Technology Determinism

Distracted youth

Technology Determinism refers to the state where media technology has shaped how society thinks, feels, acts and operates as we live throughout the development of technology.

According to uky.edu, technological determinism is a belief that we do what we do because of the messages and stimulation we receive from different forms of media.

Technological determinism usually referst to the present, projected on to the future, as expressed in claims that ‘we have no choice but to adopt this technology’ – A. Murphie and J. Potts 2002

Marshall McLuhan explains that all technologies are extensions of human capacities. Tools are extensions of manual skills and computer is an extension fo our brain. For Marshall, culture media is significant not because of it’s content, but how it manages to shape people’s perception.

If so, Has television and cinema become our third/second parent? Or even the first? Because probably most modern family will have their child in front of television when they are 2 years old. Do you agree with the theory of technological determinism?

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