Tags: #term #research
Author: & Nicholas Carr
Reference: { The Shallows - What the Internet is doing to our brains
page: 46

Determinism

• Technological progress, which is seen as an autonomous force outside man's control, has been the primary factor influencing the course of human history

Instrumentalism

• Downplay the power of technology, believing tools to be neutral artifacts, entirely subservient to the conscious wishes of their users
• Our instruments are the means we use to achieve our ends; they have no ends of their own

Progress has its own logic, which is not always consistent with the intentions or wishes of the toolmakers and tool users.

• Sometimes our tools do what we tell them to do. Other times, we adapt ourselves to our tools' requirements