Technology: The Emergence Of A Hazardous Concept

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Technology: A New Word
Benjamin Franklin once declined a lucrative patient for his stove because he believed that an invention’s worth is based on its contribution to society. From the beginning of time, humans have created new inventions and procedures. In his essay, “Technology: The Emergence of a Hazardous Concept”, the MIT professor Leo Marx argues that “the generality of the word [technology] also made it peculiarly susceptible to reification” (576). He uses the etymology of the word technology to support his claim. The word technology was used to give a name to an ambiguous concept since there was no other alternative available.
The word technology causes people to think about inventions such as the telephone, the television, and the car. However, technology is much more than that. Technology includes the procedures that help to create the car, such as the assembly line for mass production that was created by Henry Ford. Before the modern usage of technology, it had originally just meant the study of tech. Concerning the invention of the car, before technology had gotten its current meaning, the technology aspect would have involved only the car …show more content…
Whereas the term mechanic (or industrial or practical) arts calls to mind men with soiled hands tinkering at workbenches, technology conjures clean, well-educated, white male technicians in control booths watching dials, instrument panels, or computer monitors. Whereas the mechanic arts belong to the mundane world of work, physically, and practically- of humdrum handicrafts and artisanal skills- technology belongs on the higher social and intellectual plane of book learning, scientific research, and the university.

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