Restriction has never been an incentive and foundation for development. Achievements in science, scientific and technological progress, the development of systems for the production and consumption of various material and spiritual goods, people have always made for the sake of improving living and working conditions.
Technology is not neutral, but seems to be a self-governing force - a postulate of theories of technological determinism. However, there is no artificial intelligence yet, and at the time of the appearance of these theories there was not even a reason that it would be.
In memory of the beginning of the beginning
What the best minds have thought about has at all times been determined by the current level of knowledge and range of needs. The proportion of scientists who separate themselves from participation in the socio-economic process of creating and consuming material and spiritual goods for the sake of abstract mental activity has always been negligible. Public consciousness has never been worried about the cutting edge of science and technology,but I was really worried about the standard of living, the amount of income, normal social relations at work and peace in the family.
The closer the level of technology was to nature and further from the creativity of scientists and engineers, the calmer social life flowed. People went to work or hunt, picked mushrooms and berries, grew crops and grazed cattle. Not much to worry about. There was no reason to wish for something more and no knowledge to designate them either.
There was no reason for technological determinism, nor for other fantasies of philosophy in general and sociology subsequently. Life did not seem like honey: slavery existed, exploitation "blossomed", the strong humiliated the weak, there were constant wars, social relations "stably needed" judicial practice, and each state had its own idea of the rights of its citizens, the right to power and the force that should provide all this.
A strange thought follows from this: technological determinism, as a conscious phenomenon, is attributed to the beginning of the last century. Consequently, a century earlier, the prerequisites should have matured for the public consciousness to find grounds and pay attention to the works of certain scientists and attach importance to the achievements of technical progress.
Everything is possible. But isn't there a spectacular interest here? Curiosity is not a science or even a contemplation of phenomena. The first ships are one thing: they quickly became in demand in military and commercial affairs. But the first flying machines were circus performancesfirst of all.
Weird but perfect example
The public consciousness of different countries evaluated the first manned flight into space in a social aspect, and not as an assessment of the work and hardships of hundreds of obscure scientists and engineers who made their way through the reinforced concrete confrontation of society. None of the theories of technological determinism appreciated the labor, inventions and technologies of the thousands of specialists and ordinary workers who built the first spacecraft.
The technical product left the planet with a man on board and returned him back alive and unharmed. The determinists did not notice this, but they developed Plato's ideas about technocracy. Although, what could this pundit know about engineering and technology? And in general, he meant not techies, but philosophers - the only worthy cohort of people to manage society (according to those like him).
Whatever the rationale for technological determinism and technocracy as a whole, they expressed their ideas not for the sake of science, knowledge, the development of scientific and technological progress, but for the goal of creating an ideal society in which happiness will be one, and hardships another.
Management in general and society in particular has never fallen into the hands of technical specialists, to the echelon of the highest industrial level, to corporations. Meanwhile, finance has always played a role in management, and in the progress of technology, and in the development of technology, and in providing a moment of power in any social process of any state.
Determining who will manage what is not a human problem and nothim to decide. You can talk about everything and everything, but how will the objective laws of the universe in general and social laws in particular react to this? It is not given to a person to invent them, but they always exist and always reflect reality.
Through the abyss of ages
Strange (according to the logic of deterministic theories, this should not have happened), but society somehow "got itself" to the beginning of the last century and built factories and factories, financial and commodity exchanges, laid the foundations of primary, secondary and higher education. Cruise ships the size of cities set off for the oceans on full life support. Over the airport of a decently sized metropolis, planes of all sorts circle like bees near a beehive. Under water, the warriors of the most developed countries carry nuclear missiles, intimidating each other.
Technical progress in the middle of the last century became the subject of attention of public consciousness, and the theory of technological determinism waited for its grateful reader. Fantasts put their pen to the development of public imagination and for some time the authors of industrial, post-industrial and technotronic ideas were given public attention.
Modern researchers believe that theories of technological determinism are unanimous in that technology and technology are the fundamental cause of all social change.
Following are minor differences. Some base their views on the power of steam, others pay attention to industrialization, others point to chemistry and quantum mechanics. Others base their concepts on computer technology andinformation technology.
Without going into details and the quality of certain fundamental statements, one can point (as a vivid example) to nuclear energy. This is undoubtedly the result of scientific and technological progress. But a nuclear bomb is understandable: the task has been set, the target has been destroyed. What about the peaceful atom? After all, a nuclear power plant is to this day a classic "teapot". A nuclear power plant is a tricky, time-consuming and expensive conversion of nuclear energy to steam…
However, nuclear energy is not the only vivid example of how equipment and technologies require capital expenditures of labor, time and financial resources for their "life support" from a person to whom determinists have identified a secondary role in their scientific research.
The concept of technological determinism
The classic formulation of theories of constraints (determinism) is hard to argue. For all its components, everything is extremely accurate:
- theoretical and methodological setting;
- philosophical and sociological concepts;
- limiting the understanding of social development to the progress of technology;
- technology affects the being, thinking and language of its carriers.
Having arisen at the beginning of the past as a “setting” to think in the environment of philosophy and sociology (it would be strange if physicists, chemists or mathematicians set themselves guidelines and rules on how to distinguish the Planck quantum from the Laplace transform), technological determinism limits the understanding of social consciousness to the level of technology that society creates and uses.
SFrom a technological point of view, everything is correct: it was at the beginning of the last century that society saw not only the real results of scientific and technological progress, but also confidently began to use them.
Cars and airplanes, machine tools and production lines, large factories and multinational companies have changed the life and life of people. The changes were cardinal, swift and ended with the triumph of computer technology, although it did not come to the creation of artificial intelligence.
Basic concepts of determinism
The core concepts of technological determinism have an industrial aura through the top management of a corporate nature. The "face" of each technological theory is the same, the angle is different. Industrial society and stages of growth. New industrial theory and the concept of post-industrial society. The theory of a super-industrial society and the technotronic idea.
Before the concept of an intellectual society, when robots won all over the world and by this fact showed that they are the essence of social development, it did not come. However, technological determinism did not even think of entrusting the management of society and technical progress to some kind of robots.
Professional skills of the authors of famous ideas are typical. Galbraith's technological determinism is the result of an economist's vision of a mythical technostructure run by large corporations (not a techie).
Sociologist Aron built his industrial society, taking into account the peculiarities of the socialist and capitalist social systems (not a techie). Brzezinski founded histechnotronic postulates based on the ideas of the computer and information revolution (does not understand anything in the computer business).
A characteristic feature of all concepts is an orientation towards industriality, intellectuality, and the information content of phenomena and processes. The role of a person remains (for smart people), but it is secondary (for the rest). There is always a revolutionary beginning and adjectives with the prefix "over", the term "elite" is used and something here reminds of HG Wells.
Determinism: constraint or definition
The word "deterministic" is well known. It is not always possible to hear and understand it in secondary school, but in any professional and higher education one cannot do without fixing this concept. This is the exact opposite of stochastic processes. It is not particularly common in systems development theories to use the adjective “deterministic.”
Translated from Latin, we have three options:
- define;
- limit;
- separate.
There is nothing close to the concept of "development" here. In different centuries, philosophy paid attention to determinism, trying to link it with patterns, causes and effects, phenomena in nature and society.
In fact, technological determinism in philosophy is an attempt to apply a limitation in a place where it makes no sense at all to talk about it. Public consciousness never stands still. It is developing as rapidly as engineering, technology, theory and practice of systems.
On how muchexactly scientists understand the issues of development, depends only on the level of their competence and understanding of ongoing phenomena. It is not enough to declare an idea, science or concept.
Any social movement matters only when it objectively reflects reality. This is what technological determinism in sociology looks like in practice. In fact, everything is not in his favor.
Modern version of determinism
Socio-philosophical concepts of technological determinism, theories of post-industrialism, technotronics, the use of communications and information technology to manage society - this is the skill and teaching of the elect for everyone else.
Socio-philosophical concept: technique and technology are the foundation of society, the liquidator of social contradictions and the main factor in its development.
Technological determinism absolutizes technique and technology. Does not notice anything that lies outside the goal that needs to be justified.
Setting the framework for a post-industrial (technotronic) society has never been forbidden to anyone, only there has never been any sense in this. The objective laws of the universe and social laws always put everything in its place.
About society and technology in terms of development
You can say anything, but not everything should be believed. Knowledge and skills in the dynamics of their development are the essence of all phenomena, processes and things, including equipment and technologies. This can be trusted. First, a man came into the world, then he gained intellect, then programming appeared.
From what has been said, it does not follow at all that it is this intellect that is worthwhile, and that its constituent knowledge is objective. In any case, neither programming nor modern information technologies represent an integral, self-developing system. The world of the best technical achievements is really good, but it is as imperfect as human knowledge of the physics of phenomena on a wide range of topics.
Technological determinism could not but appear, could not but leave a mark in the public consciousness. If at the time of Plato the ideas were discussed, who and what to manage, what influences what, what, what depends, then how could it be otherwise, when the world of money, technology and independent "intelligence" gained power?
The question is not in development, but in who to determine the right to manage this development and how to secure it stronger.
Man. Intelligence. Programming
First a Man came into the world, then he gained Intelligence, then Programming appeared: CHIPiotics - an old idea in a new incarnation.
It is known that information technology is developing rapidly. Everyone knows that huge financial, intellectual and production resources work here. Volumes of production and consumption are growing. But this is the stone age.
If modern technological determinism has decided on the last reincarnation of its postulates, then the modern world of communications and information technologies will destroy it forever.
Programming reflects the intellect of modern social consciousness, as in that part of it,who writes programs, and in the one that is trying to figure out what she actually needs to program.
Stochastics of communication processes between producers and consumers in this area of public relations in 99.9% of cases exceeds the allowable standards. Only when the user asks the programmer to write a program for solving a quadratic equation is success practically achievable.
Modern programming is lumps of knowledge accumulated over several decades. Undoubtedly, there are many achievements and much has been done excellently. Everything spoils rigid syntax and constructions.
Clearly, when a skyscraper is being built, it is impossible to move the building from Moscow to St. Petersburg. It is not clear when the program needs to be rewritten, because the hosting has crashed, the language version has changed, or a new operating system has been installed on the computer.
Man is a living being with intelligence. There is no such case that he did not solve the problem. Throughout his life, a person solves problems and successfully copes with all his problems.
The program is the result of human intellectual activity. It can only do what its author has programmed. Tomorrow the scope of the task has changed, but the program has remained. This means that this is the Stone Age: the program has not yet separated from Nature, that is, from the creator.
About knowledge and skills
Programming is the most advanced technology, it is much better than the machine, assembly line, production, company or system of companies.
Programming is also production,and economics, and politics, and management. Programming is a Man and his needs, and the possibility of their implementation in dynamics, in development.
We don't have dynamics, but we always have statics: what a skyscraper is in Moscow, what a program written in St. Petersburg is all the same idea of an excellent, high-quality, reliable, but cumbersome and static design.
Nothing can ever be achieved without knowledge and skills: neither on earth, nor in near-Earth space, nor in the expanses of space. But knowledge and skills should be in dynamics: both for a person and for his program.
