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Flashcards in Short Answer Deck (27)
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1
Q

Identify the four main technological forms

A

Tool
Craft
Machine
System

2
Q

What is a tool &example

A

A physical item that can be used to achieve a goal

Ex. Stone axe

3
Q

What is a craft and example

A

Profession that requires particular skills and knowledge

Ex. Basket weaving

4
Q

What is a machine & example

A

An apparatus made up of interrelated parts with separate functions, used in the performance of some kind of work
Ex. Wheel, pulley

5
Q

What is a system & example

A

a related set of components connected by a network or structure
Ex. Railroads, telephone network, internet

6
Q

Ethos of tools

A

Instrumentality

-ex. purposeful human control; moral indifference of instrument

7
Q

Ethos of crafts

A

Artisanal knowledge

-ex. informal knowledge, acquired through direct experience and tradition

8
Q

Ethos of machines

A

Efficiency (energy conversion)

  • ex. the smooth interaction of parts in order to produce the maximum amount (power) per input
  • the effectiveness can be quantified
9
Q

Ethos of Systems

A

Interoperability

  • the key to functioning of any LTS is:
  • the ability of its components to interact effectively with one another over space
  • Technical standards form the backbone of any large system
10
Q

Identify the four main types of technological change

A

Type I - incremental innovations
Type II - radical innovations
Type III - changes in technological systems
Type IV - changes in techno-economic paradigms

11
Q

Type 1 technological change

A

Incremental innovations
-improvements to existing technologies; micro-inventions that are small scale
Ex. Newest iPhone

12
Q

Type II Technological change

A

Radical innovations
Macroinventions that are sudden or discontinuous; fundamentally new technical designs
Ex. Digital camera

13
Q

Type III Technological Change

A

Changes in technological systems
Combination of type 1 and 2, along with organizational innovations (General purpose technologies or GPTs)
Ex. Steam engine, railroads, printing

14
Q

Type IV Technological change

A

Changes in techno economic paradigms

  • large scale, revolutionary changes; “industrial revolutions”
  • ex. 1st industrial revolution - convergence of coal, steam, and iron
15
Q

Differentiate the four ideas types of societies with their rough time periods

A

Tool-using: 70,000 ya - 10,000 BCE
craft-making: 10,000 BCE - ca. 1800 CE
industrial-system based: ca. 1800CE - 2000CE
technological: ca. 2000CE - present

16
Q

Differentiate the main characteristics of machines as a form of technology

A

-self-contained devices with mechanical, interconnected moving parts that share energy, motion, power, etc.

17
Q

Give a detailed historical example of a machine as a form of technology.

A

Boulton-Watt engine combined the macro innovation of steam engine with the micro-improvements of the separate condenser and rotary gears,
which doubled the efficiency of the engine,
resulting in a GPT with wide-ranging economic and social impact

18
Q

How do machines become systems?

A

Machines initially power industrialisation; large technological systems (LTS) later connect machines over large areas; proliferate to provide basic services: heating, lighting, communication, transportation, etc.

19
Q

Differentiate the main characteristics of systems as a form of technology

A

large geographical size, complex organization (multiple types of components), “sociotechnological” (social components outweigh material ones)

20
Q

Give a detailed historical example of a system as a form of technology

A
Railroad network (transportation)
-railroads combined material components(rails, stations, locomotives); institutional changes(mode of transport); and practices(time tables and time zones)
21
Q

Explain the technological form of an ideal-type industrial system-based society

A

Machines to systems

-machines initially power industrialization, later connected by large technological systems

22
Q

Explain the energy and power of an ideal-type industrial system-based society

A

Mineral energy regime
-reliance on fossil fuels and hydrocarbons as dense energy stores
Machines replace human and animal muscle power

23
Q

Explain the economy of an ideal-type industrial system-based society

A

first time in human history in continuous economic growth (that was not constrained by natural resources or population pressure)
Increasing priority of science-based innovation as the driver of economic growth
Advances in public health, food production, and living standards allowed escape from the “Malthusian trap” and facilitated historic population growth

24
Q

Explain the social organization of an ideal-type industrial system-based society

A
Societies organized around manufacturing and industry as sources of wealth, power, and status; emergence of industrial capitalism; class system 
Mass society - industrialization coincides with major democratic revolutions
25
Q

Explain the environment of an ideal-type industrial system-based society

A

Built environment increasingly displaced physical “nature” as a “second nature”
Urban environments proliferate to provide large scale factory workforce
Production of artificial environments
New places and spaces
Transportation
Communication

26
Q

Explain the human values of an ideal-type industrial system-based society

A

Human values derive increasingly from science-based technology
Technological values predominate: efficiency, predictability, control, etc

27
Q

What is an LTS & 3 characteristics

A

A related set of components connected by a network

  1. Geographically large
  2. Complex composition
  3. Socio-technological