The social change wrought by the rapid communications technologies will be isolated in various cultural enterprises, so as to determine its impact upon social structures already in place. The defining elements of social change are to be described in situ as pertaining to the communications revolution, involving particularly computer usage. The concept of social change I'm proposing constitutes 5 criterion common in the Social-X series, but as applied to the phenomenon of social change in the realm of the increased rapidity of communications.
1. The promise. By means of installing communications networks for ever-increasing rapid conveyance of data, and by means of creating vehicles for transferring persons and machinery at break-neck speed, industry anticipates a marked change in how the way things have been done up to now.
2. An acceptance. Some agency of industry or government is designated to coordinate and facilitate the use of the new with its advanced methodologies with the in-place systems. Coordinating efforts begin.
3. The areas of development. As a result of the encorporation of the new technologies in communications, brand new cultural institutions appear and are wedded to aspects of the culture.
4. Provisions for its breakdown. What safeguards should the greater society put in place to protect itself should the new methodologies fail to take hold or prove detrimental in implementation? These are to be spelled out, if society is to function whether or not the promises of the new technology come to fruition.
5. A vision of things to come as a result of reliance upon the new methods (brought about by upgrades in technology). Everytime society ventures forth with new methods, a vision is provided of even greater change in the future!
There's the 5, let's run with them in societal areas, where social change through communications is in progress!
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
Social Change Format
Doing philosophy, i.e., analyzing concepts, in the way proffered by the Social-X series, I believe to be new and for me very exciting. I hope that because of the three samples of Social Contract, Social Love, and here, Social Change that I'm bringing to you, you also may be bitten by the bug of trying to do philosophy in the way of Social-X. I believe that the methodology has significant value, as well as wide application, in providing a rational way for society to improve itself by means of doing philosophy, that is, through the efforts of philosophers!
Now, on to Social Change in a cultural milieu. What we do is look at one particular change that has occurred recently, say, since the turn of the 20th Century. And what we'll do is attempt to analyze its impact upon any number of cultural variables or cultural activities already identifiable. The aim of this analysis, the result of the analysis, is to ascertain the future by defining it ourselves. That is to say, the result, if the analysis is successful, will be a series of recommendations based on reason that constitute the path society should take. I expect that in most areas of the culture to which this analysis is applied, the recommendations will be dramatic, simply because it's a given that society isn't all that rational, i.e., its actions are not guided by reason (my fundamental assumption, whidh justifies using this methodology in the study of any particular phenomenon as a way of making a significant contribution toward the social good).
Now, the phenomenon I'm taking up under this topic is rapid communications via the airplane and the computer , the new technologies which are a major hallmark of the 20th Century. And the question I ask is, what has, and is, the impact upon our culture? To answer the question, I break the culture up into its components, paying particular attention to those cultural areas where social commentators have claimed some effect, keeping in mind that as we proceed in our analysis of the impact of the new phenomenon upon the particular cultural area, we want to claim the future, viz., to recommend how the society should proceed if rationally controlled.
Now, on to Social Change in a cultural milieu. What we do is look at one particular change that has occurred recently, say, since the turn of the 20th Century. And what we'll do is attempt to analyze its impact upon any number of cultural variables or cultural activities already identifiable. The aim of this analysis, the result of the analysis, is to ascertain the future by defining it ourselves. That is to say, the result, if the analysis is successful, will be a series of recommendations based on reason that constitute the path society should take. I expect that in most areas of the culture to which this analysis is applied, the recommendations will be dramatic, simply because it's a given that society isn't all that rational, i.e., its actions are not guided by reason (my fundamental assumption, whidh justifies using this methodology in the study of any particular phenomenon as a way of making a significant contribution toward the social good).
Now, the phenomenon I'm taking up under this topic is rapid communications via the airplane and the computer , the new technologies which are a major hallmark of the 20th Century. And the question I ask is, what has, and is, the impact upon our culture? To answer the question, I break the culture up into its components, paying particular attention to those cultural areas where social commentators have claimed some effect, keeping in mind that as we proceed in our analysis of the impact of the new phenomenon upon the particular cultural area, we want to claim the future, viz., to recommend how the society should proceed if rationally controlled.
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