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INTRODUCTION TO

SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY

AND SOCIETY

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Course Description
The course deals with interactions between science and technology
and social, cultural, political, and economic contexts that shape and
are shaped by them. (CMO No. 20, series of 2013).

This interdisciplinary course engages students to confront the realities

brought about by science and technology in society. Such realities pervade
the personal, the public, and the global aspects of our living and are
integral to human development. Scientific knowledge and technological
development happen in the context of society with all its socio-political,
cultural, economic, and philosophical underpinnings at play. This course
seeks to instill reflective knowledge in the students that they are able to
live the good life and display ethical decision making in the face of
scientific and technological advancement.

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

On a scale of 1 to 10, describe how you are

when it comes to Science (as a field).

1 BEING LEAST CONFIDENT, 10 HAVING HIGH CONFIDENCE

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MOST COMMON PERCEPTION OF SCIENCE

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SCIENCE
is the pursuit and application of knowledge
and understanding of the natural and social world
following a systematic methodology based on evidence.
sciencecouncil.org

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►Science involves more than the ► Science is an intellectual activity

gaining of knowledge. It is the carried on by humans that is designed to
systematic and organized inquiry into the discover information about the natural
natural world and its phenomena. Science world in which humans live and to
is about gaining a deeper and often discover the ways in which this
useful understanding of the world. information can be organized into
from the Multicultural History of Science page meaningful patterns. A primary aim of
at Vanderbilt University.
science is to collect facts (data). An
ultimate purpose of science is to
discern the order that exists
between and amongst the
various facts.
Dr. Sheldon Gottlieb

► Religion is a culture of faith;

science is a culture of doubt.
Richard Feynman, Nobel-prize-winning SCIENCE
DEFINED
physicist

From: http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/a/c/acp103/PSYCH105/whatisscience.htm

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TECHNOLOGY /tekˈnäləjē/
ORIGIN
We’ll call that
‘teknologia’ tekhnē
Greek
‘art, craft’ tekhnologia
Greek
‘systematic technology
-logia treatment’ English
Greek
-logy
English

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#
1 ► The rational process of creating means to order and
transform matter, energy, and information to realize certain
valued ends.

TECHNOLOGY 2 ► The set of means (tools, devices, systems, methods,

procedures) created by the technological process.

“techne” meaning art, craft or skill

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► The knowledge that makes the technological process
possible. It consists of the facts and procedures necessary to
order and manipulate matter, energy, and information, as well as
Technology can be defined five ways how to discover new means for such transformations.

4 ► A subset of related technological objects and knowledge.

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► The system consisting of the technological process,
technological objects, technological knowledge, developers of
technological objects, users of technological objects, and the
worldview that has emerged from and drives the technological
process. This is referred to as the technological system.

Source: oregonstate.edu

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TECHNOLOGY TIMELINE
◄A LONG, LONG, LONG TIME AGO… MORE RECENT TIME… ►

Note: Not arranged in the most chronological order

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SOCIETY
A society is a group of people involved with each other through
persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same
geographical or social territory, typically subject to the same political
authority and dominant cultural expectations.

It may be illustrated as an economic, social, or industrial

infrastructure, made up of a varied collection of individuals.

Members of a society may be from different ethnic groups.

The word society may also refer to an organized voluntary association

of people for religious, benevolent, cultural, scientific, political, patriotic,
or other purposes.

Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/society.htm

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Lenski defined societies in terms of their

technological
sophistication.
Societies with limited or basic technology are at the mercy of
GERHARD LENSKI the fluctuations of the environment while industrialized
1924 - 2015 societies tend to have more control over the impact of their
surroundings thus developing different cultural features.

“
He is an American
sociologist known for Sociocultural change is of two types:
contributions to the (1) Innovation - involves adding new elements such as
sociology of religion, technologies, social practices, institutions, or beliefs to
social inequality, and the system, and;.
ecological- (2) Extinction - the elimination of old elements in the system.
evolutionary social
theory.

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rely on the
domestication explosion of new
of animals technology made
farming possible

1 2 3 4

Most
dependent
in the
environment

Hunter-Gatherer Pastoral Horticultural Agricultural

people to grow and

cultivate plants

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TYPES OF
SOCIETIES
societies
contained a Feudal Industrial Information
strict
hierarchical
system of
power dramatic rise in based on the production of
technological invention information and services

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WHAT IS STS?
SCIENCE
It is a field interested in the
nature of science and its place
in society.

TECHNOLOG SOCIETY
Y

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STS ASKS
STS ASKS # How does science work?

STS ASKS #
How are we to understand scientific
controversies?

How have scientific research ethics evolved, and

# what ethical issues are now being contested?

How do societies and governments allocate resources

# for scientific research and science-based policies?

How are scientific knowledge and practice affected

# by economic, political, religious, or philosophical
currents in a given time and place?

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KEY
TAKEAWAYS

1) STS is the interplay between science, technology and society. It focuses on how
each one element affects all the other elements.
2) It is essential for each one to have a holistic understanding of how science
molds and impacts the society.
3) Policies that lack evidence may cost and do more damage than benefits.

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