Custom term paper on Science and technology
// April 18th, 2013 // No Comments » // Free essays
“There are also cases where artifacts seem to literally embody values. Take, for example, the overpasses that cross Wantagh Parkway to Long Island, New York, and in particular to Jones Beach. Robert Moses, the designer responsible for these bridges, very consciously decided that they should be built at a height above the parkway that would make it possible for buses to pass under them. This decision, according to Moses’ biographer, reflected Moses’ racial prejudice and social class bias. He low overpasses meant that while more well-to-do whites could use the parkway for commuting and to reach destinations along it for recreation, it would not be accessible for low income citizens, many of whom were people of color, who needed to rely on public transportation.”
First of all, this quote demonstrates an extraordinary and interesting example of the influence of the social aspects on the final result of the technologic project. An architect takes into account his social views and not the general utility of his creation. He embodied his own social perceptions and views on the society’s order in this technological creation. The cultural, media and political contexts influence the technoscience in many ways.
It’s simply one of the best demonstrations of the social nature of the technology, and how subjective it is.
All technical artifacts, no matter when they were created, they all express someone’s values, thoughts, ideas, restrictions, rules, philosophy, etc.
In general, this situation with the overpasses (that cross Wantagh Parkway to Long Island) shows how technology may become a tool of expression the social prejudice. It may be perceived nowadays as totally unfair.
Therefore, author leads us to the idea that the technoscience has to concentrate on making itself as objective as it is possible nowadays, in order to avoid such situations in the future. There is a number of methods that can be used in order to avoid such mistakes, for instance, the skepticism. The approach may be scrutinized in order to find the possible errors that were caused by the possible subjectivity of the author. (more…)




