Technopoly Part 1

In the book Technopoly by Neil Postman, we begin to see how he feels technology has changed over the years going through different times in history.  With all the technology that we have today, we sometimes take it for granted.  I feel like this is one of the points that Postman is trying to get across.  He has such a negative view on technology and the changes they have made to our society.  He talks about tools in society, which he believes is a good thing.  He says that “tools are not intruders.  They are integrated into the culture in the ways that do not pose significant contradiction to its world-view.”  However, when he talks about technocracy, he believes that “tools play a central role in the thought-world of the culture.  Everything must give away in some degree, to their development.  Tools are not integrated into the culture; they attack the culture.”  He feels that the knowledge you have in your culture makes the tools necessary because you have to know how to use them and they make it easier for you.  However, when it comes to technology, he feels that these new tools attack the culture because they will soon become the culture.

            I feel that there is good and bad to his argument.  We have so many new tools today because of the changing technology.  It is good because with the advancements made with these technologies we can do many more things that we couldn’t have achieved before.  I also believe that these new technologies have become a major part of our culture because they are present everywhere.  9 out of 10 people you see probably have a cell phone.  It’s not 100% necessary that we have a cell phone, but it makes our life more convenient.  It’s hard to imagine what life was like before we had them because it’s something we’re so used to since it’s present 24/7.  So in a way Postman is right because these technologies have become our culture but they have not totally destroyed it because there are some advantages that they bring.