Welcome to ST 112 Science, Technology, and Society

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ST112 Science, Technology and Society

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• http//www.colby.edu/sts
• http//www.colby.edu/sts/st112_2010
• What is STS?
• Defining Science and Technology

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Science, Technology and Society (STS)

• The intellectual roots of STS lie in the history,
  philosophy, and social study of science and
  technology, an arena where often-controversial
  issues and choices interface with values and
  influence public policy. STS prepares students to
  understand both the technical and social
  dimensions of science and technology, helps them
  become more thoughtful and better-informed
  citizens of our high-tech society, and develops
  their critical interdisciplinary thinking,
  research, and communication skills. Students
  flourish intellectually in an environment where
  critical questioning is encouraged and
  opportunities for research are abundant.  The STS
  program maintains a full slate of guest speakers,
  often co-sponsored by other departments, for the
  benefit of students and the larger community. 

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On a personal level, STS is

• Interdisciplinary education for life.
• Relevant to every field of study.
• A great major or double major or the minor for
  all majors.
• A way to improve your writing and communications
  skills, problem-solving abilities, and ability to
  adapt to changes in science and technology.
• Attractive to potential employers.
• Needed at all levels, in education, government,
  the private sector, and internationally.

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STS is

• Interdisciplinary study of the interaction of
  science and technology with society and culture.
• The realization that discoveries and inventions
  are shaped by historical forces and in turn
  influence values, aspirations, events, and
  institutions, thus shaping the course of history.
• S and T in social and cultural context.
• Both academic and activist.

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ACADEMIC STS

• Scholarly Study of Science and Technology.
• History, Philosophy, Sociology of S T.
• Interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary.
• Perennial and structural problems of history,
  philosophy, and human nature.
• Science dynamics
• Technological dynamics
• Informs activist STS issues.

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ACTIVIST STS

• Gets involved in current issues.
• Covers a broad social spectrum (not just
  academic).
• Builds coalitions
• 1. Awareness of a problem
• 2. Need to take responsibility
• 3. Draw on external expertise
• 4. Make decisions and take actions
• (demonstrate, litigate, educate, legislate,
  etc.).
• Strengths relevance, empowerment, democratic.
• Weaknesses ad hoc, emotional, NIMBY.
• Examples nuclear power, toxic wastes, health
  care, climate change action.

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The Two Cultures
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What does it mean to be human?Two Possibilities

• Homo sapiens sapiens
• Primates who think (a lot)
• Contemplative
• Homo farber
• Primates who make things
• Manipulative

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Science is. . .

• Natural knowledge
• Natural philosophy
• Natural history
• Systematic inquiry into nature
• A human cultural activity
• A total societal enterprise
• With vast social consequences
• Organized, well-founded knowledge of nature and
  human nature
• A sophisticated intellectual version of
  Esperanto or the universal language that the
  heroes of the scientific revolution imagined as
  an instrument of global communication
• The cutting edge of ignorance

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How do we define science?

• CONTENT Body of organized knowledge about nature
  From Latin scientia - knowledge
• METHOD Of obtaining that knowledge, experiment,
  observation, hypothesis, theory, law
• ATTITUDE Organized and systematic skepticism
• GOALS Explanation, understanding, prediction,
  control
• LANGUAGE Mathematics and technical vocabulary
• TOOLS Uses Instruments and technologies
• COMMUNITY Discipline, education, credentials,
  careers, patrons, societies, turf
• PROCESS Organized, but very diverse activity
  shaped by social forces and historical change

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In general

• Science is an organized, hierarchical activity
  that investigates nature and human nature by
  experiment and observation.
• Its goals are explanation, understanding,
  prediction, and control.
• It tests its theories by logical, mathematical,
  and technological means.
• Science is shaped by social forces and historical
  change.
• While seeking objectivity, science also shapes
  culture.

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Stereotypes
Newton, John Hershel, Darwin
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Stereotypes
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Technology

• a. Artifacts or Hardware. Products fabricated by
  humans to meet specific needs. Tools, machines,
  implements.
• b. Knowledge and Methods. A system of tacit and
  explicit knowledge, techniques, and materials
  utilized in using, making, or repairing a certain
  kind of artifact.
• c. A human cultural activity or profession. e.g.
  military or civil engineers, crafters,
  machinists.
• d. A total societal enterprise. e.g. American
  technological know-how. RD, invention,
  patronage, mass production and mass consumption.

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What is Technology?

• A discourse or treatise on an art or arts
• The scientific study of the practical or
  industrial arts.
• Techne (art, craft, skill), Logos (word).
• Some other attempts at definitions
• A system based on the application of knowledge,
  manifested in physical objects and organizational
  forms, for the attainment of specific goals
  Volti
• Cumulative sum of means used to satisfy human
  needs and desires and to solve specific problems
  Markert
• The sum total of systems of machines and
  techniques that underlie a civilization Nye
• Not merely a system of machines with certain
  functions, but an expression of a social world
  Nye
• The production of superfluities today as in the
  Paleolithic age Ortega y Gasset
• The seeping false-hearted death DeLillo

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Technologies of the PastTECHNOSPHERES
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AssignmentBe ready to discuss Technology
Matters chapters 1-3.Can we define
Technology?Does Technology control us?Is
Technology predictable?Hand in Think Piece 1