Technology and culture
In this paper, you will write a 1000-1250 word narrative that communicates your assessment of your technology’s impacts, biases, and political properties.
Your paper should do the following:
1. Introduce your technology by describing its intended use, its location, and its creators and their demographics.
2. Answer the question, “What invisible biases, values or norms may have been introduced into the design, planning or intended use of this artifact by the creators or planners, and how can you determine this?”
3. Based on your observations of interactions between people and this technology, and the context of the technology (physical or digital), discuss who benefits from the technology the most and who benefits from it the least and offer some reasons why this is the case.
4. Review pages 252-256 Winner’s article, “Do Artifacts Have Politics,” from Week 3 and suggest how the technology you have chosen can create a certain types of social order in our world by including and benefiting some people while excluding others.
Or, you could talk about how the artifact emphasizes some values and norms over others in its actual design as well, basing your observations on Brey’s ideas from “Disclosive Computer Ethics” in Week 4, even if the technology is not digital. You can include any sociological, anthropological studies that have been done on the technology or lawsuits that have been filed etc. as part of your research as well.
◦For example, driver side safety air bags and car seats are often designed for the average height and weight of men, thus protecting them better in crashes, and even injuring women as many experience pelvic fractures from the impact of airbags. A technology that is not designed to equally protect people of all sizes may be an ethical issue.
5. Have a concluding paragraph that sums up the conclusions you have drawn about your technology in the process of doing this project.
6. Support and explain your points with observed evidence and any research you have done.
