Erik Erikson ( ) was one of the first to posit a phenomenon akin to technogenesis, but in generational terms. Technological changes not only become integrated into society, but actually become the driving force behind the shifting identity of the “compact majority.” The older members of society who have already established their identity through technology of a previous generation use technology as a way of enticing the youth into a social compact with them. These older members recognize the power that comes by absorbing the technology into everyday activities so that you become one with it. In the identity phase this unity of purpose, activity and technology offers youth the opportunity to deal with their identity crisis by merging their sense of self with the ideology of the larger society. This unity will also pay dividends during the generativity stage of development. The difficulty is that technology often times rushes ahead of the more bedrock aspects of society, such as ethical and moral codes. It is not so much that these ethical codes are lost as the social system does not know how to apply them. The youth who have embraced the new technology as part of their identity are too entrenched in the burgeoning ideology, while the older generation, because they have already passed their identity crisis, has only a limited understanding of how ethics of the society can and should change in reaction to this new technology. As a counter-weight to the technological youth who are taking their ideology from the new technology and its integration with the society a second group of youth emerges. This second group is more neo-humanist than technological and are primarily concerned with maintenance of some of the older, more ingrained aspects of civilization such as ethics, moral codes, and preservation of community values. These neo-humanist youth build their ideology out of the protective tissue of civilization developed to protect us from the baser instincts of humanity.
Woah - so is there always a more neo-humanist youth to follow a more "progressive" one? If I understand what you've written, does this mean it is the next generation that helps make sense of the new technology, in terms of the norms, ethics and constraints for the good of "society"?
Erik Erikson ( ) was one of the first to posit a phenomenon akin to technogenesis, but in generational terms. Technological changes not only become integrated into society, but actually become the driving force behind the shifting identity of the “compact majority.” The older members of society who have already established their identity through technology of a previous generation use technology as a way of enticing the youth into a social compact with them. These older members recognize the power that comes by absorbing the technology into everyday activities so that you become one with it. In the identity phase this unity of purpose, activity and technology offers youth the opportunity to deal with their identity crisis by merging their sense of self with the ideology of the larger society. This unity will also pay dividends during the generativity stage of development. The difficulty is that technology often times rushes ahead of the more bedrock aspects of society, such as ethical and moral codes. It is not so much that these ethical codes are lost as the social system does not know how to apply them. The youth who have embraced the new technology as part of their identity are too entrenched in the burgeoning ideology, while the older generation, because they have already passed their identity crisis, has only a limited understanding of how ethics of the society can and should change in reaction to this new technology. As a counter-weight to the technological youth who are taking their ideology from the new technology and its integration with the society a second group of youth emerges. This second group is more neo-humanist than technological and are primarily concerned with maintenance of some of the older, more ingrained aspects of civilization such as ethics, moral codes, and preservation of community values. These neo-humanist youth build their ideology out of the protective tissue of civilization developed to protect us from the baser instincts of humanity.
ReplyDeleteWoah - so is there always a more neo-humanist youth to follow a more "progressive" one? If I understand what you've written, does this mean it is the next generation that helps make sense of the new technology, in terms of the norms, ethics and constraints for the good of "society"?
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