Description of "technological Fix"

1).Description of "Technological Fix"

Technology is often couched in terms of solving problems such as curing disease, providing for reliable food production, or affording efficient means of transportation. Indeed, technology has proved powerfully effective for solving any number of problems, from the massive project of sending people into space to the minor chore of fastening pieces of paper together. some types of problems that cannot—or should not—be fixed by technology? Weinberg coined the term technological fix to describe the use of technology to respond to certain types of human social problems that are more traditionally addressed via political, legal, organizational, or other social processes. Although Weinberg advocated the use of technological fixes in some cases, the term has come to be used frequently as a pejorative by people critical of certain uses of technology.

during the cold war, Weinberg cites nuclear weapons as an example of a technological fix for war. The technological ability to unleash global devastation serves as a deterrent to international aggression. But critics argue that such a solution is at best tenuous, and at worst lessens people's resolve to work diplomatically at ameliorating the underlying clashes of ideology, economy, and culture that lead to war. Nuclear weapons also served as an alternative to maintaining a large standing army such as that of the Soviet Union, thus shifting social sacrifice from the less to the more democratically acceptable—from personal service to government investment in advanced technological weapons research and development. It is this aspect of technological fixes—their tendencies to mask the symptoms of complex social problems without addressing their causes or true costs—that generally evokes ethical concern.

Engineering designs

Engineering design is an iterative process involving modeling and optimization used to develop technological solutions to problems within given way.

? • describe objects, imaginary or real, that might be modeled or made differently and suggest ways in which the objects can be changed, fixed, or improved.

• investigate prior solutions and ideas from books, magazines, family, friends, neighbors, and community members.

• generate ideas for possible solutions, individually and through group activity; apply age appropriate mathematics and science skills; evaluate the ideas and determine the best solution; and explain reasons for the choices.

• plan and build, under supervision, a model of the solution using familiar materials, processes, and hand tools.

• discuss how best to test the solution; perform the test under teacher supervision; record and portray results through numerical and graphic means; discuss orally why things worked or didn't work; and summarize results in writing, suggesting ways to make the solution better.

? • initiate and carry out a thorough investigation of an unfamiliar situation and identify needs and opportunities for technological invention or innovation.

• identify, locate, and use a wide range of information resources including subject experts, library references, magazines, videotapes, films, electronic data bases and on-line services, and discuss and document through notes and sketches how findings relate to the problem.

• generate creative solution ideas, break ideas into the significant functional elements, and explore possible refinements; predict possible outcomes using mathematical and functional modeling techniques; choose the optimal solution to the problem, clearly documenting ideas against design criteria and constraints; and explain how human values, economics, ergonomics, and environmental considerations have influenced the solution.

• develop work schedules and plans which include optimal use and cost of materials, processes, time, and expertise; construct a model of the solution, incorporating

developmental modifications while working to a high degree of quality (craftsmanship).

• in a group setting, devise a test of the solution relative to the design criteria and perform the test; record, portray, and logically evaluate performance test results through quantitative, graphic, and verbal means; and use a variety of creative verbal and graphic techniques effectively and persuasively to present conclusions, predict impacts and new problems, and suggest and pursue modifications.

? •identify needs and opportunities for technical solutions from an investigation of situations of general or social interest.

• locate and utilize