Symptomatic Technology Redefines Our Culture

1. One lesson from the story of Thamus that Neil Postman used was “they will rely on writing to bring things to their remembrance by external signs instead of by their own internal resources” Neil Postman goes on to explain that technologies are changing our idea and definition of how we view “knowledge”. Our knowledges is signified by numbers and sometimes that is all people take into consideration. Not only is IQ measured by number but also tests on your mental health too. People go off of Rate Your Professor to see a grading of a teacher to make the decision if they will take the course. The second lesson I learned was that technology will redefine our culture and the words we live by. Thamus stated that people will have “discovered a receipt of recollection and not for memory”. This statement shows how technology redefines our culture by the way we learn and remember. People are not only considered smart by how much they can remember about a subject. People now have search engines, that will give them an answer in less than a minute. Information about a subject

Technological determinism and symptomatic technology are two terms that give explanation on how or why technology is invented. Technological determinism is about technology being invented from scientific research and development. After new technology is invented, there is an accidental consequence of social change. Symptomatic technology is the opposite though. For symptomatic technology there is a social change that creates a need and demand in society. Technology is a by-product of this social process. A similarity I see between technological determinism and symptomatic technology is that both have research & development that are self-generating. They are both self-regenerating because once there is a new invention or social change, there is always another idea that forming based off of what has already come. There is always room for improvements and change in the world of