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On Wed, 5 Jan 2000 Fred Nickols asked for Examples of using technology to
induce sociological change.

Seems to me that the decision to use the atomic bomb caused some amount of
social change. One could argue that we would have had a lot more warm wars
instead of such a long cold war.

John Kennedy's decision to put a man on the moon is described as motivated
not by the desire to put a man on the moon but to coalesce the citizenry
behind his agenda.

It may be more economic change than social change but the Rural
Electrification Act sure changed a lot of lives.

Stalin said something like "give me control of television and I'll rule
their minds" and the social acceptance of aberrent if not abhorent
lifestyles has certainly changed with the presence of this technology.

The California Air Resources Board seems dedicated to forcing mass rapid
transit on the citizents. Is that social change?

Jerry Brown, while Governor of California, stopped freeway construction for
several years in order to influence social choices. They are still
attempting to recover from that mess.

And the Green Party's drumbeat of global warming may well put us into
another Dark Ages. OBTW, who is President of the Green Party?

And, pending comprehension of the social ramifications of the www, the
winner is -- two million Native Americans, having spent decades at an
income level of about $5K per year now are over $50K and headed for $100K
simply because their leaders adopted the electronic slot machine.
Jack Ring, 32712 N. 70th St., Snottsdale, AZ 85262-7143
480-488-4615, Cell) 602.369.4615
We all think alike. But none of us very much. (Walter Lippman)

Re Jack Ring's list of technological changes that induced sociological
change...

Thanks, Jack, it's a dandy list, especially the last item on it.

However, it seems to me that only a few fit the mold of a specific
technological change purposely used to induce a specific sociological
change. I'm still looking for some examples where a specific sociological
change was the target and a technological change was used to induce it.

At 06:19 PM 01/06/2000 -0700, you wrote:
>On Wed, 5 Jan 2000 Fred Nickols asked for Examples of using technology to
>induce sociological change.
>
>Seems to me that the decision to use the atomic bomb caused some amount of
>social change. One could argue that we would have had a lot more warm wars
>instead of such a long cold war.
>
>John Kennedy's decision to put a man on the moon is described as motivated
>not by the desire to put a man on the moon but to coalesce the citizenry
>behind his agenda.
>
>It may be more economic change than social change but the Rural
>Electrification Act sure changed a lot of lives.
>
>Stalin said something like "give me control of television and I'll rule
>their minds" and the social acceptance of aberrent if not abhorent
>lifestyles has certainly changed with the presence of this technology.
>
>The California Air Resources Board seems dedicated to forcing mass rapid
>transit on the citizents. Is that social change?
>
>Jerry Brown, while Governor of California, stopped freeway construction for
>several years in order to influence social choices. They are still
>attempting to recover from that mess.
>
>And the Green Party's drumbeat of global warming may well put us into
>another Dark Ages. OBTW, who is President of the Green Party?
>
>And, pending comprehension of the social ramifications of the www, the
>winner is -- two million Native Americans, having spent decades at an
>income level of about $5K per year now are over $50K and headed for $100K
>simply because their leaders adopted the electronic slot machine.
>Jack Ring, 32712 N. 70th St., Snottsdale, AZ 85262-7143
>480-488-4615, Cell) 602.369.4615
>We all think alike. But none of us very much. (Walter Lippman)

Fred Nickols
The Distance Consulting Company
"Assistance at A Distance"
http://home.att.net/~nickols/distance.htm
nickols@worldnet.att.net
(609) 490-0095

Fred,
I suspected that most of the items were not specific enough for the
cause-effect you were seeking but couldn't resist.

You might reconsider the last one. Native American leaders purposefully
pursue casinos as a way out of captivity.

If you really want to get thrilling, why not ask Donna S. why, as Surgeon
General, she advocated promulgating the technology of birth control through
our school system.

Also, was the requirement to report EEO statistics a technology-based
change that was intended to accelerate EEO compliance? Ironically, it
turned out that the deadline for full compliance reporting had to be
delayed five years because US companies could not change their data base
schemas that quickly.

On Fri, 7 Jan 2000 Fred Nickols wrot Re: Technology triggered social change

>Re Jack Ring's list of technological changes that induced sociological
>change...
>
> Thanks, Jack, it's a dandy list, especially the last item on it.
>
>However, it seems to me that only a few fit the mold of a specific
>technological change purposely used to induce a specific sociological
>change. I'm still looking for some examples where a specific sociological
>change was the target and a technological change was used to induce it.

Jack Ring
Innovation Management
32712 N. 70th St., Snottsdale, AZ 85262-7143
Office) 480-488-4615, Cell) 602.369.4615, Fax) 480-488-4616
Where all think alike, no one thinks very much. (Walter Lippman)