Science Technology Society I

We live in a society exquisitely dependent upon science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.

Carl Sagan

Introduction

Our first objective in Unit One is to explore relationships among science, technology, and society. To provide some structure to meeting this objective, we will review the book, Science, Technology, and Society, written by Andrew Webster. You are not required to read Webster's book. This section and the one that follows it will outline the principles we need to learn.

Compass

Key Questions

How do science and technology affect the well-being of social systems?

Examples

Overview of Webster's Science, Technology, and Society

Andrew Webster examines how the economic, cultural, and political features of society affect and are affected by science and technology. He points out differences in popular images of science and the actual practice of science as it is conducted at research institutions and in the private sector. Webster highlights the ways in which scientific facts reflect "invention" as much as they do "discovery." He points out ways in which science and technology can be exploited for societal goals, keeping in mind that the setting of societal goals relies upon political and economic relationships among citizens. Webster ends his book by offering some suggestions for controlling science and technology to maximize benefits to the most persons possible.

Webster is writing from the perspective of a citizen living in a democratic society. This course assumes the same. That is, it assumes that citizens have legal protections sufficient to enable them to critique new technologies and provide input regarding technology policy.

Science in the Real World

Webster introduces us to the Discovery Dome, an exhibit he visited that emphases a hands-on approach to understanding how technology works. Webster points out that this emphasis might increase awareness and appreciation of technology and perhaps reduce fears of it. But real understanding of technology, which can lead to a better understanding of technological risks, requires also an understanding of how science works.

Typically, scientific method is presented as asocial, apolitical, non-economic, expert, progressive, and so forth. Such an approach furthers the image of science as being objective, pure, beyond the realm of people and their failings, and devoted only to making all of our lives better. The problem with presenting such an image, however, is that while it seeks to increase confidence in science, particularly in comparison with other methods of knowledge acquisition, it sets unattainable expectations that lead to diminished public confidence when science and technology inevitably are revealed to be flawed.

No scientific research is perfect and all technology is flawed in some respects. The paradox of science, therefore, is that attempts to present it as infallible inevitably erode confidence in it. Understanding this paradox provides us with insights for developing strategies for gaining adoption of complex and controversial technology, topics to be explored later in this course. That is, change agents, persons seeking to gain adoption of an innovation, are faced with the dilemma of presenting a technology as safe and beneficial without overselling it, knowing that, inevitably, the technology is flawed and will bring undesirable consequences to some segments of the population.

Active Citizens

Webster argues that science is socially constructed. By this he means that science is not an objective, value-free pursuit of knowledge guided solely by theoretical propositions. Instead, the enterprise of science--which questions get asked, which research gets funded, how research is conducted, how findings are interpreted--is dependent upon negotiation and debate among scientists and between scientists and the public. Scientists tend to pursue questions of more immediate interest to the public, with greater potential for lucrative patents, or that are more popular among funding agencies. In short, science is an enterprise as much influenced by social, political, and economic vested interests as any other human enterprise within a democratic society.

If Webster is correct in his assertion that science is negotiated, then citizens must be aware of their influence on science and their responsibility to help guide science to produce the kind of technology best suited to their society's well-being. If, indeed, science and technology are socially constructed and reflect socioeconomic and political interests, then science policy--the decision-making regarding what types of science and technology will be funded by the public--becomes central to a society seeking to use the very powerful tools of science to produce technology for the common good.

Application in Context

Have the potential benefits of genetic engineering been oversold to the public?

From your reading of the Sampler materials, and other information you know about genetic engineering, do you think the public has been adequately informed about both the benefits and potential problems associated with this technology?
Do you think proponents and opponents of genetic engineering have been fully honest with the public?
Do proponents and opponents have an obligation to be fully honest with the public?
What actions should/can active citizens take to learn the facts about genetic modification of food?

Science and Science Policy

By their very nature, the uncertainties of innovative technology make it difficult for such decisions to be made. Thus, because most efforts of science policy are directed toward technology transfer, questions about how innovations are encouraged, measured, and evaluated are a crucial element of science policy.

Science policy typically assumes that:

technology is independent of social (meaning cultural, economic, political) context,
scientists (experts) also are authorities on correct science policy,
technology can be objectively evaluated in any social context, and
science must be held accountable to the public.

Each of these assumptions has its shortcomings.

Because technology is embedded within a social context, it is influenced by social, political, and economic interests and its transfer from one social system to another can be problematic.
Expert opinion regarding the production of technology does not necessarily imply expert opinion regarding the use and transfer of technology.
Evaluation of technology is exceedingly difficult, and depends upon a wide range of indicators, including ones outside the domain of science (e.g., is legalized abortion moral?).

Problems related to technology transfer and evaluation, therefore, make it difficult to determine how and to what extent science and technology have met public needs.