The Gulf War Didn’t Exist

Does technology determine everything? I think not Mr. Potts….       / Mr. Murphie

This week’s reading discussed technological determinism: the idea that technology drives the development of society and thus, determines everything that we do. I tend to disagree. Although technology could be seen to determine certain events throughout history, I think the creators plays an integral part determining how technology will be used which therefore defines how it determines events for example. Extrapolating from that: we choose how to use technology, which becomes the determining factor for how something happens due to technology. Take Jean Baudrillard’s theory about the Gulf war; it did not take place as it was understood to by members of the public back in the US due to the manipulation of propaganda and journalism technologies. Therefore, people chose to use journalism technologies in such a way that determined the presence and perception of an event in human history. These technologies have just as prominent affordances to be used in a completely different way that would have changed how the Gulf War was ‘determined’.

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