The Technological Society - Jacques Ellul

August 08, 2014

More notes to myself than a review:

The central thesis is that technological (which means "effiient ways of doing things") progress happens by natural selection, out of the hands of people. As a consequence, progress need not always be "beneficial" to humanity. It leads to a reduction of human agency and moreover, such progress actively transforms man to suit it's needs - this can lead to a rupturing of social structures. Eg - the modern nuclear family, office jobs etc.

Another aspect is that this leads to a uniformity, the idea of a "universal" culture. Coke dominates the niche of "refreshing drink" all over the world. Moreover, as things get more complicated, this leads to an inertia and disrupting existing structures becomes all that much harder.

He makes an interesting point about how the state (defined as a dominant local force monopoly) has gone from monopolizing military strength to monopolizing economic control. The dominant feature of modern society is the reliance on the economy and therefore control over it is of paramount importance.