Social Construction of Technology

Moreover, the change in society continues to play a big role in the direction that science and technology development takes. According to Kurzweil, today’s technology provides the best tools upon with which to build tomorrows technology and thus suggest that somehow the development of science takes a linear trajectory (Kurzweil, 20). However, this is not consistent with the theory of social construction and thus while our brains anticipate technology growth to be linear, social construction will ensure that technology advancement is exponential. This essay therefore provides for the roles social construction plays in the development of technology. The Tight Intertwining of Social Life and Technological Use and Change From the invention of the wheel to the ubiquity of smart phones, there is no doubt that technology has transformed the modern world.

Once people accept a certain aspect of technology, it becomes part and parcel of their lives, thereby making it successful. In so doing, change is inflicted since people now turn their way of life, and with time, become dependent on the respective technology. Social context is also a major contributor to the promotion of suppression of technology, and consequently, the change that come as a result. Basically, the aspects of social life, technology and change are more or less a chain reaction of events. The Ways That A Shift to A “Network Society” May Affect How Technology Changes and Develops Events involving social, political and economic changes that resulted from the widespread shift in digital information and communications technologies in the early 1990’s are what resulted to the network society.

All these spur changes in technology. Indeed, information is vital to modern day organizations. For instance, how capital flows into currencies, commodities and stocks is largely dependent on the nature and amount of information available about them. Information such as social trends and international politics are always considered before making any decisions. Given that the network society is defined by these aspects, any technology that affects them will change. However, one can only deduce as a cultural chauvinist that technological progress is culturally defined, and as such defend the status quo of the society that they live in This supports the concept of social construction which provides that key players in a society especially the political powers and large corporations always fight to maintain the status quo by influencing how technological development will turn out and who benefits from such technologies.

Therefore, based on the notion of western rationality and liberalism, technology is considered to autonomously follow as single fixed track of evolution backed by sponsors and political powers. However, according to Bijker, technological progress does not follow a single track that is informed by objectivity and finding solutions supported by sponsors and political powers but instead provides that technological development is advanced by the meaning it has on various social groups within the society which defines its vision and progress (Bijker, et al).   How to Understand Techno Systems and Their Sponsors Technological development is a social construction and so one must understand that technology does not follow a linear evolution towards its development. For this reason, it is necessary to appreciate that most of what we see as technology are the result of what key players such as large corporations and those in power wanted to have produced.