Technophilia

This article is about the enthusiasm for technology. For the YouTube channel, see Brady Haran.

Technophilia (from Greek τέχνη - technē, "art, skill, craft"[1] and φίλος - philos, "beloved, dear, friend"[2]) refers generally to a strong enthusiasm for technology, especially new technologies such as personal computers, the Internet, mobile phones and home cinema.[3] The term is used in sociology to examine individuals' interactions with society and is contrasted with technophobia.

On a psychodynamic level, technophilia generates the expression of its opposite, technophobia.[4] Technophilia and technophobia are the two extremes of the relationship between technology and society. The technophile regards most or all technology positively, adopts new forms of technology enthusiastically and sees it as a means to improve life, whilst some may even view it as a means to combat social problems.[3]

The term technophilia is used as a way of highlighting how technology can evoke in humans strong positive futuristic feelings.[4] However, the reverential attitude towards technology that technophilia produces can sometimes inhibit realistic appraisals of the social and environmental impacts of technology on society.[4] Technophiles do not fear of the effects of technological developments on society, as do technophobes.[3] Technological determinism is the theory that humanity has little power to resist the influence that technology has on society.[5]

Etymology

The word technophile is said to have originated in the 1960s as an "unflattering word introduced by technophobes." [6]

Narcissism through technophilia

Many forms of technology are seen as venerable because the user experiences them as the embodiment of their own narcissism.[4] Technophiles enjoy using technology and focus on the egocentric benefits of technology rather than seeing the potential issues associated with using technology too frequently. The notion of addiction is often negatively associated with technophilia, and describes technophiles who become too dependent on the forms of technology they possess.[4]

Technological utopia

Technophiles may view technology's interaction with society as creating an utopia, cyber or otherwise, and a strong indescribable futuristic feeling. "In the utopian stories, technologies are seen as natural societal developments, improvements to daily life, or as forces that will transform reality for the better. Dystopian reactions emphasize fears of losing control, becoming dependent, and being unable to stop change".[5] Both utopian and dystopian streams are weaved in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World (1932) and George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949).[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ τέχνη, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
  2. ↑ φίλος, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
  3. 1 2 3 "Technophilia." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. 2003. Houghton Mifflin Company 23 Sep. 2012 http://www.thefreedictionary.com/technophilia
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Richards, Barry. "Technophobia and Technophilia." British Journal of Psychotherapy 10.2 (1993): 188–95. Print.
  5. 1 2 Baym, Nancy. "Personal Connections In the Digital Age". Cambridge: Polity Press, 2010. p.24
  6. ↑ "Tenner, Edward. "Confessions Of A Technophile." Raritan 22.1 (2002): 135. Web.
  7. ↑ On the contrast between Huxley and Orwell on that issue, see Michel Weber's "Aldous Huxley and George Orwell on the political use of technoscience," The Condemned Playground, Balliol College, Oxford University, September 1 / September 4, 2013.
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