The Relationship between technology and culture

Technology does alter culture - it's what I research for a living (particularly how mobile technologies alter people's perceptions of time). However writing about that would be a busman's holiday and frankly I don't do lengthy unless someone is paying for it.Let's try something more simple: Any effect on culture or not?

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My feeling is that mobile technologies have not only altered perceptions of time, but of space as well.

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Yes very true - the crux of this area is the interaction between Time,Position, symbol and person. Zerubavel's work on socio-temporal order is pretty interesting - I'll have to dig my copy out.One of the key temporal effect of information system implementation is the elimination of rigidity in working rhythms information technologies help to eliminate or diminish the importance of time-frames generally accepted as appropriate for performing a given activity. (Failla and Bagnara 1992).This sort of supports the work of Barley (1988)who came up with a basic dichotomy of how individuals and cultures organise time: either monochronistic or polychronistic in nature. Monochronistic behaviour is observed when the individual anticipate and plans for events and occurrences by scheduling slots of time and trying to perform one task at a time; polychronistic behaviour in contrast involves the individual working with less of a structure of order and being more accepting of divergence creeping into a schedule.Following from this there is an argument that the developmental stage of the technology will influence how greatly rigidity is reduced and F&B proposed a three stage model of technology development for measure of effect: automation of routine activities, decision support, and virtual reality technology. The higher the stage the more the level of rigidity is reduced.I'm not particularly interested in objective or physiological concepts of time but rather the psychological perception of time.Sort of like Lee -In this research, the temporalities were not described using the standard unit of second, minute and hour. They were presented by the subjects’ own language. If they used the hour in describing their work, we followed. If they told of their time using such terms as after lunch time, in the morning and half a day, we employed them.(Lee 1999)

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Barley, S. R. (1988). On technology, time and social order: technologically induced change in the temporal organization of radiological work. Making time: ethnographies of high-technology organizations. F. A. Dubinskas. Philadelphia, PA., Temple University Press.: 123-169.

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Failla, A. and S. Bagnara (1992). "Information Technology, Decision, Time." Social science information 31(4): 669-681.

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Lee, H. (1999). "Time and Information Technology: Monochronicity, Polychronicity and Temporal Symmetry." European Journal of Information Systems 8(1): 16-26.

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Zerubavel, E. (1981). Hidden rhythms: schedules and calendars in social life. Chicago, The University of Chicago Press.

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got to love endnote coupled with an internet connection

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This message has been edited by Charles Knight, 22 February 2005 06:54 AM

I think we are talking at cross-purposes here - Holmes seems to looking at social organization and interaction and others are using the term culture in the broader sense?

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So you are saying that the greater the technology the more polychronistic? I am not sure if I can agree with that at all. It will for some people, but in order to supply the demands of those who approach things polychronistically (thus flitting from one purpose to another) others will have to be more secured to timetables to assure work proceeds as expected.

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I'm not sure I agree with it ever - but it will give us some good talking points (and hopeful we can discuss some the practical outcomes and possible futures we face).