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Unit 2 STS and the Human Condition

BS Psychology (PCLU Polytechnic College of La Union Basic Education Department)

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SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY

Chapter II: Science, Technology, and Society and the Human Condition
Lesson 1: Human Flourishing Lesson
2: Technology as a Way of Revealing Lesson
3: The Good Life Lesson
4: When Technology and Humanity Cross

LESSON 1: HUMAN FLOURISHING

Eudaimonia, literally “good spirited,” a term coined by Aristotle to describe the pinnacle of happiness
that is attainable by humans; has often been translated into “human flourishing”
- Western civilization tends to be more focused on the individual; based on an individual’s
values rather than his belief that the state is greater than him.
- The easts are more community-centric; community takes the highest regard that the
individual should sacrifice himself for the sake of the society.

- Every discovery, innovation, and success contributes to our pool of human knowledge;
human’s perpetual need to locate himself in the world by finding proofs to trace evolution;
- the end goals of both science and technology and human flourishing are related; in that the
good is inherently related to the truth.

Science as Method and Results • The Scientific Method Steps: 1. Observe 2. Determine the
problem 3. formulate hypothesis; reject the null hypothesis 4. Conduct experiment 5. Gather and analyze
results 6. Formulate conclusion and provide recommendation.
• Verification Theory - The earliest criterion that distinguishes philosophy and science
- The idea proposes that a discipline is science if it can be confirmed or interpreted in
the event of an alternative hypothesis being accepted.
-Several budding theories that lack empirical results might be shot down prematurely,
causing slower innovation and punishing ingenuity of newer, novel thoughts.
- This theory completely fails to weed out bogus arguments that explain things
coincidentally.

• Falsification Theory - Karl Popper is the known proponent of this view.

- Asserts that as long as an ideology is not proven to be false and can best explain a phenomenon
over alternative theories
- Allowed emergence of theories otherwise rejected by verification theory
- Encourages research in order to determine which among the theories can stand the test of
falsification
Science as Education In the Philippines
-a large distribution of science high schools can be found, forging competition for aspiring students to
undergo rigorous science and mathematics training based on specialized curricula.
- As students are preconditioned that the field would later land them high-paying jobs and a lucrative
career after graduation.
- Simply mastering science and technology would be inadequate if we are to, say, socialize with
people or ruminate on our inner self.
- A true eudaimon recognizes that flourishing requires one to excel in various dimensions, such as
linguistic, kinetic, artistic, and socio-civic.
LESSON 2: TECHNOLOGY AS A WAY OF REVEALING
The Human Condition Before Common Era:
- Homo erectus have been using fire to cook, all the while without realizing the laws of friction and heat.
- Tools from stone and flints marked the era of the Stone Age, during the advent of our very own Homo
sapiens.
- People discovered minerals and began forging metalwork.

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- Fur clothing and animal skin are primarily used for comfort against harsh winds. They begin to cover
themselves up out of necessity.
- People of the time had also painstakingly wrought and hewed said figures in honor of some deity; initial
roster of primitive gods includes objects they encounter through their day-to-day lives.
The Human Condition in the Common Era:
- Driven by their primal need to survive, humans were quick to find ways to drive off other megafaunas
threatening a prospective hunting spot.
- The ongoing extinction of several species—both flora and fauna—due to human activity
- They began to hunt, farm, and produce things with prospect of profit.
- When they could not sell products, they used their skills and got compensated for it.
The Essence of Technology:
- Modern humans are reliant on technology in their search for the good life. Humans are reduced into the
amount of productivity they are able to render during their lifetime.
- By too much reliance on technology, humans lose track of things that matter, reducing their surroundings
to their economic value.
- Martin Heidegger argued that its essence, or purpose, and being are different from each other.
- Technology can either be perceived as first, a means to achieve man’s end and second, that which
constitutes human activity.
- The second perspective paints technology in such a way that each period reveals a particular character
regarding man’s being.

LESSON 3: THE GOOD LIFE

Aristotle and How We All Aspire for a Good Life

Plato and Aristotle embarked on a different approach in figuring out reality. Plato thought that things in this
world are not real and are only copies of the real in the world of forms. Change is so perplexing that it can
only make sense if there are two realities: the world of forms and the world of matter:
- In the world of matter, things are changing and impermanent;
- In the world of forms, the entities are only copies of the ideal and the models, and the forms are the only
real entities.

Aristotle forwarded the idea that there is no reality over and above what the senses can perceive, claiming
that this world is all there is to it and that this world is the only reality we can all access.
- Declares that even human beings are potentialities who aspire for their actuality
- Every action that emanates from a human person is a function of the purpose that the person has.
- Every human person, according to Aristotle, aspires for an end. This end is happiness or human
flourishing.
- Claims that happiness is the be all and end all of everything that we do
- Human flourishing, a kind of contentment in knowing that one is getting the best out of life
Happiness as the Goal of a Good Life
• Materialism
- The first materialists were the atomists in Ancient Greece.
- Democritus and Leucippus belief is that the world is made up of and is controlled by the tiny
indivisible units in the world called atomos or seeds.
- For Democritus and his disciples, the world, including human beings, is made up of matter.
- Only material entities matter. In terms of human flourishing, matter is what makes us attain
happiness.
• Hedonism
- The hedonists, for their part, see the end goal of life in acquiring pleasure.
- Life is about obtaining and indulging in pleasure because life is limited.

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- The mantra of this school of thought is the famous, “Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.”
• Stoicism
- The idea that to generate happiness, one must learn to distance oneself and be apathetic.
- For the stoics, happiness can only be attained by a careful practice of apathy.

• Theism
- The ultimate basis of happiness for theists is the communion with God.
- The world where we are in is only just a temporary reality where we have to maneuver around while
waiting for the ultimate return to the hands of God.
• Humanism
- The freedom of man to carve his own destiny and to legislate his own laws, free from the shackles
of a God that monitors and controls.
- Humanists see themselves not merely as stewards of the creation but as individuals who are in
control of themselves and the world outside them.
LESSON 4: WHEN TECHNOLOGY AND HUMANITY CROSS

Television Sets, Mobile Phones, Computers, and Humanity:

People all over the world use these technologies every day to accomplish different purpose;
- Television was a product of different experiments by various people;
- Paul Gottlieb Nipkow’s invention was called the "electric telescope" that had 18 lines of
resolution;
- Alan Archibald Campbell-Swinton and Boris Rosing their experiment gave rise to two types
of television systems, namely, mechanical and electronic television.

- On April 3, 1973, Martin Cooper, a senior engineer at Motorola, made the world’s first
mobile phone call;
- In 1983, Motorola made their first commercial mobile phone available to the public. It was
known as the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X.
- Charles Babbage who designed the Analytical Engine which was used as the basic
framework of the computers even until the present time;
- The first design of computer was so big that it could occupy whole floors of buildings;
- The first true portable computer was released in April 1981. It was called the Osborne 1; -
The evolution of laptops continued until the present time where various designs and models
are already available.
Roles Played by These Technological Advancements

- Television is mainly used as a platform for advertisements and information dissemination;

- Television also is a good platform for different propagandas and advocacies.
- Mobile phones are primarily used for communication;
- People use their mobile phones to surf the Internet and to take pictures more than to text or to call people;
- Other applications include music player, calendar, radio, television, and photo editor, among others. -
Personal computers and laptops can be used to surf the Internet and communicate;
- the availability of a mouse or a touchpad made these two technological devices easier to maneuver than
mobile phones.

Ethical Dilemma Faced by These Technological Advancements

- People who are fixated on these technological advancements start and end their day by using such
devices. It causes them to become reclusive, alienating themselves from other people.
- Children who are not capable yet of rationally deciding for themselves what is right or wrong are freely
exposed to different things on television, mobiles phones, laptops, or computers.

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Robotics and Humanity

• A robot is an actuated mechanism programmable in two or more axes with a degree of autonomy, moving
within its environment, to perform intended tasks.
• A service robot is a robot that performs useful tasks for humans or equipment excluding industrial
automation application.
• A personal service robot or a service robot for personal use is a service robot used for a noncommercial
task, usually by laypersons.
• A professional service robot or a service robot for professional use is a service robot used for a
commercial task, usually operated by a properly trained operator.

Roles Played by Robotics

- They are primarily used to ease the workload of mankind.
- They were invented to make life more efficient and less stressful; perform activities to entertain people;
made to serve as toys.
- Robots also have their own set of rules and characteristics that define what a good robot is:
Law One: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come
to harm.
Law Two: A robot must obey the orders given by human beings except where such orders would
conflict with the First Law.
Law Three: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with
the First or Second Law.
Ethical Dilemma/s Faced by Robotics: 1. Safety. Who should be held accountable if someone’s safety is
compromised by a robot? – 2. Emotional Component. What if robots become sentient should they be
granted robot rights? Should they have their own set of rights to be upheld, respected, and protected by
humans?

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