Topics for Analysis » Rhetoric, an Introduction » Rhetoric of Technology

Rhetoric of Technology

Overview of this Discussion

Simply put, technologies tell us much about the society(ies) from which they come. This is a cultural studies approach to technology, so, as usual, definitive conclusions will be hard to nail down.

Before we get any further, we should consider the difference between these two concepts:

  • Social Construction of Technology
  • Technological Determinism

Lynn White, a proponent of the technological determinism perspective, used this horseshoe nail proverb to introduce a chapter in White, L., Jr., Medieval Technology and Social Change. New York: Oxford University Press, 1966.

Questions about Technology

Consider the following when you’re reading (or in class):

  • How would I define my/our culture?
  • What constitutes cultural norms, values, ideologies?
  • Is there any validity to the term “conventional wisdom”?
  • What do the products I use say about the person I am in regard to my social place?
  • What makes the Internet uniquely…
    American…
    Western…
    Global…
    Capitalist…
    Individualistic?
  • What do nuclear weapons say about society?

As I said before, we must understand the impact science and technology have on our world. But to do that, we have to understand the social and cultural values that created sciences and technologies.

Below are a few terms that will help us think about technologies critically–think about their meaning beyond just use.

  • Ideology: prevailing cultural/institutional attitudes, beliefs, norms, attributes, practices, and myths that are said to drive a society.
  • Hegemony: the ways or results of a dominant group’s (the hegemon) influence over other groups in a society or region. The dominant group dictates, consciously or unconsciously, how society must be structured and how other groups must “buy into” the structure. For example, the former Soviet Union was the hegemonic power influencing the communist countries of Eastern Europe during the Cold War.
    {Of course, hegemony isn’t just between nations. What hegemonic values are prevailing in American culture?}
  • Systemic: (adjective) pertaining to an entire system, institution, or object; something ‘systemic’ cannot be removed from the system.

Envisioning 21st Century Work

How much telecommuting or working in virtual teams did you do prior to COVID-19? Prior to COVID-19, did any of you think about the ways in which you’d communicate in the future? How do you think collaboration will happen (and will it)? What’s the importance of collaboration and good communication in science, technology, and industry.

Interface Design and Imagination in Technical Communication

According to several journal responses I’ve gotten over the years, there appears to be no place for imagination in technical communication. Apparently, facts are facts and they’re unambiguous. Unfortunately, facts aren’t just given; they’re constructed and interpreted. One’s perception or a group’s adherence to “truth” (often called myth) can cause a person to misinterpret facts or misinterpret what is a fact.

Interfaces are perfect examples of hi-tech objects (screw ups) that rely on a user’s mental model (an individual thought process or ways of viewing the world around him or her). A growing concern in design these days deals with usability. Instead of having the tech experts decide what goes into an interface, the firm brings in users to test products or documentation for products to determine if the interface or documents are effective. In other words, can users get from Point A to Point B without issue?

But then there are interfaces that lie.

Your Turn on Technology

If we were in a face-to-face class, I’d ask you to get in groups of three or fewer, decide on a technology to contemplate, and consider the rhetoric of that technology.* The questions below are for general class discussion, but you should consider them for our current activity.

  • What are the social values that appear embedded in the technology? In other words, if technology is mediated (comes to be) because of prevailing cultural values, from what cultural values does the technology come?
  • What are the social implications of its design or use? Is it gendered?
  • Is it systemic (meaning, a product of the ever-present “system” aka the man, the culture, ideologies)? Consider if it would “work” in another culture.
  • What does your technology say about the culture that created it?