Technology is the application of scientific knowledge to
accomplish tasks.
This includes new
inventions and or new ways of thinking.
Prior to the industrial revolution, the way of life was very organic.
Numerous thinkers emerged which were needed in
order to facilitate the industrial revolution.
The emergence of a new world had caused a capitalist regime to be
established.
The technology of this
regime caused disruption in the way of life of the average person.
Life before the industrial revolution was very organic.
People were concerned with their immediate
surroundings.
They had children because
they needed more hands to till the field.
Their belief system was divinity and their aim was to find the purpose
of things or events rather than cause and effect.
They believed that, “God,” was the creator
and that the earth was the center of the universe.
This view was a result of the dominance of the
church which would prosecute those whom had radical ideas.
People
earned a living through house work and they would often know their neighbors
and the people living in their small communities.
Thinkers such as Rene Descartes, Galileo Galilei, Nicolaus Copernicus,
Isaac Newton, and Francis Bacon changed the pre industrial world.
Descartes came up with a way to analyze the
universe.
His method included advanced
reasoning.
He saw the world as a machine.
Galileo came up with the telescope which
evidently discredited the church.
He applied scientific experiments and mathematical knowledge to thinking.
Copernicus developed a scientific theory
which placed the sun at the center of the universe rather than the earth which
was contrary to the churches teachings.
Newton
discovered gravity.
Lastly Bacon developed
an empirical method of looking at things.
He drew conclusions from testing things.
These people all caused the organic way of life to become scientific.
No longer was divinity the underlying factor
of existence as science had replaced it.
The world became viewed as a machine.
The dominant yin view of nature was the ideology that dominated in the
industrial revolution.
Nature was seen
as a women to be exploited and pillaged for resources.
These people caused the church to loose its
grasp on society as more modern mathematics and science emerged as viable ways
of thinking.
The industrial revolution brought about a new world centered
in the idea that it was a machine.
We
need to look at this from a contextual, critical, cultural and comprehensive way.
Contextually the previously mentioned
individuals started the change in view.
The population was booming and the quality of life improved as new
inventions were being brought to market.
England’s laws were very pro capitalism which caused foreign investments.
They had many trade partners throughout the
world which caused people to experience more wealth.
From a critical perspective new classes were
emerging specifically the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.
This caused class conflict and
exploitation.
Comprehensively, the view
on society became fragmented into categories including arts, economy, politics,
law, science, religion, value/ morality.
This new way of thinking caused new technology to emerge.
Technology could be looked at from three
dimensions, cultural, technological and organization.
Technology caused massive changes to the world.
Looking at the putting out system of textile
production we can see an example of the effect of technology on
society.
There are four stages.
The first stage is the collection of raw
goods or cotton.
Stage two consist of
spinning the material with the spinning wheel.
The third stage consist of weaving with the hand loom and lastly stage
four is bleaching and dyes resulting in the finished product.
This system was drastically improved with the
spinning jenny in stage two causing many to become unemployed and the power
loom at stage three.
These machines were
tireless and very efficient for their time.
They brought these tasks from the house to factories as the capitalist
class sought to exploit people.
Through
textile England emerged as a super power.
The industrial revolution occurred because of technological
improvements, inanimate energy such as steam, and the increased cultivation of
raw materials.
The way of living in England
during the industrial revolution was so much better than competing
countries.
Their people had more money to
not only eat but to purchase goods.
Luxuries became affordable to its citizens.
The cost of labor however, increased.
But all in all people had higher purchasing
power.