RE: Technology vs. Society (PART I)
I think the Amish are a great example. That being said, I agree that the Amish have effectively made a decision as a community what technology they are comfortable with. But they as a people decided that and I'm sure they will be challenged with future technologies and will have to decide what to do as well. But the point is--and the point of what I wrote above--is that we as a society have to decide what to use.
And therefore, individual free choice may be a difficult conclusion. Is it really free choice when their culture and traditions decided what level of technology they would limit themselves to? Some of this technology nowadays is so advanced that leaving it up to just a few individuals to manage would be highly dangerous.
So, where I do agree with you that the community needs to decide the technology they are comfortable with, I'm not entirely confident that it's a matter of free choice.
no..we as a society don't have to do squat.
individuals decide...otherwise there is tyranny.
The relationship between technology and society has always been a complex one, even going back to early language acquisition like you referenced. That one technology vastly changed what communication means over the centuries. Going from spoken oral traditions to writing, to the printing press, to the telegraph, radio, television, and now the internet. We may choose to further technologies to further our needs, but not the unintended outcomes they tend to bring with them. And that can be it's own tyranny.
Gotta cite my source, since they like that kind of thing here. Though not really quoting, it's where I extrapolated my general idea.
*Neil Postman - "Amusing Ourselves to Death"
Nicely put, definitely good synthesis of each of our points!!