The Sociology of High Technology

by Dave Paulsen

dave@reststop.net

Copyright© 1991, 1994, Dave Paulsen

Abstract

This paper discusses some of the evolutionary effects of the implementation of high technology, and one of its most visible components, the computer, on human psychology, cognitive processes, neurophysiology, and social development. I also present the results of a survey conducted to determine current attitudes towards and about computers and their use.

Introduction

The information age. The global cottage. The megatrend of shifting from an industrial to an information society. These are all popular buzzwords and phrases, and the media and our professional and academic journals are full of reports and articles giving various explanations on what they mean and how they affect human evolution and society. One of the issues that is often discussed is whether High Tech(1) is socially enhancing in that it improves the overall human quality of life, or dehumanizing in that it delegates human intelligence into a secondary role. I propose that High Tech puts human intelligence at the forefront, and directly and positively contributes to human evolutionary growth in both the brain and society.

Information retrieval, knowledge acquisition, and education are all external stimulations, or inputs, to the brain. Studies have shown that the proper stimulations, or "enhanced environments", can substantially improve brain functioning, brain growth in the size of the neurons and number of glial cells, and even neuron regeneration. Experiments and studies conducted at the University of California, Berkely, by biological psychologist Mark Rosenzweig and neuroanatomist Marian Diamond bore out this brain expansion by stimulation.

Environmental stimulation of brain growth.

Experiments were conducted on rats that had been selectivly breed to be as genetically similar as possible, with the generations dating back to the 1920s (Hutchison, 1986). The rats were placed at weaning into environments that were designed to be 1) standard, where groups of three rats were raised in ordinary wire-mesh cages, 2) impoverished, where the rats were solitarily confined to opaque walled cages with dim lights, low noise, and generally minimized stimulation, or 3) enriched, where the rats were raised in groups of twelve in large tiered cages filled with toys, ladders, slides, and a variety of frequently changing challenges and stimuli (Diamond, et al, 1964). This was done to study the effects alternate environments might have on brain structure and chemistry produced by different levels of brain activity.

In a period ranging from days to months, the rat's brains were analyzed and those from the enriched environment were found to exhibit neurochemical changes by way of increases of the brain enzyme acetylcholinesterase, and physical changes in an increase in brain weight. The increased weight was found to be a combination of:

a thickening of the cerebral cortex,
a 15% size increase in individual neurons,
an increase in the amount of dendridic branching,
increases in the number of dendridic spines and the size of the synaptic contact area,
a 15% increase in the number of glial cells,
and an increase in the weight ratio of the cortex to the rest of the brain.

This last finding showed that the increases attributed to the mental stimulation provided by an enriched environment did not affect the brain in general, but those areas specifically linked to the cognitive processes (Diamond, et al, 1962, Rosenzweig, 1984).

These results have been replicated by other researchers on other mammals and have shown that measurable changes can be observed in as little as forty-five minutes (Ferchmin & Eterovic, 19??, Hutchison, 1986). Psychologist David Krech's studies with genetically bred maze-dull and maze-bright rats showed that when maze-dull rats were raised in an enriched environment, and maze-bright rats were raised in an impoverished environment, the maze-dull rats outperformed the maze-bright rats (Pines, 1973). This helps establish a rational expectation we can overcome the hereditary effects of generations of breeding by being immersed in a psychologically stimulating environment.

The Eureka Event

The stimulation leading to these same types of growth in human brains is manifested in what is known as the "Eureka event," after the Greek philosopher Archimedes. He was sitting in his tub trying to formulate a solution to a problem, when the answer came to him in a flash of insight. This event was so powerful to Archimedes that he jumped from his tub, and still naked, ran down the street shouting "Eureka!" ("I have found.")

Archimedes had experienced a feeling of achieving a new state of mind with altered synaptic connections, and by observing his environment, he had become enriched and "discovered" a new way of perceiving reality. These flashes of insight, of various intensity levels, are also known as knowledge acquisition, or learning.

Dissipative structures

So how can external stimuli cause these nearly instantaneous changes in our brains structure? The transformational effects of external stimuli can come from a variety of sources, and can also cause entirely different reactions in differing situations; sometimes leading to increased order, knowledge, and complexity, and at other times to disorder, confusion, or mental breakdown. The stimuli that we are constantly exposed to, in a random, chaotic input stream can trigger changes that bring order to this chaos, because living systems are open systems that are far from equilibrium (Hutchison, 1986).

The proof of this theory resulted in theoretical chemist Ilya Prigogine being awarded the Nobel Prize for what he called dissipative structures. Dissipative structures, which can be a mind, a society, a computer network, or an ecosystem, by being open systems in far from equilibrium environments, constantly change and grow as they adjust to unpredictable stimuli, and maintain a structured, self-organizing ordered system. The constant flow of an uncertain amount of energy, or stimuli, through a system causes instabilities, or fluctuations, which can normally be absorbed. However, there can come a point where the dissipative structure, by having to deal with more fluctuations than it can absorb, reaches the bifurcation point. This point of collapse may destroy the system, but if it survives, it does so by evolving into a new, more complex system that can absorb the stimuli fluctuations that destroyed the old order, or as Prigogine states, "escaped into a higher order (Prigogine & Stengers, 1984)." When the stimuli again change to the point of causing intense fluctuations, a transformational leap to another yet more complex level of order takes place. This discontinuous, non-linear process is known as saltation.

As our tools evolve, so do we.

The saltatory (leaps and bounds) view of human evolution is supported by enough evidence that when the human brain doubled in size in a few hundred thousand years, the period is called "the brain explosion." Anthropologists are linking this growth, which was mainly in the neo cortex, to the period humans started using tools (Hutchison, 1986). (ref Megabrain) If this linkage is true, then tools, which are a prerequisite to building machines, provided part of the impetus for the growth of the brain and furthered human evolution. The concept of using computers and other electronic devices as the tools to stimulate intellectual activity and brain growth is nothing new then. We now have the capability with our even more advanced tools, and access to enormous amounts of information and vast knowledge bases, to stimulate human creativity, scientific achievement, and social consciousness to ever more complex and more highly evolved orders.

In our present high tech society, humans are being bombarded daily with information from various sources, including radio, television, newspapers and newsmagazines, electronic databases, and communication networks. The enriched, High Tech world of America contains not only the material objects and physical surroundings necessary to be conducive to learning that the enriched environment rats had, but also contains an object known as information, a product unique to the human brain. America has shifted from an industrial to an information society, in what John Naisbitt refers to as one of the "Megatrends" affecting society today (Naisbitt, 1982).

The megatrend of shifting from an industrial to an information society is probably the most important of Naisbitt's megatrends in its effects on society. Starting in 1956 with the laying of the transatlantic phone cable and the first year in which white collar workers outnumbered blue collar workers, and 1957 with the launch of Sputnik which made global communications a reality, the global cottage and the information society were born. The information age is thus an outgrowth of the implementation of high technology, and one of the benefits of the change to an information based society is the increased access to an intellectually enhanced environment.

The increased input to the mind keeps it in a state of flux so growth and insight are stimulated. It can be easily observed, however,that not all people can handle, or are even desirous of, giving up their present structure. The fear of loss of control, of going through bifurcation and escaping to a higher order, of trading the known for the unknown, is not something all people will suffer gladly.

The revived interest in a multitide of religions is in part due to the social changes taking place during the transition from an industrial to an information society and the need for structure in times of change. It should come as no surprise that the fastest growing denominations are the strictest and most demanding. "During turbulent times many people need structure--not ambiguity-- in their lives. They need something to hang on to, not something to debate," says John Naisbitt. "The nation experienced a similar increase in religious pluralism during the Great Religious Awakening of America's mid-1700s, a period when we were transforming from an agricultural to an industrial society (Naisbitt, 1982)."

Another unique aspect of information is its ability to be self-generating in a recursive fasion. This is especially important as information has become America's leading economic resource. The growth of online services, where there were almost 3000 databases offered by 500 online services in 1987, compared to none a decade earlier (Weitzen, 1988), and the phenomenal growth of the public access communication and electronic mail conference networks, point to this information explosion. One network in particular, known as FidoNet, has grown from two host systems in 1984 to over 10,000 host systems worldwide in 1991 (Paulsen, 1990). FidoNet makes available to the general public over 500 different topic specific conferences, ranging from computer software design, to social health issues, to zymurgy, all of which can be accessed by anyone with a computer and modem by logging on to one of the Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) that are FidoNet members.

The more recent--circa 1993--accessability of the Internet to the general public and business community is another prime example of people's quest for information. The Internet has an order of magnitude more information available than FidoNet, and is doubling in size yearly. At the end of 1994 there were approximately 20 million people using the Internet in almost 140 different countries.

The BBS and Internet communities, and the idea of networking, is for openly sharing information and making contacts, but the networking concept and possibilities go beyond simply transferring data, to creating and transferring knowledge. As each person absorbs and synthesizes this knowledge, new thoughts and ideas are injected back into the network for further sharing and synthesis. In this environment, new models can arise, and the cumulative awareness of human nature and our universe can be appended to and shared throughout the world (Naisbitt, 1982).

Method

Design and procedure

I designed a questionaire (appendices A and B) to discover how well people were adapting to our High Tech, increasingly computer based information society. I wanted to determine how well technology was being assimilated into our society, and to see if there would be any difference of perceptions between computer users and non-computer users. I also wanted to see how receptive people were to future technology, by using the concept of videotelephone, and to see whether computers and high technology were viewed as being a positive social and evolutionary force. Finally, I wanted to see what percentage of people wanted to actively discover how a computer worked and how it could be applied.

Subjects

The survey type was basically random judgement. The survey was distributed on the campus of Spokane Falls Community College, and was also available on a BBS that I've operated for the last five years. The survey could be viewed on-line, and the answers were collected into my own database. The reason I concentrated on the college environment, instead of the general public, was on the assumption that the educated are generally the ones who shape the business, political, and social structures of the future. The survey period was approximately two weeks.

Results

The total number of surveys that were completed were forty, twenty of which were filled out on the BBS, and they, by definition, are computer users. Of the twenty that were filled out on campus, six were non-computer users. The result tallies are summarized in Appendix C, Chart 1.

I grouped the result answers into 6 catagories. The catagories and the results are as follows:

Catagory 1.

These questions concerned the computer versus human concept. 80% responded no to whether computers made people less important, but they were split on whether computers were intruding into human affairs.

Catagory 2.

These questions concerned acceptance of technology. 77.5% said they would use a videotelephone, 22.5% said videotelephone would not be a lifestyle enhancement, and only 10% said no to computers being a positive influence on society.

Catagory 3.

This catagory was designed to find out how much control over the computer people thought they had, and how much they would like to have control and understanding of the computer. Between 85-94% of respondents indicated they enjoy learning how computers work, enjoy computers, and like to control how they use the computer and what the computer does. Almost 74% said no to feeling the computer was in control of them, although almost 18% said sometimes it felt that way.

Catagory 4.

These questions concerned on-line database and electronic mail conference useage and utility. 62% of the respondents have used online databases, but they were evenly split on whether or not they obtained any useful information from them. 85% said they used and enjoyed the electronic mail conferences, 100% said they benefited from the information on the BBS, and 76% said they obtained useful information from the conferences. In response to the question "Do you find electronic conversation easier than direct, face to face conversation?", almost 24% said yes, and 19% said sometimes. 100% of the respondents said they liked exchanging ideas.

Catagory 5.

This catagory was to determine computer education and where people were first introduced to computer use. 65% have had some formal training in computing. 70% of the respondents learned computers by just using one, 35% in school, and 32% on the job.

Catagory 6.

Even though there were only six non-computer users, they all expressed a desire to use a computer, and all but one also wanted to know how the computer worked. All thought a computer would benefit them at least some of the time (four yes, two sometimes answers.) All but one has considered getting their own computer, and only two of them thought it would take too long to learn how to use a computer. (So the concept that computers are easy to learn and are generally useful devices is starting to take hold, based on these answers and the low number of non-computer users in an educational environment.) All the non-users indicated they would use a computer to further career goals and enhance their personal life or hobbies.

Three other variables were also considered within the group that uses computers: age at first contact, approximate average usage, and total elapsed time since first computer usage. The age at first use ranged from ten to sixty years old, and no age group contained a disproportionately larger number than any other. The average contact time went from once a year to sixteen hours per day. Exactly half of the respondents use computers daily for one to six hours, and seven use computers for more than seven hours per day.

Conclusions

The information age is upon us, and we seem to be taking it well, enjoying it, and learning to profit from it. The strategic resource in the industrial America was money. Many may have known how to build a steel mill, but few had the capital to do so. The strategic resource now is information, or knowledge, and many have access to it and the means to further distribute it (Naisbitt, 1982). The advance of computers and automation has freed humans from menial and/or manual tasks and allowed the brain to become more active. This is evidenced in the human potential movement, and as we discover our potential as human beings, we develop the knowledge and hopefully gain the necessary wisdom to guide and nurture our high tech future.

As further evidence of the growth of computer use, according to recent (Spring 1991) US Census Bureau statistics (Newstrack, 1991):

almost 46% of American children use computers at home or school.
37% of American adults use computers at work.
71% of all people working in the insurance, real estate, and financial fields use computers.
The number of households which possess a computer has doubled since 1984 to almost 14 million.

The most commonly cited statistic on the number of personal computers currently in use in 1991 is 50 million.

One of the most important aspects of computers and information technology is the expansion of your brain and mind through the increase in your base of knowledge and education. I think we are better equipped for accepting whatever the final answer turns out to be if we are open to new ideas and always trying to expand our individual and collective knowledge, and then transforming this to wisdom. It has been shown that we all have this capability. The powers and functions of the brain can be enhanced and extended by the use and presence of our current high technology, which will be even higher tomorrow. In the words of Gabe Werba, Past President, American Mensa, "We think nothing of running, of jogging, of exercising our bodies daily. Is it heresy to suggest that we should also exercise our mind? Is it heresy to suggest that intelligence not exercised on behalf of humanity can constitute a moral failure (Werba, 1989)?"

Notes

(1) High Tech, for the purposes of this paper, includes computers, and the audio, video, and data communication networks that contribute to the high speed disemination of information and knowledge. Fax machines, cellular telephones, minicams, and laptop computers are all distinct instances of High Tech.

Acknowledgements

It is easy, in this case anyway, for me to point to the major linkages in the bifurcation that led me to this line of research and thinking. Reading Michael Hutchison's Megabrain, the opportunity to discuss similar interests with Dr. Larry Vandervert, his tutelage on this report, and his copy of John Naisbitt's Megatrends.

References

Diamond, M.C. & Lindner, B. & Johnson, R. & Bennett, E.L. &: Rosenzweig, M.R. Differences in occipital cortical synapses from environmentally enriched, impoverished, and standard colony rats. Journal of Neuroscience Research. Vol. 1, pp. 109-119.
Ferchmin, P.A., & Eterovic, V.A. Four hours of enriched: experience are sufficient to increase cortical weight of rats. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts. Vol. 6, p. 857.
Hutchison, M. (1986) Megabrain. New York, NY: Ballantine Books.
Naisbitt, J. (1982) Megatrends. New York, NY: Warner Books.
Newstrack, Communications of the ACM. Vol. 34, No.6, June 1991.
Paulsen, D. (1990) The FidoNet BBS network.: Published electronically.
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