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Austrian Presidency Conference
on
Technology Platforms
Austria Center Vienna May 4-5, 2006
THE DIFFERENT DIMENSIONS OF TECHNOLOGY
Josef Hochgerner Zentrum für Soziale Innovation
BULKY SETS OF DIMENSIONS
Dimensions in the scope of engineers
• Size (large, small, nano ...)
• Functionality (does it work?)
• ...
Dimensions in the scope of engineers, users and / or the public
• Complexity (simple to make, difficult to use?)
• Range of use and of impact (local, global ...)
• ...
Dimensions in the scope of philosophers
• Ethics of technology and its use
• Impact on cognition, self-esteem etc.
• ...
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TECHNOLOGY: A SHINY ENIGMA
OR A MYSTERY OF MULTIPLIED LOGIC?
Technological systems are socially produced.
Social production is culturally informed.
The Internet is no exception:
The culture of the producers of the Internet shaped the medium.
These producers were, at the same time, its early users.
Manuel Castells, 2001: The Internet Galaxy. Reflections on the Internet; Business, and Society, Oxford University Press
TECHNOLOGY IN SOCIETY
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GAPS BETWEEN CULTURES INSTEAD OF
„CULTURAL LAG“
„SEDIMENTS“ OF THE SOCIAL SUPERSTRUCTURE
Fast changing surface:
Technology serves as skin and muscles of the society:
Infrastructure, tools, buildings, constructed environment – hi-tech
Norms and the social structure:
Ruling powers, force, institutions – dependent on technology, yet also vulnerable
Relations and interaction:
Communication, information – increasingly engineered
Cultural substructure:
Beliefs, ritual acts, myths, values – lo-tech
ACCUMULATION OF DIMENSIONS
Regulation, control and organisation
Enhanced intelligence Provision of
power/energy
Handcraft
Manufactury
Industry
Information Extension of
physical organs
Knowledge Process
Action Production
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„Matrix me“
www.pixelquelle.de
Josef Hochgerner Centre for Social Innovation Linke Wienzeile 246 A - 1150 Vienna
Tel. ++43.1.4950442 Fax. ++43.1.4950442-40 email: hochgerner@zsi.at http://www.zsi.at
