Transcript Philosophy of Technology

Philosophy of Technology
And Computing
What is Technology
As artifact, tool, physical “thing”
Hammer
Computer
Software?
Know how
Fire, Distilling, Steel making PROCESS
Intellectual property
Science vs. Technology
Technology is
the handmaiden of science
the child of the doing of science
– science discovers the rules of nature
– technology provides the payback (harnesses science)
Difference between
– discovering / constructing theory
– using the theory to produce a technology
– steam engine, radio, TV, computer
Science (theory)
vs. Technical (know how)
Theoretical vs. Technical Knowledge
Ancient Greeks - Today
Theōria
“a spectator above”
Epistēmē = immutable, timeless truths (ideal)
Knowledge
Technē
craft, skill, art
Poiēsis = how to create as a craftsman
Science vs. Technology
Science explains,
why things work
Technology is how things work,
how to do
Theory
Know how
Tools
Pragmatism
E.g. John Dewey
Inverts the pyramid
Theory is NOT “Truth”
Theory is not an “end” in itself, but a “means”
Theory is kind of technology
Technology
Labor
Language
Tools
e.g. Theory
Heidegger’s view of technology
NOT simply a collection of artifacts
but an all encompassing world view
"the technological understanding of being."
A culture's tools and practices define a
particular way of interacting with the world.
Epochs:
model of wild nature
religious world view (middle ages)
modern world
technology was designed to stand against nature and
satisfy desires of autonomous subjects
new age of technology
Examples of how technology in the
new age completely "enframes" the
world, into a grand unified system
Hydroelectric dams
energy is distributed across population
everyone reliant on distribution system
Networked Computers (better fit)
Information (the ultimate resource)
Endlessly disaggregated, and redistributed
The network enframes our entire world
information about anything can be sent over network
individuals are reduced to resources
– "eyeballs" in the view of internet advertising agents.
technology seduces us to substitute material
objects for what makes the good life.
2 types of technological artifacts:
Focal Things: the place for activities that
define forms of life
a hearth provided a setting for family life
Devices: hide activity associated with
them
encourage us to think of the good they
produce as a commodity.
central heating provides heat, but operation is
hidden
– we think of the heat merely as a commodity
– not as the focus of a way of life
Critical Theory and Technology
Borgmann's antidote for losing our
personality to hyper-reality is to return to
focal activities.
Focal activities are practices which center our
attention on the richness of life.
E.g., the preparation of a well cooked meal
calls on our skill,
focuses our attention on the necessities of life,
aesthtic or sacramental communal activity,
frozen dinners commodify the process of eating.
Technology can assist in focal activities…
e.g. kitchen implements
…as long as the technology does not become the
focus
Marcuse
Technological thinking leads us to
decontextulize
by measuring everything (quantifiable
terms), we separate ethical from the true
values are relegated to the subjective
technological rationality
Technologies are value neutral
only uses are good or evil, despite fact that
uses are shaped by the technologies.
technology leads to new forms of
domination.
Technology changes thought
Nature of writing
fountain pen, typewritten, word processor,
interpersonal communications: letters,
telephone, e-mail IM.
Nature of work
crafts, factory production, new information
economy.
relationship to information
library model of careful selection
classification, and permanent collections
information retrieval model of access to everything,
diversification, and dynamic collections.
All of these changes are disruptive,
– foreclose old practices and provide new opportunities.
– Some people are always hurt by shifts, while others
thrive.
Human-Computer Interaction
Bad Design
The computer becomes the focus rather
than the focus being practice pursued
Good Design
useful, usable, easily learned
let people do what they want to do
does not crowd ones focus of attention
should fade into the background
Donald Norman (1990)
"The Design of Everyday Things"
Good design
user can figure out what to do
user can tell what is going on
use the natural properties of people and the
world to produce systems whose operation is
obvious.
Different features offer different affordances,
operations that they suggest to the user.
e.g. ,buttons are for pushing, and knobs are for
turning;
If everything has obvious function, then little
instruction is needed.
John Gould (1988)
"How to Design Usable Systems"
focus on the needs of users from the
very start of the project.
four simple principles:
early and continuous focus on users
early and continual testing
iterative design as result of testing
integrated design, all elements develop
constantly and in coordination
Pragmatism and design
Pragmatism: knowledge and technology is
socially situated.
Dewey: scientific theories and logic are
tools used in a certain social practice.
better philosophical basis for computer
science education than the rationalism that
underlies most training.
The rationalist attitudes concentrate on
logic and theory rather than attention to the
needs of computer users.
Interface I/O metaphors guide users
Desktop, folders, menus,