Michael Huesemann, Joyce Huesemann

Techno-Fix: Why Technology Won't Save Us or the Environment

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

A powerful and insightful critique of modern techno-optimism.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: New Society Publishers
• Seitenzahl: 464
• Erscheinungstermin: Oktober 2011
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 228mm x 154mm x 29mm
• Gewicht: 632g
• ISBN-13: 9780865717046
• ISBN-10: 0865717044
• Artikelnr.: 33269463

Inhaltsangabe

Table of Contents
Introduction
PART I TECHNOLOGY AND ITS LIMITATIONS
1. When Things Bite Back: The Unintended Consequences of Modern Technology
Unintended Environmental Consequences
Unintended Consequences of Industrialized Agriculture
Unintended Side-Effects of Genetic Engineering
Unintended Consequences of the Automobile
The Intended and Unintended Consequences of High-Technology Warfare
The Unintended Consequences of High-Tech Medicine
The Unintended Consequences of Technological Revolutions
The Decline in Fitness of Future Generations
2. The Inherent Unavoidability and Unpredictability of Unintended
Consequences
Interconnectedness
Human Improvement upon Nature
The Inseparability of Positive and Negative Effects of Technology
Irreversible Consequences
The Limitations of Reductionism
3. Technological Exploitation and Fairness
Technology and Exploitation
Technological Exploitation of Nature
Human Domination of Nature
Machines and the Control and Exploitation of Workers
Television: A Powerful Tool for Social Control and Manipulation
Military Technologies
4. In Search of Solutions I: Counter-Technologies and Social Fixes
Counter-Technologies
Social Fixes
Environmental Counter-Technologies
Military Counter-Technologies
Medical Counter-Technologies
Unintended Consequences of Counter-Technologies and Social Fixes
5. In Search of Solutions II: Efficiency Improvements
Technological Progress and Rising Material Affluence
Efficiency Improvements and Limited Resources
Inherent Limits to Efficiency Improvements
Unintended Consequences of Efficiency Solutions
6. Sustainability or Collapse?
Sustainable Development and Eco-Efficiency
Three Conditions for Long-term Sustainability
Challenge #1: Serious Environmental Impacts of Large-Scale Renewable Energy
Generation
Challenge #2: Replacement of Non-Renewable Materials with Renewable
Substitutes
Challenge #3: Complete Recycling of Non-Renewable Materials and Wastes
Sustainability or Collapse?
PART II THE UNCRITICAL ACCEPTANCE OF TECHNOLOGY
7. Technological Optimism and Belief in Progress
Techno-Optimism and Belief in Progress
Belief in Progress: A Brief History
Comparison of Belief in Progress to Religious Faith
Ignorance: The Basis of Most Techno-Optimism
Medical Techno-Optimism
Techno-Optimism and the Mass Media
The Decline of Techno-Optimism
8. The Positive Bias of Technology Assessments and Cost-Benefit Analyses
An Overview of Cost-Benefit Analysis
Problem #1: Boundary Selection and Externalization of Costs
Problem #2: Prediction of Potential Impacts and Selection of Appropriate
Indicators
Problem #3: Institutional Biases and the Perception of Costs and Benefits
Problem #4: Monetization of Non-Market Values
Problem #5: The Ethics of Cost-Benefit Analyses
The Uncritical Adoption of the Automobile
The Hidden Costs of Biofuels
Limited Testing of the Effectiveness of Medical Therapies
Gross Domestic Product (GDP): A Biased Indicator of Economic Progress
9. Happiness
Technological Innovation, Consumerism and Materialism
Material Affluence and Happiness
Explaining the Paradox
Sources of Happiness
The Destruction of Traditional Sources of Happiness
10. The Uncritical Acceptance of New Technologies
The Myth of Value-Neutrality
The Technological Imperative
Loss of Freedom and Technological Dependency
The Myth of Autonomous Technology
The Undemocratic Control of Technology
11. Profit Motive: The Main Driver of Technological Development
Technological Development as a Social Process
Understanding the Meaning of Profit
Profit Maximization and the Development of New Technologies
Profit Maximization: Agriculture and Food
Profit Maximization: Medical Care
Profit Maximization: Military Technologies and Foreign Policy
PART III THE NEXT SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION
12. The Need for a Different Worldview
The Power of Worldviews and Paradigms
Conflicting Worldviews and Paradigm Shifts
A Different View of Reality
A Different View of the Economy
A Different View of Science and Technology
A Different View of Medicine
The Need for Increased Awareness
13. The Design of Environmentally Sustainable and Socially Appropriate
Technologies
Design Criteria for Environmental Sustainability
Design Criteria for Social Appropriateness
The Prevention of Unintended Consequences
The Democratic Control of Technology
Local Organic Agriculture: A Model of Environmentally Sustainable and
Socially Appropriate Technology
14. Critical Science and Social Responsibility
The Myth of Value-Neutrality
A New, Critical Science
The Question of Responsibility
The Problem of Professionalism
The Need for Comprehensive Professional Ethics
Towards a Critical Science and Engineering
Bibliography