technological evolution
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The term "technological evolution" captures explanations of technological change that draw on mechanisms from evolutionary biology. Evolutionary biology has one of its roots in the book “On the origin of species” by Charles Darwin. In the style of this catchphrase, technological evolution might describe the origin of new technologies.


Combinatoric theory of technological change

The combinatoric theory of technological change states that every technology always consists of simpler technologies and a new technology is made of already existing technologies. One notion of this theory is that this interaction of technologies creates a network. All the technologies which interact to form a new technology can be thought of as complements, such as a screwdriver and a screw which by their interaction create the process of screwing a screw. This newly formed process of screwing a screw can be perceived as a technology itself and can therefore be represented by a new node in the network of technologies. The new technology itself can interact with other technologies to form a new technology again. If this process of combining existing technologies is repeated again and again, the network of technologies grows. The here described mechanism of technological change has been termed “combinatorial evolution”. Others call it “technological recursion”. Brian Arthur has elaborated how the theory is related to the mechanism of genetic recombination from evolutionary biology and in which aspects it differs.


History of technological evolution

Technological evolution is a theory of radical transformation of society through technological development. This theory originated with
Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...
philosopher
Radovan Richta Radovan Richta (June 6, 1924 – July 21, 1983) was a Czech philosopher who coined the term technological evolution; a theory about how societies diminish physical labour by increasing mental labour. Richta was born in Prague. Richta's first wor ...
. ''Mankind In Transition; A View of the Distant Past, the Present and the Far Future'', Masefield Books, 1993.
Technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...
(which Richta defines as "a material entity created by the application of mental and physical effort to nature in order to achieve some value") evolves in three stages: tools, machine,
automation Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...
. This evolution, he says, follows two trends: The pre-technological period, in which all other animal species remain today (aside from some avian and primate species) was a non-rational period of the early prehistoric man. The emergence of technology, made possible by the development of the rational faculty, paved the way for the first stage: the tool. A tool provides a mechanical advantage in accomplishing a physical task, such as an arrow, plow, or hammer that augments physical labor to more efficiently achieve his objective. Later animal-powered tools such as the plow and the horse, increased the productivity of food production about tenfold over the technology of the hunter-gatherers. Tools allow one to do things impossible to accomplish with one's body alone, such as seeing minute visual detail with a
microscope A microscope () is a laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic means being invisibl ...
, manipulating heavy objects with a
pulley A pulley is a wheel on an axle or shaft that is designed to support movement and change of direction of a taut cable or belt, or transfer of power between the shaft and cable or belt. In the case of a pulley supported by a frame or shell that ...
and cart, or carrying volumes of water in a bucket. The second technological stage was the creation of the
machine A machine is a physical system using Power (physics), power to apply Force, forces and control Motion, movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to na ...
. A machine (a powered machine to be more precise) is a tool that substitutes part of or all of the element of human physical effort, requiring only the control of its functions. Machines became widespread with the industrial revolution, though
windmills A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called sails or blades, specifically to mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and other applications, in some par ...
, a type of machine, are much older. Examples of this include cars, trains,
computers A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These programs ...
, and lights. Machines allow humans to tremendously exceed the limitations of their bodies. Putting a machine on the farm, a tractor, increased food productivity at least tenfold over the technology of the plow and the horse. The third, and final stage of technological evolution is the
automation Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...
. The automation is a machine that removes the element of human control with an automatic algorithm. Examples of machines that exhibit this characteristic are
digital watches A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached by ...
, automatic telephone switches,
pacemakers An artificial cardiac pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the natural cardiac pacemaker) or pacemaker is a Implant (medicine), medical device that generates electrical impulses delivered by electrodes to the Heart ...
, and computer programs. It is crucial to understand that the three stages outline the introduction of the fundamental types of technology, and so all three continue to be widely used today. A spear, a plow, a pen, a knife, a glove, and an optical microscope are all examples of tools.


See also

*
Self-replicating machines in fiction A self-replicating machine is a type of autonomous robot that is capable of reproducing itself autonomously using raw materials found in the environment, thus exhibiting self-replication in a way analogous to that found in nature. Such machines are ...
*
Sociocultural evolution Sociocultural evolution, sociocultural evolutionism or social evolution are theories of sociobiology and cultural evolution that describe how societies and culture change over time. Whereas sociocultural development traces processes that tend t ...
*''The Automated Society''


References


External links

The Evolution of Technology, George Basalla, University of Delaware
{{DEFAULTSORT:Technological Evolution
Evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
Evolution Technological change