices of citizenship and democratic culture, suggesting that technology can be construed as:
(1) an…
What is ‘techno optimism’?
Optimistic assumptions are made by proponents of ideologies such as transhumanism and singularitarianism, which view technological development as generally…
What is technicism?
Generally, technicism is the belief in the utility of technology for improving human societies.
Taken to an extreme, technicism "reflects a fundamental…
Complex manufacturing needed to advance new technology
The 20th century brought a host of innovations. In physics, the discovery of nuclear fission has led to both nuclear weapons and nuclear power. Computers were…
The birth of plumbing
Today we take plumbing quite for granted. But do you know how it all started?
Ancient Minoan private homes had running water. A bathtub virtually identical…
The emergence of the wheel and its contributions to technology
According to archaeologists, the wheel was invented around 4000 BCE probably independently and nearly simultaneously in Mesopotamia (in present-day Iraq), the…
The difference between science, engineering and technology
The distinction between science, engineering, and technology is not always clear. Science is systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained…