Two months ago my uncle lost his job due to slow business, last month a friend of mine lost his job as well as his coworkers because their company went bankrupt. Who is next? While many people in today’s society may blame the government and housing market for the downward spiraling economy, there may, perhaps, be another reason for the massive loss of jobs.
For several years, Neil Postman (1931-2003), an author and educator, has been discussing communication theories in their relation to media and technology (NeilPostman.org). He has probed deep into the term “luddite,” which Dictionary.com defines as “a member of any of various bands of workers in England (1811–16) organized to destroy manufacturing machinery, under the belief that its use diminished employment,” or “one who opposes technical or technological change,” (2009). While, the educator does not consider himself as a Luddite because he does not think maliciously of new technologies, he does, however, admit to his indifference to them, (Postman, 1993).
Postman’s concern was that computers (technology) took away jobs. Although he makes it clear that machines could never replace humans completely because we “have a unique, biologically rooted, intangible mental life which in some limited respects can be simulated by a machine but can never be duplicated,” (Postman, 1992, p.112). Humans are needed in this world because we think and feel on our own. Throughout Technopoly, the critic continues to discuss the importance of recognizing what work can be done without the use of a computer as well as what one could loose in using the computer as a “short cut” or tool for efficiency, (Postman, 1993, p.120).
The critic also claimed that the computer has not been an advantage to many workers in the world such as “steelworkers, vegetable store owners, teachers, garage mechanics, musicians, bricklayers, and dentists,” (1992, p.10). In order to prove/disprove Postman’s claim about the computer not being an advantage, I conducted a small study on the aforementioned occupations.
My father-in-law has worked as a steelworker for many years and has seen technology change his job in many ways. Several years ago he had to manually bend steel with tools and make manual cuts with different saws (Sargent, 2009). It was a very laborious task. Now, he can input the angles and measurements into a computer and the machine cuts it to the requested size. He can also view each piece of steel in a three-dimensional figure on the computer as well as take each computerized piece to build the end project in their database. This is then used to show customer’s drawings to scale as well as help the other steelworkers know the exact dimensions and plan of the job. He said the computers save several hours of work and enable their team to get more done in a given day. In contacting various employees from the above said list of jobs, here are my findings on their usage and advantageousness.
Computer use for...
~ Vegetable store owners: source vegetables from local farms to overseas farms, keep an eye on competition, allows for online ordering, and electronic scale calculates pounds into dollars.
~ Teachers: for research on new methods of teaching, helps teacher stay current with technology to better relate to students, and tool to teach students.
~ Garage mechanics: source a broader scale of suppliers, collect information on competitors and pricing, place orders, electronic jacks and fluid level readers, more efficient equipment to keep up with latest vehicle technology, and research/education.
~ Musicians: unlimited access to songs, source music stores, access to variety of equipment sources, and research venues to play at.
~ Bricklayers: size a job, create three-dimensional designs, source supplies, and solicit help.
~ Dentists: high tech x-rays that immediately transfer to computer file, keep track of customer
records/information, stay up on trends, and laser whitening.
To conclude, in analyzing the computer usage from the above list of jobs, it is evident that technology is advantageous in methods of research and organization as well for some specialized “short cuts.” While the computer does eliminate some of the time it takes to complete certain tasks, it also eliminates the need for more workers. That is, with exception of the emerging computer programming and electronics industries. Technology may help “efficiency, interest and economic advance” (Postman, 1993, p.179) but “working smarter and not harder” may not be worth the heartache of having those close to you jobless. What technology would you sacrifice to ensure everyone in this nation had a job and could provide for his or her family?
Dictionary.com. (2009). Random house dictionary: Luddite. Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/luddite on February 20, 2009.
Hi Lindsey,
ReplyDeleteThank you for focusing your reflection on employment when you ask,
What technology would you sacrifice to ensure everyone in this nation had a job and could provide for his or her family? Such a focus is timely considering economic challenges. Postman (1990; 1992; 1998) reminds us that technology gives and takes in a Faustian bargain sort of way (i.e. technological benefits always cost culture something special). One flip side I consider is that innovation (ideally) can lead to other ideas for jobs.
Still, if Technopoly (Postman, 1992) does reduce job availability, then it is because it reduces other ideologies that may bolster human identity or worth over technology. This is one reason I am grateful to believe God created me in his image; I find such a view of God elevates my view of others as valuable and not reduced to users, consumers, or organic entities responding to impulses and needs. I find the latter view negative because it reduces social interaction to transaction-based at best where people are viewed as a part of the economic equation of cost and benefit.
As a small business owner, I know the challenges of earning an income, especially in a state that taxes on gross, and not net, revenue. I attended a business conference last year that promoted the merit of creating a brand based on the business owner’s authentic self. That is, I should design my brand based on my view of myself and what is important to me. Initially I liked this concept because I found empowering in a consumer culture where I had been taken advantage of on occasion. The speaker wanted business owners to be more genuine. However, I've also wondered if this means I must "sell myself" by reducing my "self" to a brand. This concept does not sit well with me especially considering a consumer culture tends to use, rather than value.
If the technology-culture direction of influence flows both ways (Thurlow, Lengel, & Tomic, 2004), then people are responsible for technology and its impact on culture just as technology shapes how a culture lives. Technology's impact on employment, then, is an ethical concern worth considering.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, and I send my regards to you and your family for better times ahead. Also, thank you for your persistence to blog, and please consider continuing your blog through your studies as I enjoy learning from you. I know of other blog hosting sites that may have tools that are more friendly and easier to use. You can find a list at
http://mashable.com/2007/08/06/free-blog-hosts/
Best,
Dena
I find this passage affirming and assuring:
Psa 139:1-18
O Lord , you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord , you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.
Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night," even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.
For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them.
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.