Páll Skúlason on Technologism

What is wrong with technologism? Explain the difference between technology and technologism. What is the best way to proceed in order to overcome technologism according to you?

Skulason (2005) takes technology to refer practical knowledge, tools and machinery, and methods of achieving practical tasks. He notes that technology in all three senses presupposes a predetermined set of objectives, in the service of which technology is employed.

Skulason defines technologism as the exclusive focus on technological (i.e. practical) knowledge, at the expense of intellectual and moral knowledge. This leads to a privileging of technical values above intellectual and moral values. This is problematic because, as noted, technology really only makes sense in the context of predetermined objectives. These, presumably, are supplied by our intellectual and moral values, and so the more these areas are impoverished the more our use of technology will lack direction. This is a worrying prospect - any powerful tool must be used carefully, not blindly. Technologism is a dangerous tendency in so far it inhibits our capacity to utilise technology for the ends we created it. As it increases in power it may end up dominating or even destroying us.

A good way to counteract technologism, according to me, would be to encourage critical and philosophical thought in the general population. The more frequently we pause to ask 'why are are we doing this?', the more likely we are to keep our practical activities aligned with our intellectual and moral values, and the more we will deem it worth spending time reflecting on these latter. I think it could also be helpful to promote holistic or 'big picture' thinking, and to push for the further development of national and international institutions to facilitate this.

References:
Skúlason, P. (2005) 'Questions of Technology' in Technology in Society, Society in Technology, edited by Edward H. Huijbens and Örn D. Jónsson. (Reykjavik: University of Iceland Press)