Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology

These are disciplines such as sociology and psychology that examine societies and social relationships. They have their origins in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when French intellectuals at the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris attempted to apply scientific methods used in the natural sciences to study society and human behavior. The thinking was (1) that such methods could indeed be applied to these fields and (2) that principles could be derived by which to organize society for the best. Postman disputes these assumptions, arguing in particular that the methods used in the natural sciences are not applicable to the social sciences. Specifically, no theory of social science is verifiable—that is, it cannot be definitively proved false—and the ability to do so is a defining characteristic of science. 

Techniques are any system of “procedures and rules designed to standardize behavior” (141). Postman includes techniques in his definition of technology despite their not being a kind of machine or electronic component, which is often conjured up by the word “technology.” This broader definition includes methods of controlling information and directing human behavior, which are not harmful in and of themselves unless they become autonomous. Among the examples he discusses are statistics, polling, and business management. 

A technocracy is a culture that represents the second stage in a society’s use of technology. In such a culture, technological tools play a more prominent role as technology competes with the traditional culture in an attempt to take it over. As a result, “tradition, social mores, myth, politics, ritual, and religion have to fight for their lives” (28). These older aspects of culture can still coexist with technology, as they did in the United States in the 19th century, but the source of moral and intellectual values becomes separated, with the traditional cultural aspects retaining the former and technology taking over the latter. An example of this is the telescope proving that the sun is the center of the universe. When everyone believed that the earth was the center, intellectual and moral values came from the same source (religion). It was taken as both fact and proof of man’s favor by God. After the sun was discovered to be the center, facts became the realm of science while moral beliefs were still controlled by religion. 

This refers to having a sense of the bigger picture in which technology plays a role in society. On the other hand, those with “technological immodesty” see no limitations or drawbacks to technology. They allow it free rein and often view it as essential, forgetting that humans have accomplished great things without it—and still can. Such immodesty is common in a Technopoly.

According to the author, Technopoly is a culture that represents the third stage in how a society uses technology. At this stage, technology has become the culture, consuming all other aspects that preceded it. Its characteristics include an uncritical acceptance of technology, the idea that technology will do all thinking for humans, a state of information overload in which information can no longer be controlled, and a lack of moral guidance regarding information. It defeats and replaces other possible thought worlds by trivializing them to the extent that they become irrelevant. The only goal of a Technopoly is to further itself and continue the development of technology. As Postman writes, “Technopoly, in other words, is totalitarian technocracy” (48).