Murphy, A., & Potts, J. (2002), Culture and Technology. Palgrave MacMillan. — Introduction and Ch.1 on ‘Theoretical Frameworks’

On page 27 the author makes an interesting point regarding the neutrality of technologies, using guns as an example. He argues that the “gun creates the precondition for extreme harm”, and thus refutes the “claim that the technology is in itself neutral” – even though the gun proved to be a vital means of survival for many people throughout the past century and has played a pivotal role in history, both good and bad depending on one’s perspective. Perhaps when arguing about the effect the presence of a gun in an otherwise non-fatal fight, guns are not a neutral tool: in this situation, the goal of the gun’s presence is to cause harm, but that is not a fault of the technology as a whole. Regulation is important because in modern times the gun has proven to be increasingly used in such situations, but casting the blame on technology is going a step too far. This mentality has become dangerous in issues like the so-called “dark web”, which like a gun is merely a tool – yet simply because it has become frequently used to facilitate a number of illegal activities, the blame has been thrown onto the technology, and by extension, many other forms of secure, private communications.