John Naman's summary captures the major themes of the Amish response to
technology in a useful way. Prof. Naman wrote, "self-sufficiency
(individual and community) is a major underlying Amish theme. The Amish
seem to avoid technology that takes control away from them/the community
(e.g., light co., electricity or complex machinery) and gravitate toward
technology that gives them self-sufficiency." There is one additional theme
in the Amish response to technology.
Howard Rheingold and others have observed that the Amish respond to new
technologies by considering the ways in which these technologies advance or
retard personal freedom and community well-being. Their reflections involve
a broad sense of values and usefulness. These include spiritual, social and
cultural values. Secular society and technocrats consider the Amish quaint
because the results of these rich and often articyulate debaqtes form a
sjharp contrast with narrow senses of usefulness based on signle criteria
such as utility, saving time or maximizing investment.
Last January, Howard Rheingold wrote an excellent piece on this subject for
Wired Magazine 7.01. ("Look Who's Talking The Amish are famous for shunning
technology. But their secret love affair with the cell phone is causing an
uproar.") It's available gratis on the Wired Magazine Web site, URL:
<http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.01/amish.html>.
Ken Friedman, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Leadership and Strategic Design
Department of Knowledge Management
Norwegian School of Management
+47 22.98.51.07 Direct line
+47 22.98.51.11 Telefax
Home office:
+46 (46) 53.245 Telephone
+46 (46) 53.345 Telefax
email:
ken.friedman@bi.no