To understand science, technology and society one must read through theorists work and examine the evolution in both science and technology and how it coincides with society. While reading works by Karl Popper, Thomas Kuhn and David Nye it is evident that both science and technology are always changing. Science is always changing in the sense that new discoveries are made, or old ones are proven false. Technology continuously adapts to help humans do more than the necessary tasks of survival.
Karl Popper discussed the discussed both science and pseudo-science and described how sometimes science may be wrong and it is in fact pseudo-science that has discovered what is real. Karl Popper stated he “wished to distinguish between science and pseudo-science; knowing very well that science often errs, and that pseudo-science may happen to stumble on the truth” (Popper, 33). By this he is saying that even though it is thought that science is always fact, it can sometimes be mistaken, and needs to be researched more to present the truth, which can sometimes be found in other ways. Popper continues to state that people need to “[open] [their] eyes to a new truth hidden from those not yet initiated” meaning that there is still more to be discovered (Popper, 34). Thomas Kuhn also discusses how, although science is regarded as fact, it sometimes requires change due to new discoveries. Kuhn talks about paradigm laws and theories and how “a discovery like X-rays necessitates paradigm change – and therefore change in both procedures and expectations” (Kuhn, 61) Science is always in need of change as things are discovered and as others evolve.
Like science, technology is also fluid, and always advancing. David Nye talks about the difference between humans and other species. Humans go beyond just surviving which entails building shelter, getting food and water etc. Nye states “the central purpose of technologies has not been to provide necessities, such as food and shelter, for humans achieved these goals very early in their existence” (Nye, 2). Instead humans and other species develop technologies and use tools to make life easier, and these “technologies have been used for social evolution” (Nye, 2). But Humans do this to a much larger extent. Nye states that “one way to define ‘technology’ is in terms of evolution” (Nye, 1) Technology is constantly evolving, for example automobiles have drastically changed over the past 100 years making travel quick and easy. Telephones have also evolved starting from only being able to communicate with people around you through wires to now being able to communicate within seconds with anyone around the world. These
Without new discoveries and the constantly evolving technology society would not be where it is today. Society grows in concurrence with science and technology evolving.