e-portfolio for Branden Kim (Hyunsoo Kim)

ROUGH DRAFT OF PAPER ONE

Technology has advanced throughout the years, and there is not a single doubt that technology has crucial effects in our society. Even as we are typing our assignments, at least several different forms of technology are taking in place. Whether it be a laptop, a desktop, a keyboard, or even a computer mouse, a form of modern advancement is being utilized. The question that matters is if humans follow the concept of technological determinism. Technological determinism generalizes that people are affected so heavily by technology that technology itself works as an uncontrollable force. This force governs the lives of humans and “determines” how the society will function. Such concept was first introduced by Ralph Waldo Emerson in his excerpt from Ode, Inscribed to William H. Channing (1846) David E. Nye however, refutes Emerson's idea in his essay “Does Technology Control Us”.

“Things are in the saddle/ And ride mankind.” These two lines from Ralph Waldo Emerson's work support his concept of technological determinism. “Things are in the saddle” in this short excerpt symbolizes “technology” and we people “ride” in it without much choices in our hand. Emerson wrote this relating to a period of slavery where different forms of technology were being introduced. Slavery work force was necessary in mass producing items such as cottons and clothes and even building of railroads as it is stated “ 'Tis the day of the chattel/ Web to weave, and corn to grind.” In this time where new forms of machinery are emerging, people take advantage of whatever is available to them. Their lives are controlled and are functioned according to the the new technological advancements and this can be seen in Emerson's texts, “But it runs wild/ And doth the man unking.” The man has lost his power over technology that his life “runs wild.”

David E. Nye strongly disagrees with Ralph Waldo Emerson's idea of technological determinism as he states, “This is nonsense. No technology is, has been, or will be a natural force.” (Nye, 19) He gives several reasons supporting his cause. Japanese has adopted guns since 1543 from the Portuguese and even used them in their successful battles such as Nagoshino. (Nye, 17) In the times where swords and heavy armors were starting to become abandoned, the Japanese instead returned to their old custom of swords, bows, and arrows. The Japanese had choices whether to adapt the usage of guns or not. They chose not to and did quiet well until Commodore Perry threatened their security. This outside forced led the Japanese to keep up with the world powers by adapting to the usages of guns again. (Nye, 18) It was not the technology that led to this change, but a social problem brought by the outsiders. Mennonites and the Amish people in the United States, reject today's common knowledge of technology. (Nye, 18) Nonetheless their numbers are growing and this proves that technology is not vital but recommended. David E. Nye states, “Communities can make self-conscious technological choices and can resist even very powerful technologies.”

People may argue that technologies such as televisions have overwhelming effects in our societies. They can state that televisions helped to change the negative views upon the African American society into a more positive one and gave more rights to women. (Nye, 19) Nevertheless, many historians believe in the idea as stated by Nye, “new technologies are shaped by social conditions, prices, traditions popular attitudes, interest groups, class differences, and government policy.” (Nye, 19) Furthermore, David E. Nye gives an example where televisions do not have much of an impact in China and Arab nations. The two nations definitely have televisions but their society is not as opened or free compared to the United States. Nye states, “In United States television is secular, not religious' private, not public' funded by advertising, not taxation; and a conduit primarily of entertainment, not education.” (19)

David E. Nye gave a more definite and obvious example that technological determinism does not exist by bringing up the usage of wheels in North Africa. In many areas around the world, wheels are definitely beneficial when transporting goods from one place to another. In North Africa, however, it was not the same case. Camels took over the role of the wheels since they were cheaper and easier to be maintained. (Nye, 20) Again, it was not the technology or the invention that influenced the people in North Africa, but the physical environment which led them to make the decision they did. (Nye, 20) Fernand Braudel supports Nye by stating in his Capitalism and Material Life, “Technology is only an instrument and man does not always know how to use it.”

Since industrial revolution, technology has been advancing at a drastic rate, and many argue that it has brought negative consequences among us. Advancements in technology widened the gaps between the social classes and brought pollution. (Nye, 23) Factory owners mistreated their workers and later on replaced them with machines. However, according to David E. Nye, it is not the technology that caused all this, but the people's self-interest and greed. (Nye, 23) Also according to Nye, machines are neutral and the negative consequences are brought by the people who misuse it. (Nye, 22)

Werner Sombart in his Technik and Kultur supported Nye's idea that cultures are more influential than technologies in general events. (Nye, 25) He gave an example of how Ancient Rome declined due to the failure in cultural and political ways and not from lacking in technology. William Ogburn also added that women's suffrage was the result of “converging forces and influences,.. mass production, urbanization, birth control, the adoption of the typewriter, improved education, and the theory of natural rights” and not mechanical inventions.

Outside forces can be definitely influential in determining people's lives, and technology is one of them. Fortunately, we have the ability to make choices whether to adapt to the modern technology or not. I sure do agree that technology takes a role in certain decisions, but not fully. As David E. Nye states that technology is shaped by society, I also believe that cultures affect the community more than the machines. Humans will have control over their technological creations since we are the ones that created such technology.

Works Cited

Nye, 17

Nye, 18

Nye, 19

Nye, 20

Nye, 22

Nye, 23

Nye, 25

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. “Ode, Inscribed to William H. Channing.” (1846) Early Poems of Ralph Waldo Emerson. New York, Boston, Thomas Y. Crowell & Company, 1899

Nye, David E. “Technology Matters: Questions to Live With.” Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2007

Rough Draft For Paper 3

“Ultimately, the world’s carrying capacity is not a scientific fact but a social

construction.”

In recent history, the topic of overpopulation gained attention. Overpopulation, as many believed, will bring crisis such as starvation and spreading of diseases throughout the world. There would not be enough source of food for everyone and whether or not the person may live or die depends on the concept of the survival of the fittest. However, as Nye states, “Ultimately, the world’s carrying capacity is not a scientific fact but a social construction,” he asserts that the world’s ultimate capacity of people animals, plants, and the whole population in general depends on the way our society is constructed and not on any previously set scientific values. Like Nye, I concur with the idea that social construction affects the world’s carrying capacity economically and culturally.

David E. Nye uses Daniel Defoe’s classic “Robinson Cruesoe” (1719) as an
example to solidify his view on the ecological crisis. Robinson Cruesoe is a seaman who was stranded on a deserted island off the coast of South America for over 26 years. In a location with zero human population other than Cruesoe himself, he managed to build fortified shleters, catch fish, tame goats, weave baskets, make pottery, and even farm. His means of survival depended upon using his knowledge to obtain the necessities from his surroundings. Nye makes a point that Cruesoe did not become superior because he had metal tools and weapons. He also brings up that Cruesoe did not build tables, chairs, or any of the furniture although he had the knowledge to due to the reason that those items were not necessary for the means of survival. It is not the science itself but together with social construction that will affect the world’s carrying capacity.

It can be clearly stated from our common sense of knowledge that total
population had risen dramatically throughout the last century. As the number of people increased throughout the last century, the advancements in technology had also been taking place, which led to the changes in the ways people lived and utilized the nature around us. “Landscapes are part of the infrastructure of existence, and they are inseparable from the technologies that people have used to shape land and to shape their vision,” stated Nye. (Nye, 89) In this quote, Nye is trying to state that technologies and landscapes go together. The more changes in landscapes, there are usually more technological advancements. For example, Japan’s increasing population has become a concern for the Japanese government. For this reason, the Japanese has been building high-rises, but the problem with this was that Japan is frequently hit with earthquakes. Therefore they utilized the technology of high-rises being able to withstand earthquakes in order to maximize the space for their overpopulation. Japan’s population has reached to about 128 million by 2009. If the number 128 million occurred at the time around 200 years ago, without a doubt there will be catastrophic events such as mass starvation and deaths caused by diseases which results from unsanitary conditions. Nonetheless,technology and the ways of our social construction has changed the ill-fate.

People once thought that the world population would never stop increasing
until food would run out for people to suffer from starvation. They believed that all of our natural resources are going to be used up so there would not be any substitues for our necessary energy. It turned out to be false however, since technologies have changed people’s social conditions and lives. People started having lesser number of babies because the average life expectancy sore up due to better medicine and surplus of food. It was not the matter of survival anymore but the matter of commodity. I agree with Nye’s idea that social construction affects the world’s carrying capacity since the world has become more liberal than religious from the past and this also took account in producing less children in the family.

Many of certain natural resources are running out, but our societies are working to produce different ways of energy efficient technologies. We always have alternative plans when things start to go in a negative way. Technology is reasonable for this, and as long as our societies are ready to adapt to new changes and prepare for the better future,our world’s population seems bearable. I agree with Nye that there is no set limit to the world’s carrying capacity.

Rough Draft for Paper #4

Branden Kim

WR 100 FH

Professor Deese

“The end of the Earth.” This disturbing concept was introduced and drilled into the minds of the people, ever since humans began to make predictions of our dear future. Fortunately for us, the past “doomsdays” proved to be nothing more than a hoax, idea without scientific explanations to back itself up. However, what if there was actually a core foundation of datas that would support the near future extinction of the planet? Would there be hope and enough time left for turning around the ill-fate of ours? As profound intellectuals David E. Nye, Caroline Merchant, and Rachel Carson make bets on the future 2064 from The Lunar Sands Casino, they each support their own analysis with reputable logic. David E. Nye, while gazing at the slowly rising earth, he sees an optimistic future of Earth that depends on the advancements in technology. Caroline Merchant on the other hand, forecasts a far more drastic future where, unless the human population drops their individualistic and capitalistic ways of living, the world would die out eventually. Rachel Carson predicts the future where the Earth would only survive if we change our negative uses on our technology. I bet on Rachel Carson’s theory that the year 2064 will support life in such conditions that people work together to reduce technological problems and find alternative plans that would reduce pollutions.

Being a technological liberal himself, Davie E. Nye believed in the idea of humanity’s ability to advance in technology. “Although social classes persist, they argue, the life of the average person continues to improve,” stated Nye. (Nye, 88) According to Nye, it would be almost impossible to avoid every little problem only with the improvement in technology. However, technology’s positive outcome eventually overshadows those problems. “…Advances in technology bring greater efficiency and prosperity for all in the form of higher wages, less expensive goods, better transportation, and shorter working hours.” (Nye, 88) This statement proves to be to some extent true as innovative machines made work production faster and more efficient. Factory manufactured items were listed in the markets for more affordable prices than ever before, and this made it possible for the lives of middle classes to improve. Different forms of communication have emerged as the world connected itself through internet and media. Technology at this point may seem as the world’s savior from catastrophic events such as mass starvation and inability to preventing various diseases. Recently however, people began to realize that it was only too good to be true as our uses of technology backfired against us. Nye stated on page 89 in his Technology Matters, “Technologies also affect the air, which carries traces of smoke, microscopic particles, pollen, carbon monoxide, and the dust raised by travel.” This is where the problems for our future kick in. Artificially creating products have increased the levels of pollution which the world at this point could not withstand any further. Some believe that there is a carrying capacity to which our earth can support, and once people go over that capacity, disaster awaits us. Nye nonetheless stays positive in his idea that advancements in technology can withstand any kind of negative circumstances.

Caroline Merchant in contrast, believes that technological advancements has been and will be backfiring against us, as it would be too late for the Earth to recover from detrimental effects from technology. The world would reach a point where knowledge cannot help recover the original status of the planet. “Although many changes leading to a healthier, sustainable biosphere seem to be occurring, the forces that encourage the current patterns of global resource depletion and pollution are very strong,” stated Merchant in her Ecological Revolutions. (Merchant, 270) According to Merchant, technology may only briefly fix conditions such as reducing the world starvation by providing food at a very affordable cost. By preventing the decrease in the population and disturbing the natural balance of survival, crisis such as overpopulation will occur. By conserving natural resources and producing goods naturally, ecological calamities can be prevented. As problems such as global warming threaten the near future of the planet, Caroline Merchant advocates for cutting down less trees and restoring the status as it was many centuries ago. “By studying and mimicking natural patterns, the wisdom inherent in evolution can be re-created. Rather than taking nature apart and simplifying ecosystems, as the past three centuries of mechanistic science have taught us to do supremely well, restorationists are actively putting it back together,” asserted Merchant. (Merchant, 268) The future of the planet remains uncertain to Merchant unless people share a common goal to save the environment and reduce their personal gratification in today’s world of capitalism and growing technology.

The world of capitalism and growing technology will affect the landscapes of the Earth. Nye stated on page 89 of his Technology Matters, “Landscapes are part of the infrastructure of existence, and they are inseparable from the technologies that people have used to shape land and to shape their vision.” (Nye, 89) Building of dams, cutting down trees, and making roads are examples of changes in the landscapes. The roads that we built however, according to the renowned environmentalist, Rachel Carson, lead to two very contradicting futures. Rachel Carson stated, “The road we have long been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth superhighway on which we progress with great speed, but at its end lies disaster. The other fork of the road – the one less traveled by – offers our last, our only chance to reach a destination that assures the preservation of our earth.” (Carson, 277) For now at least, Carson has a firm belief that the Earth is leaning toward a gloomier fate than a brighter one. Pollution is without a doubt has been taking place at a very rapid rate for the past three centuries, but she has hope in the human population as she stated that the choice of which road to take, in spite of everything, was in our hands. (Carson, 277) Rachel Carson understands the importance and the inseparableness of technology in our society. She believes that the world could become a better place with correct uses of technology, but people will have to take actions rather quickly in order to save the Earth. "The advantages of such control over chemicals are obvious: it is relatively inexpensive, it is permanent, it leaves no poisonous residues. Yet biological control has suffered from lack of support." (Carson, 292) And since we are already too accustomed to such commodities and lack of care for the Earth, chemicals such as DDT are still used in today’s world. Like Caroline Merchant, Carson brings up how actions we take against the state of nature can strike us back. "As crude a weapon as the cave man's club, the chemical barrage has been hurled against the fabric of life - a fabric on the one hand delicate and destructible, on the other miraculously tough and resilient, and capable of striking back in unexpected ways," wrote Carson in her novel, Silent Spring. (Carson, 297) According to her, we will need to use technology in order to change the situation around, but an effectively clean and environmentally sounding ways are to be utilized.

While fixing my eyes on the Earth as it slowly rises to my view from The Lunar Sands Casino, I make my bet against perhaps the three most eminent thinkers of the area. Unlike Nye, I do not believe that just by means of technology, our future can continue to exist. In my opinion, the world has become already too liberal and capitalistic for people to work together. The population has grown so rapidly throughout the last centuries that, changing the ways of lives of billions of individuals seems almost impractical. As to Caroline Merchant’s point of view, I disagree with the fanatical idea that restoration to the ancient ways will brighten our future, since I do not believe that people are ready for such a change when the world already became to technological and complicated for human population to just give up everything. I agree with Rachel Carson’s view to some extent that future lies in the hands of the people and life always provides hope. I also concur with her ideology that technology is necessary for our survival, but only environmental-friendly can save our dear future. However, I believe that it would be inevitable to use harmful technologies at some instances in order to reach some of our goals. Unlike Carson, I believe that using only the most “friendly” technological advancements would not be as effective. The world is not predictable, as never in history was a person able to envisage the future. I may lose the bet against David E. Nye, Caroline Merchant, and Rachel Carson fifty years from now. Nonetheless, whatever the result may be, I aspire for a better future that would still promise an optimistic outlook in the upcoming human population.