Response 2

In Postman’s second chapter From Tools to Technocracy he goes deeper into the idea that technology changes culture and the way people see the world. The progression of this idea is broken up into three classifications tool-using culture, technocracies and technopolies. In chapter two Postman explains tool-using culture and technocracy in detail. During the tool-using age, tools were not created to attack the integrity and dignity of the culture in which it was introduced, but instead to aid in the development of the culture. It had two main functions: to solve specific urgent problems in physical life and to serve the symbolic world of art, politics, myth, ritual and religion. In other words, the introduction of technology didn’t stop people from believing in their traditions, their God, their method’s of education or the legitimacy of their social organization. Slowly this began to change, instead of aiding a culture or serving its purposes technology/tools started to battle with tradition, social mores, myth, politics, ritual and religion to become the culture. For example, the creation of the telescope challenged the beliefs of medieval time. Instead of looking for answers about the world, nature and our existence from heaven by going to church, science and astronomy gave birth to ideas such as the earth being round, revolving around the sun and not being the center of the universe but a planet among many in a galaxy. The church lost a lot of the authority they once had over the medieval society because of the introduction of science that now explained everything. But technology also left the reason for existence as an open question.

After reading the chapter, I felt as a reader I was overloaded with examples of Postman’s claim and counterclaim which made it difficult to decipher the main idea. However, Postman did have a a valid point in saying that technology is altering culture and how people define their morals, traditions and values. Even simple inventions like apps have redefined how we view our privacy, as far as, what we think should be public for the world to see and what should stay private. Things like how we are raising our children, issues in our household and personal lives which was once something sacred, only known to a few privileged people are now published on apps like Facebook and Instagram as if we need the recognition and acknowledgement of others to validate the things we know to be real and true in our daily lives. It is a sad fact that, the lines between the pieces of us that we should be keeping for ourselves and those close to us and the things that we choose to make public are becoming more and more blurred as new technology becomes available. It’s becoming almost as if we are selling ourselves online for free as the apps we get from the apple or google play store. Our culture is becoming more and more about what’s new online rather then what’s physically in front of us.

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2 Responses to Response 2

  1. You’re correct in your response, Simone. It surely is as though we are giving ourselves away for free so big companies can make huge profits. Certainly something to consider.

  2. Abigale says:

    Great job, Simone! You definitely hit on a lot of key points and important details to support your stance. Great piece with great information attached!

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