Technologyand the Environment

Chapter 15

The Nature of Technology

• Langdon Winner and defining technology• Three dimensions to technology:

• 1. Technological tools or apparatuses - the physical devices of technical performance

» Machines» Gadgets

• 2.Technical skills - all activities or behaviors that employ a rational method of doing things

The Nature of Technology

• Langdon Winner and defining technology• Three dimensions to technology:• 3. Organizational networks associated with

activities and apparatus• Technological change refers to changes in any of

the three areas:» Apparatus» Activities » Organization

Technological Dualism

• Technological dualism refers to the fact that technological change often has both positive and negative impacts on people and society

Technology and Global Inequality

• Technologies and the gap between the haves and have-nots• United Nations report and the:

» Global Computing gap between rich and poor nations

» Communications gap between rich and poor nations

» On a global basis, only 18 percent of possible users currently have Internet access

The Digital Divide

• The digital divide is the gap between those with access to computers and the Internet and those without

» Poor families in the United States are less likely to be active on the Internet

» Access to computers and the Internet at schools has decreased the gap

Controlling Technology

• Some critics of technology are convinced that it has become an autonomous force in society

• Autonomous technology: Winner and others have pointed out that technology has enmeshed us in a complex web of dependency

• Most sociologists do not see technology as autonomous: They argue that we have been drawn into the momentum of technological change, but are not sure where it is taking us

Automation

• Automation - the replacement of human workers with machines

• Automation results in an increase in productivity in the economy with a decline in the number of workers to generate products

» Automation has resulted in a loss in manufacturing jobs

Whistle-Blowers

• Whistle-blowers are employees who call attention to the abuses of new technological systems

• Whistle-blowers often run the risk of negative sanctions from their place of employment

» Loss of job

Identity Theft - A Global Crime Wavein Cyberspace

• Identity theft refers to the illegal possession of another person’s private account numbers and the use of those numbers for fraudulent purposes

• Much of the effort to develop ways of fighting identity theft focuses on increasing security for critical databases in government and the corporate sector

Bureaucracy and Morality

• Bureaucratic organizations, by the nature of the system of organization, may produce unintended negative results

» Hierarchical authority structure» Division of labor and narrowly defined

roles» Orientation to accomplishing specific

goals• Workers in organizations may not feel personally

responsible for their actions

Bureaucracy and Morality

• Stanley Milgram’s study of obedience to authority and overcoming moral obligations

• Should people be taught that disobedience to authority under some conditions is necessary?

Technology and Institutions

• Technology has two major relationships to social institutions

» The adaptation of social institutions to changing technology

» The adaptation of technology to changing institutions

• William Ogburn and cultural lag » Cultural lag happens when two parts of a

culture change at uneven rates• Fusion research is still in its early stages

Technology and Institutions

• Transhumanism• Transhumanism is the very small but growing social movement that advocates the ethnical use of technologies to enhance human capabilities

• Transhumanists are fascinated by the idea of the cyborg: a creature that is part human and part technological systems

Technologyand the Natural Environment

• There has been an increasing concern about the impact that technology has on the environment

• Speed of change in human civilization has been occurring faster than changes in the natural cycle of the environment

» Technology has accelerated the process of change

Technologyand the Natural Environment

• Two major factors have led to an increase in pollution and the depletion of natural resources

• 1.Accelerated technological and scientific change

• 2.Rapid population growth

Environmental Stress

• Environmental stress refers to what society does to the environment

• Environmental stress results from the relationship between three systems

• 1. The natural environment which is the interrelationship between air, minerals and the like

• 2. Technological system which includes farming, transportation and productive facilities

• 3. Social system which consists of our attitudes, values, beliefs and social institutions

Origins of the Problem

• Environmental pollution refers to agents added to the environment by society in quantities that are potentially dangerous to the ecosystem and human welfare

• Four concepts are related to the understanding of the problem of environmental stress

• 1. Interdependence – interrelatedness of everything

Origins of the Problem

• Four concepts are related to the understanding of the problem of environmental stress

• 2. Diversity - existence of different life and life support forms - the greater the diversity, the healthier the environment

• 3. Limits - three limits» Limit to the growth of an organism» Limit to population size as it relates to

the carrying capacity of the environment

» Finite limit to the Earth’s resources

Origins of the Problem

• Four concepts are related to the understanding of the problem of environmental stress

• 4. Complexity refers to the intricacy of the relationships that constitute the ecological web

• The major difficulty with dealing with environmental stress is:

» The number of problems there are

» How the problems are interrelated

Air Pollution

• Primary types of air pollutants:» Organic compounds (hydrocarbons)» Oxides of carbon» Nitrogen and sulfur» Lead and other metals» Particulate matter

• Major source of carbon monoxide pollution is exhaust emissions from automobiles

Air Pollution

• Effects on Human Health• Air pollutants are related to the following health

problems

» Bronchitis» Emphysema» Lung cancer» Eye, nose, and throat irritation

Air Pollution

• Economic Effects• Accelerated property deterioration

• Crop loss• Loss productivity due to worker illness• Ecological Effects

• One ecological impact has been the effect that the use of fluorocarbon gases have had on the ozone layer in the atmosphere

Air Pollution

• Ecological Effects• Depletion of the ozone could cause:

» Increase in skin cancer» Crop failure» Change in the world’s climate

• Acid rain is another problem - refers to rainfall with excessive concentrations of sulfuric dioxide

Air Pollution

• Ecological Effects• Acid rain is largely the result of pollutants from

utility and industrial plants

• Acid rain is especially harmful to» Physical structures in cities» Forest and plant life » Aquatic life

Air Pollution

• The Global Warming Controversy• The “greenhouse effect,” or the increase in global

temperatures

• Greenhouse gases are due in part to an increase in the burning of fossil fuels

• Radioactivity• Nuclear power plant accidents

Water Pollution

• Water moves through a hydrologic cycle of continuous purification and use

• Affecting the hydrologic cycle leads to two major problems

» The amount of water available could be insufficient to meet demand

» The water available could be polluted

Water Pollution

• Sources of the problem• Increased demand for water by consumers and the

dumping of pollutants into the water system

» Urban dwellers» Industrial users» Farmers

• Another form of water pollution is thermal pollution

Solid-Waste Disposal

• Dumping of solid waste into the environment• Two major sources

• Through the consumption process of goods• Through the production process of goods• In 2005 we disposed of over 410 million tons of

waste» Landfills» Incinerators

Solid-Waste Disposal

• Environmental Racism, Environmental Justice• Environmental racism refers to the concentration

of minority group neighborhoods around landfills and toxic dump sites

• Toxic Wastes» Plastics» Pesticides» And other chemical products

Solid-Waste Disposal

• Radioactive Wastes• By-products from nuclear power plants and other

sources

Other Hazards

• Land Degradation• Deforestation of tropical rainforests

» Clearing of rainforests for commercial use

• Desertification» Overgrazing of land» Dependence on wood for fuel» Depletion of minerals from farming

Other Hazards

• Noise pollution» Noise pollution from technological advances

• Chemical Contamination and Globalization of the Food Supply

» Plastics and synthetics» Vinyl chloride» Chemical contamination of the global food

supply is a growing social problem

• Large Scale Engineering Projects

The United Statesand the World Environment

• The United States and consumption• Affluence and pollution

• The U.S. has 5 percent of the world’s population and consumes 25 percent of the world’s fossil fuel

• The U.S. produces 72 percent of the world’s hazardous waste

Social Policy

• Policy on Global Warming• United Nations and the Kyoto Protocol

» Reduction in carbon emissions• United States under the Bush administration did

not ratify the agreement

Social Policy

• Pollution Credits– The creation of markets to buy and sell pollution credits

is a more conservative antipollution policy favored by the Bush administration and by many experts on global pollution problems

• Science and Policy Making– There has been a great deal of conflict between the

nation’s scientists and the Bush administration

Social Policy

• Appropriate technology is smaller-scale technology

• Small scale technologies and reduction of environmental damage

• The appropriate technologists are often accused of advocating an impractical retreat to a simpler way of life

• Appropriate technologists reply that they do not oppose all technology, only large-scale technology that has unfavorable social consequences