Learning Engagement 3
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY AND THE HUMAN
CONDITION
Introduction
Humans are surrounded on all sides by technology claiming to supply information:
television, smart phones, and internet devices, among others. However, do they all provide
information or just noise? More voices are trying to get our attention but how can we be sure that
they share knowledge and the truth?
To answer this basis question, a short historical backgrounder might prove useful.
Before the printed word was prevalent. Yet, the intent to carry information has always been
present.
Section 1: INFORMATION AGE
Desired learning Outcomes
At the end of this session, the students must have:
1. discussed the history of Information Age;
2. explained how science and technology made its impact to the technological
advances of the Information age;
3. presented discoveries and inventions related to S & T that influenced the society
in the different facets of their lives.
Lesson Proper
Information
A word is a combination of sounds that represents something. It is this significance which
makes words distinct from just any kind of vocal utterance. Words are made up of sounds and
yet they transmit something more significant. They transmit a message. The words are
“informed” because they carry “information”( Chaisson, 2006; Ben-Naim, 2015). Words are
informed with meaning given by the speaker and intended for listener. Simply put, they
communicate meaning.
The Information Age
Period starting in the last quarter of the 20th century when information became effortlessly
accessible through publications and through the management of information by computers and
computer networks. Also called the Digital Age and the New Media Age because it was
associated with the development of computers.
History Timeline of the Information Age
Science, Technology and Society (GEC Series). FIRST EDITION by Janice Patria Javier Serafica, Greg Tabios Pawilen,
Bernardo Nicolas
Technological World
The ability to think and conceptually comprehend nature and the principle it follows
eventually leads to science. Even in ancient time, Western thinkers harnessed the forces of nature
after understanding them better. Lost in antiquity is the first sailing vessel that worked through
the power of the wind. Similarly, it was never recorded when the early people realized that fire
has its own power and energy. Not all early inventions are lost in time, however. Hero of
Alexandria, for instance, would invent a primitive steam engine in the first century (Davies,
1990).
The Printing Press and Beyond
The power of the eidos, or idea, would be witnessed in the succeeding centuries of
development in the West. The ancient fascination with language gave rise to the preservation of
the words of earlier people at the same time when the West weakened itself due to internecine
warfare and conflicts. Throughout this dark period, the importance of the word-the power to be
informed as a human being-led to the transmission of ideas through hand-copying. From this
manual action would arise the technology that would transform cultures-the printing press.
Source :https://www.intergraf.eu/about-print/history-of-print
Figure 1: Printing Press
The development of the printing press, which may be regarded as the beginning of A true
revolution, could be dated to the 15th century. Through this technology, the ancient Greek idea
that knowledge should be shared and communicated among humans would actually be press,
people on different sides of the world could share their thoughts and ideas with each other,
forming communities of thinkers across space and time (Connell,1958).
This world has never looked back. This technological invention allowed words and scientific
ideas to establish a view of nature anchored in scholarly works and studies. For instance, new
discoveries about the phenomenon of electricity were eagerly absorbed by fellow scientists who
then utilized the science to create other technological products. The radio was built upon the
wave nature of electricity and magnetism, and from there, television followed.
In the age of information, the transmission of ideas has undergone changes. Meaning and depth
are no longer conveyed strictly by rhetoric but rather by its electronic replacement, the digital
signal or digit. Such a digital world is a direct offspring of the progressing world of technology
built upon the many advances in science (Toffler, 1984)
The World Wide Web (Internet)
Internet is a worldwide system of interconnected networks that facilitate data transmission
among innumerable computers. Internet was used mainly by scientists to communicate with
other scientists; it remained under government control until 1984. One early problem faced by
Internet users was speed. The development of fiber-optic cables allowed for billions of bits of
information to be received every minute.
Electronic mail, or email, was a suitable way to send a message.
https://magora-systems.com/world-wide-web-by-the-numbers-top-websites-and-technologies/
Figure 2: World Web
Synthesis
• Nowadays, information could be shared or transferred quickly.
• Various aspects of our society are also being influenced by the Information Age
especially communication, economics, industry, health, and the environment.
• The rapid upgrade of information poses both positive and negative impacts to our society.
