ENG1710 Intro to Language and Technology, SP2019
Prof. Ellis, Namm N520, jellis at citytech.cuny.edu
After today’s class, write at least 250 words summarizing your reading of Stephen Jay Klein’s “What is Technology?” and our discussion of the essay. Remember to save your writing someplace safe and then copy-and-paste it into a comment made to this blog post.
Some links that we’ll look at during class today include:
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Nicholas Wade writes about the evolution of language, natural selection and sexual section. These topics never peaked any interest in me until reading his works and all the different ideas introduced by him and all of the theories of people of importance. Wade intrigues my mind with his writings on the aspects that have been argued amongst the elite for centuries, âWhat are the influences that lead to Human Protolanguage, including but not limited too, syntax, grammar, meaningful sentence and the order of words. The evolution of language is one that many have deemed as a subject of reductionism, by taking such a simple question and complexing it. The most interesting concept to me is the gene theory. In which the claim of change is in one’s genes. It seems to me that all of these phenomenal theories combined help us to evolve as language speaking Human, our need to communicate, our need to survival, whether by natural or sexually selection, and the need to resolve conflict and lest the need to reproduce.
Stephen J. Kline discusses fascinating aspects in âWhat is Technology?â The use of technology involves four usages which have influenced the innovation of engineers through hardware, sociotechnical system of manufacture, compiling information using knowledge, technique, know- how, or methodology and the sociotechnical system of use that combines hardware, people to accomplish tasks that humans cannot perform. Technology has helped develop musical instruments, manufactured airplanes, atom bombs, and the list continues. Nevertheless, technology continues to change every day because the knowledge of our engineers has become so extensive it is an ongoing change in the technology world. From the use of our smartphones and wi-fi access, to the way humans using these sociotechnical systems to advance their way of living. Humans use these creative ideas to advance the way we function on how we do things in what is referred to as the âhigh-tech age.â Klein suggested the knowledge of human capacity is used in a way for survival such as creating guns and rifles which is an expansion of our technology in the armed forces as it improves our capacity to kill. The other relationship was the discussion of quantitative and qualitative approach through the sociotechnical systems. Weâve managed to create a system that manipulates data within our computer systems, but allows us to expand on software. Without the use of this in our computer systems in this technological era the use of the hardware would be at a disadvantage. The point is clearly made that weâve accomplished to develop a society where technical and critical thinking has allowed us to use our technological skills to continue advancements for years to come.
Stephen J. Kline âWhat is Technology?â is talking to the readers about how over time technology has evolved and that people now depend on them so much in their life. People might look at technology being overtaking us because we start to fall out in communicating with face-to-face communication. However, technology started to update more from the past to the present. He talks about how each system in the technology are used and they would need a different system to use these in their technology. Nevertheless, using technology to help us communicate with people become more a dependent thing to our human being. We use technology to help us with research, games, connection, etc. Technology and Language become connected to each other because we use these technologies to help us reconnect with our family and friends. These technologies can help us talk to family members far away from us and help us reconnect with them and see how they are doing. This is another way of finding friends from when you were little because they are all on social media and technology is able to help you verify if this person is the one you know from when you were little. Technology can be helpful with work and connection, but it also makes us distance from nature and human connection. However, his writing on âWhat is Technology?â is right that as our technology evolves we start to learn new ways of these technologies that will help us in the future. These technologies will help us improve over time.
Stephen Kline brings up many interesting concepts in âWhat is Technology?â. Throughout the reading, Kline attempts to provide solid definition on what technology is. At first glance, most people would say that technology is human made. Kline also expresses how technologies are extensions of other systems. In our case, the systems he is referring to are human systems, which create technology. Kline also discusses the importance and relation of technology and sociotechnical systems. Kline describes a sociotechnical system of use as an integral part of humanity and the creation and use of technologies. He brings up an interesting concept when he states that the most common use of technology is manufacturing physical hardware. This leads me to think about technology more critically. Coming from a background in engineering and physics Kline came from a technical field that uses a problem solving approaches to explain things, which I feel, lead him to ask these kinds of questions about technology and further analyze technologyâs role in other systems on a global scale. Kline goes in-depth in unpacking the different kinds of technology and their usages. Another interesting usage Kline brings up is technology as methodologies and expertise. This aspect of technology denotes technology as information as well as physical hardware. Overall Klineâs offers an insightful look into technology as a system within other systems, which consist of physical hardware, usage, and methodologies and its dependency on sociotechnical systems. Klineâs breakdown of technology sparks interesting and challenging thoughts about the roles of different technologies we use in society today.
Stephen Kleinâs âWhat is Technology?â is a piece which definitely intrigued me as a Computer Engineering Technology Major. Klein makes the argument that technology, while used broadly, has 4 key uses as a term. First, it is used as a term to describe hardware, or in other words, an object which is manufactured. These are things humans make which help our everyday lives. Second, we use the word to talk about a sociotechnical system of manufacture. This means that technology is a process by which it isnât just hardware in play, but also the people and processes involved to complete a task or job. Third, technology is the knowledge or know-how, to denote that technology is a separate type of skill. Lastly, Klein says tech is a sociotechnical system of use. This definition of tech says that tech is a system which not only uses hardware, but people and other âtechnologiesâ to fulfill a task that one person or piece of hardware alone wouldnât be able to achieve.
Of course, I personally am used to using the first definition of technology. When I say the word technology, I think of a computer, or a video game system. To go further to the point, I see tech as the parts of a computer, or the systems of hardware to make a bigger element of technology work. In other fields, the other definitions of technology might be used more, due to necessity or use of actual hardware or interdisciplinary skills. Overall, we can agree that nowadays, tech is all around us, in the form of cell phones, computers, and even our modes of transportation, like cars and trains. Some may work with or without human assistance, but they all improve our lives.
âWhat is Technology?â By Stephen J. Kline was written to demonstrate the concept and change of technologyâWhich also opens up a bigger discussion of how we view it. It is also to illuminate how technology has became a major part of our daily lives. And how we are so dependent on it that we almost rely on it to do plenty of things such as communication, education as well as entertainment. Questioning our reality of being lonely; since we almost do everything in our own and we barely hang out with friends due to the fact that we no longer communicate with one another face to face. He breaks the word technology into four main categories. Starting with hardware, which in other words are objects made by human. Secondly, Systems of Manufactureâ which doesnât just involve hardwares but people as well in order to complete a job. Thirdly, Methodology and that refers to a knowledge that is necessary needed to complete a task. Lastly, system of useâ which is the combination between hardwares and humans. By including these usages above, he wanted to show that they contribute together to form up the term âtechnologyâ. Itâs talking about how the development of technology has approved things like musical instruments, manufactured airplanes, atom bombs as mentioned in the article. He also mentioned âSociotechnical Systemsâ which has to do with the interaction between human behaviour and society’s complex infrastructures to explain the importance of it and how humanity wouldâve been nothing without it.
âWhat is Technology?â By Stephen J. Kline was written to demonstrate the concept and change of technologyâWhich also opens up a bigger discussion of how we view it. It is also to illuminate how technology has became a major part of our daily lives. And how we are so dependent on it that we almost rely on it to do plenty of things such as communication, education as well as entertainment. Questioning our reality of being lonely; since we almost do everything in our own and we barely hang out with friends due to the fact that we no longer communicate with one another face to face. He breaks the word technology into four main categories. Starting with hardware, which in other words are objects made by human. Secondly, Systems of Manufactureâ which doesnât just involve hardwares but people as well in order to complete a job. Thirdly, Methodology and that refers to a knowledge that is necessary needed to complete a task. Lastly, system of useâ which is the combination between hardwares and humans. By including these usages above, he wanted to show that they contribute together to form up the term âtechnologyâ. Itâs talking about how the development of technology has approved things like musical instruments, manufactured airplanes, atom bombs as mentioned in the article. He also mentioned âSociotechnical Systemsâ which has to do with the interaction between human behaviour and society’s complex infrastructures to explain the importance of it and how humanity wouldâve been nothing without it.
In Kline’s Bulletin of Science , Technology and Society he breaks down the definitions and uses of Technology. He shows us in the simplest form of how the definition of technology is changes according to how it is used: interdependently and together in the different textual aspects of what we perceive technology to be.
Kline breaks this down into four usages
hardware – artifact
information- technique
sociotechical systems – systems that combines hardware, people and other things humans accomplish alone.
sociotechnical systems of manufacture
An example of sociotechnical systems of manufacture is a over-sized forklift. The forklift can not work to move the over-sized equipment without its human factor and the same speaks for the forklift. Without the human factor working on a over ten ton forklift it would not be able to lift the equipment. The forklift with the human factor is needed to operate and lift the over-sized equipment.
which leads me to ask, “where would technology be without its human aspect.
Stephen Klineâs , âWhat is technologyâ is a very interesting thought. Because in this article , Kline is basically pointing out that technology isnât just what we think of it to be today. He says that if there werenât any humans than there would be no type of technology. He brings it back to the 80âs and tells us that technology is something that can help us with our everyday lives. Stephen Kline has 4 different usages of technology. The first is being hardware and artifacts. The second would be socio technical systems of manufacturing. The third usage of technology is what we know. The third usage could also entail the knowledge, technique, know-how and methodology. The fourth usage of technology Is the socio-technical system of use. The fourth usage can also be explained as âthe system that combines, hardware, people and other things to do things a human being canât accomplish a without that system. The article on âwhat is technologyâ by Stephen Kline has some many thoughts that we would have never thought of. He goes back to say that while in the 80âs there was technology. Heâs not talking about new era technology with computers and screens and WiFi and these 3D printers. Kline says that even l getting glasses is technology because we used technology to make the glasses. The glasses are made to correct our vision to see correctly. It wouldnât be technology without it . Many things that we use have been here since the 80âs. We just havenât thought about it. Well now itâs something to think of. Donât you think ?
Summary of Stephen J. Klineâs âWhat is Technology?â
Delivered as a Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society Stephen J. Klineâs article is a document that serves to clarify âWhat is Technology?â Kline does this by grasping at a general understanding of the hardware, or artifacts, the mass public associates with the term. However, this article drills into the deeper implications of what technology includes, not only as a thing, but as systems. He specifically targets a concept he coins as âsociotechnology.â
Defining technology is no easy task when the term has so many layers. Kline starts by referring to âmanufactured articles.â He ends this point with a conclusive summary referring to âUsage 1,â to explain technology.
He proceeds to describe how the hardware wouldnât exist without the system of ideas and behaviors of people that manufacture those artifacts. This portmanteau of social systems and technology is his term âSociotechnical Systems of Manufacturing.â He refers to this as âUsage 2â to explain technology.
Kline continues, describing the techniques and knowledge required to make technology work. These are categorized, and labeled âUsage 3.â
The final category is a blend of them all, but provides an underlying channel for technology to exist. These are referred to as âsociotechnical systems of use.â These include systems of infrastructure, embodiment, and application. Referring to the systems that technology is used for. He labeled this âUsage 4.â
In all, Kline was describing a chain link relationship existing through varying layers of technology. Where a common man may think only of a pencil as a technology for writing, Kline describes this technology as an extension of human writing capacity. The tool is not removed from the knowledge to make words, and the recipients of those words are just as responsible for the technologyâs existence.
In Stephen J. Kline â What is Technology ?â , his intentions are to âunpackâ the definition of technology. In the article, he expresses that the common usages of technology are to â denote manufacturing articlesâ. However, Kline delves deeper into the deconstruction of the term and tells us that Hardware and Artifacts are used to describe manufactured articles due to the awkwardness of the phrase. He then breaks down the usages of technology into 4 parts, Hardware ( or artifacts), Sociotechnical system of manufacture, the information skills, process and procedures for accomplishing the task, and A sociotechnical system of use. Klein explains that both Sociotechnical systems and hardware is needed to create an extension of human capacities (When playing the piano, with the ability to read music is needed in order to play good music). According to Kline, as humans, â we have vastly extended our muscular, sensing, and mental capacities through the use of Sociotechnical systems of manufacture and use.â, In conclusion, humans are vastly dependant on technology and would need Sociotechnical system of use to manage hardware. Hardware will evolve as our needs progress and Sociotechnical use would always be required.
âWhat is technology?â by Stephen Kline uses precise language in order to describe different parts of technology and its evolution. Science technology and society are also known as STS, is a field of study in which we as humans are influenced daily upon our interactions with culture. These two cultures that were spoken of is called sciences and humanity. I thought that it was interesting how Kline tried to relate the different cultures with technology. For example, when he spoke about the sociotechnical system. Kline explains that a sociotechnical system is âa system using a combination of hardware, people (and usually other elements) to accomplish tasks that humans cannot perform..â This to me speaks of a prime example of where humanity is heading towards not far in the future. How every single day, new advances are being created in order to launch a new piece of technology.
Technology , What is it According to Stephen J. Kline ? Hardware, sociotechnical system and methodology are all usages of technology. These three usages have been summed up to be defined by the word sociotechnical system. The main characteristic technology with the three terms is the extension of ourselves. Technology without human input isnt capable of being created and so through this concept the functions of technology in industries of science and art. Yet in the short essay Stephen J. Kline also credits technology for the hierarchy the human species have over other species which he coins lords of the planet. The STS studies is a combination of both technology and evolution of society and the effects they have on eachother. How one assists the other. Another interesting fact he brings up in his essay is the rapid evolution of technology. For every major technological breakthrough we are witnessing its occuring ten times shorter than the last major breakthrough. With the thought of Artificial intelligence we ought be excited where we will be within the next decade.
Stephen J. Klineâs âWhat is Technology?â specifically breaks down the term âtechnologyâ in different usages of the word. As simple as it may seem to think our devices are the only form of technology, it is far more complex a term than that. Kline conveys this by stating, âI am making a point of saying âthese systemsâ and not just âhardwareâ because nearly always we need more than just the hardware to create these extensions of human capacitiesâ (217). Kline applies this argument to show how there are various processes which are necessary for a hardware to then, become so-called âtechnology.â One common thing we generally tend to assume about the word âtechnologyâ is with our devices which engineers call âhardwareâ and anthropologist call them âartifactsâ(215). However, Kline presents that in fact, âtechnologyâ is not just a material creation but also an âextensions of human capacities.â As a result, Kline emphasizes how human innovation is emphasized through the object itself in opposition to highlighting the function of the hardware itself. He then talks about how another usage of the word âtechnologyâ is the ways in which we produce hardware and he calls this the âsociotechnical system of manufactureâ (216). Without this there is no purpose of producing the specific hardware. In order for the device to be âtechnologyâ not only just the purpose is needed, but also the way we use it is also important. Kline also explains that humans must have the knowledge of the manufactured hardware in order to operate this device which helps us understand hardware itself isnât âtechnologyâ which he then explains it as âa sociotechnical system of useâ (216). These usages of technology clearly shows that itâs an extension of human capabilities; that it enhances human abilities.
In Stephen J. Kline “what is technology?” he talks about technology being ubiquitous meaning that technology is everywhere. Technology is even in non-technological things because companies uses technology to make things like glasses, or just a simple bottle of water. People rely so much on technology now days to do so many different things for them and to make their life easier. Technology play a major role in everyone’s daily life. The more technology develops and evolves the more people get involve into it. Kline break down technology into 4 different usages. Usage 1 is hardware and artifacts which are things that are made by human to get work done like car, smart phone and so on. Usage 2 is sociotechnical systems or manufacture systems which is the interaction between people and technical software. Usage 3 include what we know which can be technique, knowledge, methodology, basically skills and tools to get things done. Usage 4 sociotechnical system of views which is the system that combine or link technological hardware and other things together that human cannot be accomplish otherwise without the help of these things, basically things that are link together to get things done. By putting all of these usages together and connect them he gives us the definition of technology in his own way. Kline go on to say that technology is an extensions of human capabilities to do things.
What is technology? By Stephen J. Kline My Opinion: Technology is the change, advancement, and improvement in society and its people with the use of machinery and artificial intellect. For centuries technology was and still is used for the growth of knowledge and keeping the human race up-to-date as the world advances every day. With the increase of development in technology our everyday lives are getting easier and more sufficient. With the help of the technological advancement such as the phone and itâs ability to get a hold of almost anyone, anywhere, anytime with just a call or text away. However this is not what technology is only about! According to S.Kline technology is the advancement of different innovations and machinery improvement (manufacturing hardware). Technology is part of our lives and without us there would be no technology. Human beings form a part of the technology we use. Technology Helps us do things in different ways. The author believes that since we made it, we know how to properly use and work with it. Kline uses a famous quote âThe street finds its own use for thingsâ by William Gibson which basically means that you have these tools and technology in hand so you need to figure out how to use them for your own purposes and your own needs. For example: learn microsoft word on your own, the bits and details, so you don’t have to go off on of what the software has prepared for you. Instead you can create your own skills ro create something more interesting. Different uses of technology (4)
1. Hardware/artifacts
a. things/tools human use to get things done 2. Sociotechnical (portmanteau:two word made up of a combination of two
or more word) system of manufacture
a. Combination of social and technical (system of people; the use
and interaction with technology) b. These are technologies that make other technologies (involves a
lot of people in a social aspect) 3. The information, skills, processes, and procedures of accomplishing
tasks
a. What we know (knowledge, technique, know hoe, methodology,
skills/process and procedures to get things done) 4. Sociotechnical system of use (combination of hardware and people to accomplish task people can not do on their own/or without them)
a. These are linked together in order to get things done
(assemblage); all comes together to get things done.
i. Cyborg (is a person whose experience of or interaction
with the world is mediated by some kind of technology) Kline wants us to use âpreciseâ language when dealing with technology so it can be handled properly. Technology isnât only about the machinery and itâs uses, but itâs also important to know the intellectual aspects of how itâs made and how to properly function it.
In Stephen J. Kline âWhat is Technology?â talks about how the word technology is being worn out and used too much. He thinks itâs used in to many ways and has too many meanings. Instead of adding more meanings to it just let it mean its original meaning. The definition of technology is: the collection of techniques, skills, methods, and processes used in the production of goods or services or in the accomplishment of objectives, such as scientific investigation. Stephen is an American contemporary artist who works with primarily with acrylics and ink. He had his own specific definitions of technology; he labels them under different usages. There are four different usages which are: Hardware and Artifacts, Sociotechnical System of Manufacture, Information, Skills, Processes, and Procedures for Accomplishing Tasks and A Sociotechnical System of Use. The first one means things that are manmade and arenât naturally made. Second one means things that are made as systems, including manufacturing equipment and used to manufacture hardware. The third one is means just knowing the knowledge, technique, âknow-howâ and methodology. Last one means âform the basis of what we do with the hardware after we have manufactured it.â These systems, with the use of hardware and people, complete tasks that would be impossible for man to do without the system.
What is tech Stephen Jay Kline
Kline studies are within the Science Technology Society STS which is a field of study that understands how technology is made and how it influences society, environment, culture, and humans themselves. In his article, he mentions 4 usages of technology; Hardware (or artifacts), Sociotechnical system of manufacture, Knowledge, and sociotechnical system of use.
Hardware (or artifacts) is anything that is made by humans to get a job done; examples include a hammer, computer, and software. The sociotechnical system of manufacture is a system of people and the way they use the equipment/tech and people interact. Examples include the legal system, farm machinery. Sociotechnical is a combination of two words of social and technology together. The next usage is knowledge which is just the information skills one needs to know, processes and procedures for accomplishing the task of technology. For example: knowing the programing language. The last usage is a sociotechnical system is a system that combines hardware and people to accomplish tasks that humans canât do without those systems. For example, wearing glasses makes a person a cyborg because that person is interacting with the world through technology.
With all the four usages combine is what technology can be considered as. This technology does not just mean items but it could also be systems. Without the system of use, the hardware would have no purpose. All four usages all overlap each other to interact with each other with the hardware to the systems. Social-technical systems are what made us humans a species because without it we would be weak and very few in numbers. With all of the extension, it has become possible for humans to have sociotechnical systems as our lifeline.