Critically analyse two of the theories that seek to explain the Essay

Critically analyse two of the theories that seek to explain the relationship between people and technology - Essay Example According to the determinists, human beings are directed by the technology, and cannot decide on how the technology will be used. In other words, the society is influenced by the technology. Another important perspective is sustantivism which suggests that human beings are enframed by technology. Human beings also lose their will if they become attached to the technological systems. This perspective shapes different institutions including the political systems, culture and social structure. The perspective further holds that technology has its own independent values, which human beings cannot be able to change. This paper examines the social construction of technology and actor network theory. According to Gad and Jensen (2009), this theory rejects the determinists’ perspectives that the society is influenced by the technology. The concepts of this theory are well described in an article titled, the social construction of technology: structural considerations. The writers of this article, Klein and Kleinman (2002) observe that the first component of the SCOT theory is interpretive flexibility. According to Klein and Kleinman (2002), this concept is borrowed from the empirical program of relativism and suggests that artifacts are products of intergroup negotiations. The second component is the relevant social group concept. According to this component, social groups share same values and characteristics. In this regard, different social groups can differ on how a particular technology works, but in the end they come into a consensus. The third component of this theory is closure and stabilization. According to this component, multi-group processes occur until a cons ensus is reached, and stabilization is facilitated by the rhetorical closure and closure by definition. Rhetorical closure occurs when all problems are eliminated while closure by definition happens when the problem is redefined until it poses no more