Influences On Society- Essay, Research Paper
Influences on Society-
Michael Novak stated that there were three influences on any
society: Political influences, Economic influences, and Moral\Cultural
influences. The political influences consist of the governmental body
of that society and the laws and regulations set by this governing
group. The moral\cultural influences consist of the “voluntary
associations” of a society: the churches, media, education systems,
the people in this society. The final influence being the economic
influence, which is the rate of employment, GDP, incidence of poverty,
and structure of economic activity. Novak made this theory into an
object, a “triangle” of sorts, with each influence being a point on
this “triangle.” Novak goes on later in his theory to deal with other
influences, but as other dimensions. What Novak appears to have missed
in his theory is another very important influence on society that
influences, and is influenced by the other points of this “triangle,”
technology. The Middle Ages did come up with a few inventions, such as
windmills and horseshoes, but technological process was imperceptible
compared with what is happening now. Very soon, a fiber the diameter
of a human hair will be able to transmit, in less than a second, the
contents of every issue of The Economist magazine that was ever
printed (Economy Survey 4). Since Adam Smith, economists have
recognized that technology is important for growth, but only in the
past two decades have they been studying this subject in earnest (7).
There pioneer was Joseph Schumpeter, one of the few economists who
tried to explain growth mainly in terms of technological innovation.
In the 1930’s, he presented a model that postulated growth through the
interaction of bursts of technological development and competition
between companies (8). His evidence pointed to history. First, the
1780s to the 1840s, which brought the steam power and drove the
industrial revolution. Second, the 1850s to 1890! s introducing the
railways. Third, the 1890s to 1930s with electrical power. The fourth,
the 1930s to 1980s with cheap oil and the car. Now, today it is argued
that Schumpeterians’ would label this period of history as being
powered by technology in all areas (9). Then there was “new” growth
theory, hatched in the mid 1980’s by the work of Paul Romer, an
economists at Stanford University. His theory attempted to incorporate
technology directly into models of economic growth by explaining how
knowledge in the shape of both technology and human capital is created
and spread through the economy (8). This essay will attempt to use
evidence created by economic research and show how technology is
influencing and influenced by political, economic, and social/moral
issues; creating a fourth point on Novak’s triangle. Technology
throughout history has been a major influence on governments in many
different societies. It has caused wars, and prevented them too. The
invention of the cotton gin played a major factor in leading to the
Civil War. Because of the cotton gin, production of cotton rose and
the export of cotton from the United States to other countries rose
too. The need for more workers, slaves at the time, rose too. This
influenced the government by pushing the need for slavery, and look
what happened as a result. Sputnik help lead a governmental race
between two countries to see who could reach the Moon first. The
invention of the A-bomb led to the end of a real war and the start of
a cold one. Just recently, technology has been a major factor in the
fall of several Communist governments. With the invention of the
television and satellite dishes, as well as the Internet, many people
could have access to media, propaganda, and information not available
in their own society! and learn how their governments really were not
all that great, leading to a fall for those governments. Just
recently, the Chinese government was influenced by technology and
decided that many Western ideas could cause the same result of
government failure via the Internet. They banned over 100 sites or
links on the Internet to prevent this (Chen 1). The idea of terrorism
has been around for many years, but the idea of cyber-terrorism has
not. With the technological advances in communication lines overseas.
Terrorist hackers could cause more damage on a governmental body’s
computer system than could a nuclear missile and at a cheaper price.
This has forced many governments to spend money and create protection
from these types of attacks. Technology has also been influenced by
governments as well. With the railroad movement in the late 1800s,
governmental rules and regulations helped technology to be used as a
catalyst for competition. Technology, in the form of television and
radio, are both heavily regulated in the United States and in other
countries. Currently, the Supreme Court is making the decision if
cable systems must carry all the local channels. During the “Great
Leap Forward,” Mao’s government helped stop technological process by
making the Chinese do nothing but farm or make iron of no value.
Government’s also influence technology by imposing restrictions on
what can be invented to better society (or so they say). For example,
if it wasn’t for government restrictions on environmental issues and
car technology over the past decade, the car could be as cheap as $100
and get 100,000 miles per a gallon (tempting, isn’t it) because of
less money spent on regulations and more on research. Other ! policies
have prevented the continuation of genetic cloning and other “black”
medical projects. Without adequate funding from a governmental agency,
new technologies can not be invented or even thought up. With the
technological influence and governmental responses to these
technologies, economies can get stronger or weaker. This leads to the
other point on Novak’s “triangle,” economics. Falling prices, one of
the best measures of the speed of technological progress, confirms the
impression that the pace of changes has accelerated. The rapid decline
in price also encourages more people to buy more technology, allowing
it to be distributed more widely (Economy Survey 10). Technology has
greatly influenced many economic systems of the world. Japan is a
prime example. One of the many great boosts to its economy after
W.W.II, was the innovation of new technologies that other countries
would like. With these new technologies, Japan has become one of the
strongest economies of the world. A look back at American history can
show that technology was a great influence on the economy. During the
Industrial Revolution, trains helped pave the way for small business
in towns formed by these railroads, and trade among cities and other
countries increased at a rate of almost 40% a year. With the help of
Henry Ford, the idea of the production line (which is still cons!
idered a technology), helped lead to production of thousands instead
of hundreds of automobiles. The PC and communication revolution of
recent years has caused almost every company small, and large, to
incorporate the use of computers in order to make these companies’
goals more feasible. One advantage of technology’s influence on
economies is that it reduces communications and transaction costs,
helping markets to work more efficiently (10). Technology also follows
Says Law of supply creating its own demand. VCR’s, PC’s, contact
lenses, Super Nintendo’s, etc., are good examples of creating markets
out of thin air and in turn, helping the economy. At the same time,
rapid technological change is confusing and rapid forecasts are easily
hyped, which can cause some negatives for the economy too and
adversely, affect technological progress. Technology is greatly
influenced by economics in the form of funding and demand for new
technologies. Imagine what would have happened if the PC was invented
during the Great Depression. There would not have been any “PC
Revolution” during this time period because of the state of the
economy, as no one had the money to afford to create or buy PCs. The
same is true for many countries today. Africa’s economies have never
been that strong and technology has not been much help to these
countries because of the economic situation. Until recently, India was
pretty much the same way. With a stronger economy, there is now more
money being spent on R&D, resulting in more technological progress
for the future in India. How much money is placed in R&D (Research
and Development) greatly influences how technology will evolve. The
stronger the economy, the more technology that comes out of this
economy. Of course the economy is also strongly based on the people
and their desire for! this technology, which leads to the final point:
moral\cultural influences on technology. What would life be without
TV? Automobiles? Nintendo? Ask any kid these questions in a developed
country and they would respond very negatively. Most people know what
these technologies are because their society has been influenced by
technology. Imagine what life would be like without the invention of
the boat or airplane! These are just some of the technological
innovations that have influenced society. American history can tell
many stories of how technology has influenced society, but most people
can just look around and see it’s affects (both positive and
negative). Some of the positive influences of technologies on a
society’s social/morality can be seen by the medical advances and
healthcare. Some negative influences are the increase in violence and
illiteracy. Before the TV and Radio, many children read classic novels
and their homework. Now, the overall education of these children is
pathetic. One advantage to the new technology is the vast amount of
informa! tion available to people that was usually not available.
China’s governments actions can show how much these technologies have
influenced its society in a “negative” way for a Communist government.
The best way to see technology influencing societies is looking at
other societies that are not as developed as the West is. For example,
India’s society has just recently been greatly influenced by
technology in the form of cable television and consumer durables, such
as washing and dryer machines. Their society now has machines that can
do the work of what many had to pay someone else to do or do
themselves. The idea of a machine doing the work of a human scares
many societies and causes a backlash against technology. This leads to
the influence of societies’ moral and cultural standards upon the
pursuit of technological growth. Unemployment due to machines has been
the greatest fear of many societies. Since the beginning of the
Industrial Revolution, people have predicted that machines would
destroy their jobs and their lives as well. The book, Frankenstein was
the result of a technology gone astray. The author wrote the story to
keep people from inventing all these new technologies. Karl Marx
himself said that, by investing in machinery, factory owners would
create a vast army of the unemployed. In the late 1940s, Nobert
Weiner, a pioneer of computing, forecast that this new technology
would destroy enough jobs to make the depression of the 1930s looks
like a picnic. With all the negative publicity of new technologies,
many societies choose not to invest in some technology and without a
demand or the ideas for technology, progress is slowed. Unemployment
is not the only driving force behind the influence of society on
technology. There are many groups against technological progress.
These g! roups help stop a technology by petition, debating, and by
any means necessary (as did farmers with burning the cotton gins in
1840s). Technology can not progress unless there is someone that
thinks up an idea, but that idea can be stopped very quickly by a
societies’ view of that idea. John F. Kennedy was quoted as saying:
“If men have the talent to invent new machines that put people out of
jobs, then they certainly have the talent to put these people back to
work.” (Unemployment 21) Kennedy’s speech was based on the idea of
creative destruction: new jobs are created, while others are rendered
obsolete. Societies must learn that to complain is human; to adjust
essential. Either way, technology is influenced by this point. Michael
Novak stated that there were three influences on any society:
Political influences, Economic influences, and Moral\Cultural
influences. As seen by this essay, there are many reasons that there
should be a fourth point added to this “triangle.” Throughout history,
technology has seen to influence and be influenced by political
decisions. These technologies also have helped build economies and
destroy those that chose not to use technology. Society has also been
greatly influenced by technology in positive and negative ways, and
society has greatly influenced technology as well. Technology as the
fourth point of a triangle? How about a square or trapezoid?
—
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