Het publieke beeld van technologie: erosie van een instrumentele zienswijze?

Samenvatting

In a disenchanted world, an instrumental image of technology should be widespread. Seen from an instrumental perspective, technology is a generic term for neutral instruments that serve as solutions for problems, and technological development is considered untainted by interests and preferences. We study the popularity of this instrumental image of technology and its relation to images of society by means of a survey. We find that this image of technology is not particularly popular and is positively related to an authoritarian and/or competitive image of society. It is concluded that people do not interpret technological developments in a disenchanted way. Further, the analysis suggests that the modest popularity of the instrumental image of technology in modern society is due to its connection with an authoritarian and competitive outlook. 3 Tables, 1 Appendix, 40 References. Adapted from the source document.