Question

.  Cross concludes his book with the statement that “Technology has perhaps created almost as many problems as it has solved.” Discuss this statement from the perspective of Neil Postman's statements and discussions in print and in his talk re “Technopoly.” What do you think he might say about Cross's conclusion?

Answer 1

Technopoly is a book by Neil Postman. He defines a technopoly as a society in which technology is deified, meaning “the culture seeks its authority in technology, finds satisfaction in technology, and takes their orders from technology”. It is a surplus of information generated by technology, where technological tools are in-turn employed, in order to provide direction and purpose for the existence of society and individuals .

A tool-using culture employs technology only to solve physical problems, as building tools , hacksaws , utensils, and flour mills do, and to serve the symbolic world of religion, art, politics and tradition . He claims that all such cultures are either theocratic or unified by some metaphysical theory . This forced tools to operate within the bounds of a controlling ideology and made it almost impossible for technics to subordinate people to its needs .

Postman characterises a technocracy as compelled by the need to invent , an ideology where he believed that human beings could acquire knowledge about the natural world and use it to improve mankind which led to the idea of invention for its own sake and the idea of progress. According to the author, this thinking became widespread in Europe from the late 18th Century.

However, a technocratic society remains loosely controlled by social and religious traditions, he clarifies. For instance, he states that the United States remained bound to notions of godmen and sin, grandparents and families, regional loyalties and centuries old traditions at the time of its founding.

In the U.S.A technopoly, trust in technology and quantification has led to absurdities such as an excess of medical tests that were earlier concluded basis a doctor's judgment, treatment-induced illnesses , scoring in beauty paegants, overemphasis on scheduling in academic courses, and interpretation of individuals through IQ tests, opinion polls, and academic grading, which leave out meaning .