Chapter 14: Science and Technology “We have arranged things so that almost no one understands...

Chapter 14:Science and Technology

“We have arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for a while, but sooner or later this combustible mixture of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces.”

—Carl Sagan, astronomer and astrobiologist

Science and TechnologyIntroduction

• Science – The process of discovering, explaining, and

predicting natural or social phenomena.

• Technology– Activities that apply the principles of science

and mechanics to the solutions of a specific problem.

Science and TechnologyIntroduction

• Automation– Dominant in an industrial society, the replacement

of human labor with machinery and equipment that is self-operating.

• Mechanization– Dominant in an agricultural society, the use of tools

to accomplish tasks previously done by hand.• Cybernation

– Dominant in a postindustrial society; the use of machines to control other machines.

The Global Context:The Technological Revolution

• The world is a much smaller place than it used to be, and it will become even smaller as the technological revolution continues.

• In 2011, the Internet had 2.1 billion users in more than 200 countries with 240 million users in the United States.

• The decline of U.S. supremacy in science and technology is likely to be the result of several interacting forces:– First, the federal government has been

scaling back its investment in research and development.

– Second, corporations, the largest contributors to research and development, have begun to focus on short-term products and higher profits as pressure from stockholders mounts.


• Decline of U.S. Supremacy Cont’d: – Third, developing countries, most

notably China and India, are expanding their scientific and technological capabilities at a faster rate.

– Fourth, there has been a drop in science and math education in U.S. schools, both in terms of quality and quantity.

• STEM: An acronym for science technology, engineering and mathematics.


Sociological Theories of Science and Technology

Structural-Functionalist Perspective

• Science fulfills the need for an assumed objective measure of truth.

• If society changes too rapidly, problems may emerge.

• Cultural lag is a condition in which the material part of culture changes faster than the nonmaterial part.


Conflict Perspective• Technological advances are motivated by profit.• Funding of research is determined by dominant

groups.• Science and technology also further the interests

of dominant groups to the detriment of others.• Finally, conflict theorists as well as feminists argue

that technology is an extension of the patriarchal nature of society that promotes the interests of men and ignores the needs and interests of women.


Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

• Knowledge is relative, it changes over time and between societies.

• Scientific “truths” are socially constructed and result from interactions between scientists, researchers, and the public.

• Who becomes involved in what aspects of science and technology is socially defined.

Technology and the Transformation of SocietyTechnology and the Workplace

• Some technology lessens the need for supervisors and makes control by employers easier.

• Technology can also make workers more accountable by gathering information about their performance.

• Technology is also changing the location of work.

– Telecommuting has increased as the result of several interacting social forces over time.

– Telepresencing, a much more technologically sophisticated version of teleconferencing, allows life-sized participants in the virtual presence of one another to realistically communicate through broadcast quality sound and images.

What Do You Think?


• Robotic technology has also revolutionized work.

• Ninety percent of robots work in factories, and more than half of these are used in heavy industry, such as automobile manufacturing.

• Technology has also changed the nature of work.

Technology and the Transformation of SocietyThe Computer Revolution

• More than 76.6 percent of American households own computers.

• Desktop ownership has decreased since 2006, and the proportion of Americans who own laptop computers has increased from 30 percent to 52 percent between 2006 and 2010.

• Globally, Israel has the highest rate of computer ownership (122 computers for every 100 people), and Honduras has one of the lowest, with just 2.5 computers for every 100 people.

Technology and the Transformation of Society Information and Communication Technology and the Internet


• The internet is the international information infrastructure (a network of networks) available through universities, research institutes, government agencies, and businesses.

• Web 2.0 is a platform for millions of users to express themselves online in the common areas of cyberspace.


• E-commerce is the buying and selling of goods and services over the Internet.

• Despite a slowdown in the economy, or perhaps because of it, online business-to-customer sales increased 2.1 percent between 2008 and 2009, and now represent 47 percent of all retail sales in the United States

What Do You Think?


• Health and Digital Medicine – The Internet acts as the third most likely

source of health information preceded only by health professionals, and friends or family members

– Most online searches result in useful information that affects health care decisions, including decisions about seeing a doctor, how to deal with a specific disease, and diet and exercise information.


• Games and Entertainment – Over half of all Americans play video games,

although less than a quarter play video games online;

– Only 9 percent play massive multiplayer online games (MMOG) such as World of Warcraft, and less than 2 percent have visited a virtual world such as Second Life (Lenhart 2008).

– Video games are big business, a $25.1 billion industry in 2010.


• Politics and e-Government – Technology is changing the world of politics.

In 2010, approximately 73 percent of U.S. adult Internet users went online to find news or information about the 2010 midterm elections, or to send or receive political messages through e-mail, instant messaging, Twitter, and the like.


• Social Networking and Blogging

– Social network sites (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) and blogs comprise a sector of the Internet called membership communities. Membership communities have changed in recent years in three substantively significant ways.

1. First, the number of people who visit membership communities has increased. In 2010, Facebook topped 500 million members around the world.

2. Second, the amount of time members spend at a membership community site has grown dramatically.

3. Finally, who joins membership communities is changing.

Technology and the Transformation of Society Science and Biotechnology

• Genetics– Molecular biology has led to a greater

understanding of the genetic material found in all cells, DNA, and with it the ability for genetic screening.

– Gene therapy involves identifying defective or missing genes to get a healthy duplicate and transplant it to the affected cell.

– Genetic engineering is the ability to manipulate and alter the genes of an organism.


• Food and Biotechnology– Genetic engineering is the ability to manipulate the

genes of an organism in such a way that the natural outcome is altered.

– Genetically modified (GM) food, also known as genetically engineered food, and genetically modified organisms involve this process of DNA recombination—scientists transferring genes from one plant into the genetic code of another plant.

– In the United States, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are in an estimated 80 percent of all packaged food sold in the United States and Canada.

Genetically Engineered Food

• Reproductive Technologies:

– The evolution of “reproductive science” has been furthered by scientific developments in biology, medicine, and agriculture.



• In in-vitro fertilization (IVF), an egg and a sperm are united in a laboratory dish or test tube.

• Abortion: The removal of an embryo or fetus from a woman’s uterus before it can survive on its own.

• Therapeutic Cloning– Uses stem cells from human embryos.– Stem cells can produce any type of cell in the

human body.– Stem cells have been used for repairing

spinal cord injuries in mice, allowing them to walk normally.


• Stem Cell Research– Christopher Reeve,

stage and movie actor best known for his portrayal of Superman, was a longtime advocate of federally funded research on embryonic stem cells.

– He died on October 10, 2004, at the age of 52.


Chapter 14: Science and Technology “We have arranged things so that almost no one understands...

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