blog post one “Five Things We Need to Know About Technological Change”

In Postmans “Five Things We Need to Know About Technological Change” he discusses technology and technological progress as a whole. Within his analysis he discusses five points about technology and how it affects humans and society. The first point postman brings up is that all technological change is a  “trade off” or a faustian bargain as postman puts it. For every positive effect there is a negative effect that helps humans, but has unintended consequences. An example to be made is the tomato harvester. Although it sped up the process of collecting tomatoes increasing the amount of tomatoes available to people, it also made people lose their jobs as tomato pickers. The second point Postman makes is that the  advantages and disadvantages of new technologies are never distributed evenly among the population. What he means by that is that technology can help people and improve their lives. However, said technology is not readily available to all peoples with only some being able to actually make use of it. The rich are usually the ones who have access to the latest technologies in comparison to the poor who can’t afford it. The third idea touches on how technology changes the way people think and view things and the world around them. The fourth idea is how  technological changes are always vast, often unpredictable and largely irreversible as Postman explains. Postman makes an analogy to color dye mixing in water, a piece of water changes color however at a molecular level every molecule changes due to the initial adding of the dye. Technological change in Postmans eyes is exactly the same and that each impending change must be viewed and approached with caution. The fifth idea is the danger of technology being “mythic”. Postman uses the word mythic to describe the danger of what happens when people take technology for granted or being a part of the “natural order” of life, as if technology wasn’t invented for specific purposes whether economic or political. Postman states that when technology becomes mythic it becomes a danger for humanity as it becomes idolatry or something to worship.

I found Postman’s work to be very engaging and fun to read. Throughout the reading he seemed quite pessimistic; although  not without reason. The language he uses describes his fears in a clear picture, but he didn’t necessarily offer solutions to said problems. Postman makes the reader have deep reflections of their lives and offers new ways of approaching technology and technological change instead of offering practical solutions to society’s problems with technology which is totally fair.