Do Science And Technology Provide A Solid

Base For Technocracy Essay, Research Paper

To answer this question one must first understand that every politico-economic ideology, like every religious belief, proclaims that it has the one true doctrine and that all others are entirely different or at opposite ends. In most instances individuals join in voluntary association to act upon those opinions, ideas or beliefs which they hold in common. These opinions, ideas or beliefs may or may not be based on facts and hence most end with disastrous results. However once ideas have crystallized into organized action little question is raised to their feasibility or conformance to fact. Conclusively the objective of the group is either initially or ultimately the result of compromise being either very limited or very general in scope. This explains the ineffectiveness of the emotional approach and the political generality does not adequately define the project. The end result is the making of a mountain out of a molehill where the emphasis is on the exaggeration and reiteration of minor differences while ignoring what they have in common. Technocracy partakes one single element in that it is dependent on the voluntary association of individuals acting upon certain ideas upon which they are in agreement. Comparatively it differs from all other social movements since its common ideas are not the result of philosophic agreement. Technocracy does in fact in theory need science and technology to be based upon, but it is this science and technology that the populace overlooks and assumes it as engineered technology.

Ideas of engineering are in fact in our bones and part of human nature and experience (Petroski preface). This statement by Petroski is the very basis of technocracy. With it one can claim that No, Science and Technology do not provide a base for Technocracy yet to be a technocrat is to be human. If we consider democracy or any other doctrine and compare it with this proclamation then we may argue that one in their everyday life is more apt to be a technocrat then a democrat (Petroski 16).

Technology and Technologists, we may assume include each individual and each idea that lends itself to the productive incline in the lifestyle of individuals. Thus encompassing not only scientists and engineers but also teachers and experts in departments that are remotely necessary for the operation of a social norm. One may argue upon the failures of engineers and expansionists in the field of technology throughout history but overlook the successes. Yet these successes and the convenience that these expansions provide, argues Petroski are worth endeavoring into considering the risk associated with them when one weighs the backwardness society would be faced with, had these expansions not been made (Petroski 61).

The collapse of the Mianus River Bridge in Connecticut can be called a debacle of engineering designs, as well as the Hyatt Regency Walkways and all other disasters (Petroski 94-97) and without a doubt they were. But when one looks at the overlooked flaws in the design it is not hard to assert a level of responsibility to the user, the operator and the customer of the technology. The flaws in the design engineer us towards a better solution (Petroski 57). Should we compare this situation to an socio-economic fiasco much like the recent crash of the Indonesian economy, it would lay the blame of a disaster towards the system in power, the democracy and the setup of the economic institution. This and any other political failure would lead us to assume that countries based on governance that are plutocratic in nature should be dismantled and reassembled following a successful outline for a government as any construction based on sudden failed designs should be reconstructed (Graham 81).

Science and Technology are in fact the designs upon which Technocracy bases itself. They are the lending hands to this new social order overthrowing the archaic form of Politico-Economic rule over society by the plutocrats. The systems waste of irreplaceable natural and human resources, of air and water pollution and worse degradation to these resources to follow, offer no alternative. The functional population of the world are not necessarily trained to tell people what to do though. The growth of technocracy has followed naturally upon the formation of common ideas based on facts. Growth by such methods has been slow but it has been a selective process that will assure a membership of the type required. The American Nation was founded on the assumption that every man has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Technocracy amplifies this original intention and bases it on the need to pursue that in which we are naturally as human beings inclined, engineering (Petroski preface).