“It is not always clear, at least in the early stages of a technology’s intrusion into a culture, who will gain most by it and who will lose most…new technologies change what we mean by “knowing” and “truth”; they alter those deeply embedded habits of thought which give to a culture its sense of what the world is like—a sense of what is the natural order of things” (Postman, 1992, p12)
Postman’s comment on technology’s ability to change what we mean by truth stood out for me. There is often talk of a generational gap when it comes to technology. The older generation is pining for the good ‘ol days while the youth are grasping for the new frontiers of the future, neither really understanding the other. And maybe this is why. The truths of one generation are not the truths of another and technology plays a role in it.
References:
Postman, N. (1992). Technopoly: The surrender of culture to technology. New York: Vintage Books.
