Think for a minute how different life would be without internal combustion, that wonderfully caustic concept of horsepower. If you removed the technology of the automobile from our society, how would it be different?
Technological determinism is the idea that a society's technology drives the development of its cultural and social contexts.
"Technology marches in seven-league boots from one ruthless, revolutionary conquest to another, tearing down old factories and industries, flinging up new processes with terrifying rapidity."
-Charles Beard
How would food be different without the influence of the automobile? While the sandwich is rooted in seventeenth century English origins, I'd venture it was the car that made it a hit, along with the hot dog and the hamburger. Where would fast food be without the car? Where would any food be? We'd still be agrarians.
Mobility technology shaped the planet. More than that, though, it fostered mankind's most feared and least understood attribute, the ego.
Technological determinism asserts that technology is a "key governing force in society." Internal combustion certainly validates the notion. But, I'd have to assert that regardless the social and cultural impacts of the automobile, I'm still the one in the driver seat.
What is it about technology and paranoia? 2001: A Space Odyssey introduced the innocuous Hal. The Terminator series paints a grim view of technology and the future. The Matrix, my goodness, we're all copper tops. What is it about human nature that vilifies technology?
Enter New Media. Talk about terrifying rapidity. What's most terrifying is shelling out bank as an early adopter for TNBT offering knowing full well that something better is right around the corner. Has technological determinism entrenched social communicative values or are we still in the driver's seat?
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