Unit 4 - Culture

Lecture

In the lecture on conceptualization, I discussed how science and technology are both concepts. These words are terms we use to describe mental images of something that exists only in the abstract. I defined science as a human activity; a method for trying to reduce human bias as we seek to understand the world we live in. In this lecture I’m going to write about how science and technology are part of human culture. Seeing them in this way gives us another tool for understanding them in a social context.

“Culture” is a concept that sociologists, and anthropologists, use to describe an aspect of human social life. Culture, for our purposes, refers to all of the products of human activity. Some of these products are things like books, baskets, plows, buildings, computers, and arrowheads. Others are non-material entities such as laws, customs, belief systems, and ways of understanding the world. Traffic laws are part of culture. So is Santa Claus, Catholicism, voting for the president, and Scientology. As you can see, the sociological/anthropological definition (or conceptualization) of culture differs from that used in everyday life. While opera, fine art, and ballet are certainly part of culture in the sociological sense, the term covers many more human activities. Culture is important to sociologists because it permeates and influences much of our lives. It influences how and what we eat, how we speak, how we behave toward other people, what we think about, and, perhaps most importantly, what we believe and value.This is an example of why we need to be clear about concepts. If I use the word “culture” and you think opera & ballet while I’m thinking norms, values, use of microwaves, and McDonalds, we will not communicate very well.

Culture is important to sociologists because it permeates and influences much of our lives. It influences how and what we eat, how we speak, how we behave toward other people, what we think about, and, perhaps most importantly, what we believe and value.

Weddings are a great example of culture. All of the material (white dresses, rings, flowers) and non-material elements (vows, rehearsal dinners, best men, bridesmaids) are examples of culture and of how culture influences what we do.

Both science and technology are a part of culture. They are products of human activity. Science is a non-material product of human activity, a way of knowing about the world. The sociological conceptualization of “technology” includes both material and non-material products of human activity.

Our religion (a part of culture) our political beliefs (a part of culture) and the work we do (a part of culture) shape a great deal of our lives and how we act as a society. Understanding science and technology as part of culture helps us to make the links with other parts of society necessary to place them in a social context. Both science and technology are a part of culture. They are products of human activity. Science is a non-material product of human activity, a way of knowing about the world. The sociological conceptualization of “technology” includes both material and non-material products of human activity. A spear is a technology. Knowing how to use a spear is also a technology. Most of us might be able to handle a spear but would lack the cultural knowledge to participate in a tournament.

A computer is a technology. Knowing how to use it is also a technology. It is not enough to own a computer; you also have to learn how to use it. Computers have become an essential part of our culture in the last ten years. As you can see from this definition, science is in some ways a form of technology – a methodology for understanding the world. We tend most often to think of technology as a product of science rather than science as a technology. But both are actually true from a sociological perspective. While non-material “ways-of-knowing” or methodologies produce material products as well as new ways of knowing, they are also products of human activity and therefore part of technology. And, more importantly, not all technologies are a result of scientific activity.

We tend most often to think of technology as a product of science rather than science as a technology. But both are actually true from a sociological perspective. While non-material “ways-of-knowing” or methodologies produce material products as well as new ways of knowing, they are also products of human activity and therefore part of technology. And, more importantly, not all technologies are a result of scientific activity. In fact, technology is far, far older than science as a part of human culture. The earliest humans are often distinguished from other animals by the material technologies they produced. Their tools of stone or bone have become artifacts now but to early humans they were the products of their activity. Their culture consisted of the tools they made, their knowledge of how to use them, the values and beliefs they had about how to use their tools, and the behaviors associated with tool use.

We have no way to know for sure about the non-material aspects of their cultures. What we know must be inferred by the material remnants. If people were buried with stone axes or baskets of food, we infer that those items were valued but could be spared by the living. That tells us something about their culture.

At every stage of history people have had technologies. Much of our knowledge was developed long before the establishment of the scientific method. People knew how to domesticate animals, build pyramids, and sail around the world long before science became the dominant way of knowing in Western culture. The folks who figured out how to do these kinds of activities probably used some elements of the scientific method as they developed technologies but not science itself. That didn’t come along, as a recognized part of culture until about 500 So, while science and technology certainly interact in our own culture they are far from essential partners. Technology has existed as long as humans have been human and is a crucial component in every human culture. Science, on the other hand, is a much more recent addition to modern culture. years ago – depending on how you want to define it.So, while science and technology certainly interact in our own culture they are far from essential partners. Technology has existed as long as humans have been human and is a crucial component in every human culture. Science, on the other hand, is a much more recent addition to modern culture. People got along without science for many thousands of years as they developed various forms of technologies. Science, is only one way of knowing about the world. It happens to be our preferred way of knowing and has come to be a dominant world view in our culture. But let’s keep it in its proper social context – a form of technology developed in the modern Western world.