Technology refers to the underlying processes and production methods by which resources and inputs are transformed into goods and services. Technology includes several differen elements: 1) physical objects – tools, machines, factories, power plants, etc., 2) knowledge and technics to create, service and use those phycial ascpects of the technology, 3) knowledge and technics to teach, organize and control people – educational technics, marketing, scientific management, etc. in this article we will discuss some of the most important aspects of technology: technological change, positive and negative effects of the application of technology, relationship between modern state and technology, technological uncertainty and technological determinism.  

                              Technological Change

Although some societies have experienced periods of technological stagnation throughout history—and a few continue to do so today—some degree of technological change is present in nearly all societies. Technological change may take the form of either technological progress or technological regression. Notable instances of technological regression occurred following the collapse of major civilizations, such as the Bronze Age Collapse and the decline of the Roman Empire, when previously established knowledge and productive capacities were partially lost.

Technological progress refers to the development and adoption of new products, processes, and methods of production. It reflects the expansion of human knowledge, ranging from breakthroughs in fundamental scientific understanding to practical innovations that improve production and economic activity. Historical examples of technological progress include the transition from manual to mechanized production, the replacement of natural materials with synthetic alternatives, the shift from human and animal power to mineral-based energy sources, and the movement from unskilled labor toward a highly educated and specialized workforce.

Technological progress can take different forms. When innovation introduces a new method of producing existing goods, it is known as process innovation. When it results in entirely new goods or services, it is referred to as product innovation. Innovations may arise in response to existing market needs, in which case they are described as demand-pull inventions. Alternatively, they may emerge from advances in scientific or technical knowledge independent of immediate market demand, or as unintended by-products of efforts to develop other technologies, often referred to as serendipitous inventions.

Technologies also differ in their degree of flexibility. Flexible technologies allow producers to substitute among different combinations of inputs. For example, a retail store may rely primarily on cashiers, automated checkout systems, or a combination of both. However, technological choices often exhibit inertia, as organizations become locked into established technological paths. The persistence of the QWERTY keyboard layout and the standardized gauge of railroad tracks are well-known examples of such path dependence. Despite the existence of potentially superior alternatives, these standards have remained dominant due to widespread adoption and compatibility advantages.

Network effects can further influence the diffusion of technologies. Early adoption of innovations such as fax machines or mobile phones involved considerable uncertainty because their usefulness depended on the number of other users. Certain technologies, particularly soft technologies based on knowledge and information, are also difficult to monitor and protect, making them easier to transfer across individuals and organizations.

The significance of technological change was recognized by Adam Smith (1723–1790). Smith argued that improvements in production techniques often emerge as a by-product of the division of labor. As tasks become more specialized, workers gain experience and are more likely to discover methods to increase efficiency and reduce effort. He also anticipated the role of technical experts and organizers—similar to modern engineers—in facilitating innovation. Furthermore, Smith maintained that productivity growth could be enhanced indirectly through capital accumulation, which enables the adoption of improved tools, machinery, and production methods.

William Ogburn introduced his theory of "cultural lag," which occurs when social change happens. Ogburn believes that changes across different spheres of culture and society do not occur at the same pace. Technological and scientific changes most often occur first, followed by changes in the economy and other social spheres related to technology, followed by changes in the spheres of family life, government, education, etc., and finally, changes happen in societal values ​​and norms. It is precisely this lagging behind of changes in other spheres, in relation to changes in technology, that is the essence of the theory of cultural lag.

The process of technological change itself goes through four phases: invention, accumulation, diffusion, and adjustment. The invention is the process of creating new technology. New technologies emerge only when there are sufficient levels of knowledge and technology in an area. Accumulation is the process of increasing the total number of technologies used at the same time in a society. Diffusion is the expansion of technologies between two societies or cultures. Adjustment is the last phase in which non-technological aspects of culture are adapted to inventions. Ogburn calls periods in which changes in other spheres have not yet been harmonized with technological changes periods of "maladaptation".

Joseph Schumpeter is best known for the Schumpeterian hypothesis, which examines the relationship between market structure and innovation. According to this view, monopolistic firms may be better positioned than firms operating in highly competitive markets to generate innovations, as their larger financial resources enable them to invest more heavily in research and development. This argument challenged the prevailing belief that competitive markets are always superior and suggested that monopolies may play a positive role in fostering technological progress.

A related issue is the phenomenon of premature technological obsolescence. Schumpeter anticipated this dynamic through his concept of the “gale of creative destruction,” which describes the continuous process by which new innovations replace existing technologies. In industries characterized by rapid technological change, successful technologies may become obsolete before their full economic benefits have been realized. Newer innovations can quickly surpass and replace existing products and processes, effectively leapfrogging previous technological advances.

Everett Rogers, in the book Diffusion of Innovation (1962), presents his theory of the diffusion of innovation. The process starts from the moment innovation is created until the moment it becomes fully accepted. Rogers has researched the processes and contextual factors that influence the speed of adoption or rejection of innovations.

He introduced two new categories - early and late adopters. The focus was on the spread of commercial innovation in the modern age, so a lot of attention was paid to the commercialization and advertising of innovations. The center adopts innovations faster than the periphery. Rogers developed a two-step communication theory to explain how information about innovation spreads. At the first level, information about the innovation is created, as well as advertising materials about it. At the second level, people in charge of product promotion go to targeted communities and approach those who are considered potential buyers of innovation. The promoters then offer free product testing to those who are targeted. Finally, these early adopters of innovation influence their acquaintances to adopt the innovation as well.

Rogers concluded that the adoption of innovations over time has a standard variation (Bell curve). He singled out five types of technology adopters, in relation to the chronology of innovation acceptance: innovators (2.5%), early adopters (13.5%), early majority (34%), late majority (34%), and laggards (16 %). Rogers later applied his theory of innovation and communication to the areas of family planning, media expansion, and cancer prevention. The fifth edition of Diffusion of Innovation (2003, with Nancy Singer Olaguera) explores how the Internet spread, changes in communication, and the spread of ideas that it has brought.

Bruno Latour introduced the concept of technoscience to describe the close interdependence of scientific knowledge and technological development. According to Latour, scientific knowledge cannot be easily separated from its practical applications, as science and society are continuously co-produced through networks of actors and institutions. Technoscience therefore emphasizes the dynamic interactions between scientific research, technological innovation, and social processes.

In Aramis, or the Love of Technology (1992), Latour argues that technological innovation does not emerge solely from inventors or engineers. Instead, in modern organizational and corporate environments, designers and innovators must engage with a wide range of social actors, including financiers, managers, suppliers, manufacturers, regulators, and potential users. These groups play a crucial role in shaping and supporting the development of new technologies. Latour further suggests that the earliest adopters of a technology are often not its eventual consumers but the stakeholders who provide the resources, expertise, and organizational support necessary for its development. Before a technology can successfully enter the market, these actors must be “enrolled” into a network that stabilizes and sustains the innovation until it reaches a sufficient level of maturity and reliability.

        Positive Effects of Technological Progress

Technological progress has generated numerous benefits for individuals, businesses, and societies. While its effects can vary across contexts, the most widely recognized positive impacts include the following: 1) increased productivity and economic growth. Technological advances enable goods and services to be produced more efficiently, often with fewer resources and less labor. Higher productivity reduces production costs, increases output, and contributes to economic growth and rising living standards. 2) Improved quality of life - many technologies have enhanced everyday life by making tasks easier, faster, and more convenient. Household appliances, transportation systems, digital communication tools, and modern infrastructure have significantly reduced the time and effort required for daily activities, 3) Advances in healthcare - medical technologies have dramatically improved health outcomes through better diagnostics, treatments, surgical techniques, and pharmaceuticals. Innovations such as vaccines, medical imaging, and telemedicine have increased life expectancy and reduced mortality rates from many diseases. 4) Enhanced communication and access to information - the internet, smartphones, and digital platforms have transformed communication by enabling instant global connectivity. Access to information has become faster and more widespread, facilitating education, research, and knowledge sharing. 5) Educational opportunities. Technology has expanded access to education through online learning platforms, digital libraries, and educational software. Students can access high-quality learning materials regardless of their geographic location. 6) Creation of new industries and employment opportunities. Technological innovation has led to the emergence of entirely new industries, such as information technology, biotechnology, renewable energy, and e-commerce. These sectors create new jobs and stimulate entrepreneurial activity. 7) Improved transportation and mobility. Advances in transportation technologies have reduced travel times, increased safety, and facilitated the movement of people and goods. This has enhanced trade, tourism, and economic integration. 8) Better resource utilization. Modern technologies often improve the efficiency with which resources are used. Precision agriculture, smart manufacturing, and energy-efficient systems help reduce waste and increase sustainability. 9. Enhanced safety and security. Technological innovations contribute to safer workplaces, improved disaster forecasting, advanced monitoring systems, and more effective emergency response capabilities. Many dangerous tasks can now be performed by machines rather than humans. 10. Environmental benefits. Although technology can sometimes contribute to environmental problems, it can also provide solutions. Renewable energy technologies, pollution-control systems, electric vehicles, and energy-efficient processes help reduce environmental impacts and support sustainable development. 11) Greater innovation and knowledge creation. Technological progress accelerates scientific discovery by providing researchers with advanced tools and analytical capabilities. This creates a cycle in which scientific advances lead to new technologies, which in turn enable further discoveries. 12) Increased consumer choice - technological development expands the variety of products and services available to consumers, often improving quality while reducing prices through greater efficiency and competition. 13) Female empowerment. The introduction of time-saving household appliances allowed women to leave home and join the workforce or engage in civil society organizations or politics, which brought economic independence, professional self-actualization, and an increase in social status and power for women.

Negative Effects of Technological Progress and Technophobia  

Some examples of negative aspects of technological progress include the increase in pollution, the increase in unemployment, the rise in income inequality, etc. Technophobia, derived from the Greek words techne (art or craft) and phobia (fear), originally referred to a fear of technology, science, or change. Groups such as the Old Order Amish reject some modern technologies to preserve religious values and community life. Traditionally, the term has been used pejoratively by supporters of technology to dismiss critics as irrational or psychologically troubled. Some scholars, such as psychologist Mark J. Brosnan, have even attempted to explain technological anxiety through cognitive and psychosocial models. However, the concept of technophobia has expanded beyond simple fear to include broader critiques of technology and its role in society.

Although technophobes are often labelled as Luddites, the original nineteenth-century Luddites opposed specific textile machines they considered harmful rather than technology in general. Over time, technological criticism shifted from production technologies to consumer technologies such as computers, biotechnology, nanotechnology, robotics, and nuclear energy.

Politically, technophobia has often been associated with the cultural left, including environmentalists and critical theorists who question technology’s “conquest of nature.” In his book Farewell to the Working Class (1994, in French 1980), Andre Gorz notes that organizational and technological changes have destroyed skilled labor. The product of this is that the working class, as a class that has the knowledge and ability to take control of the means and the production process, no longer exists, so we need to say farewell to it.

Harry Braverman is known for his significant work, Labor and Monopoly Capital (1974), in which, within the Marxist paradigm, he studies how the work of manual workers has changed since the time of Karl Marx. The main conclusion of his study is that there was a massive decrease in the skills and knowledge of manual workers in the sphere of industrial production in the twentieth century. Such a reduction in the skills and knowledge of workers is not the product of chance, but of the systematic action of the capitalists to weaken the organized labor movement.

The main method by which the deskilling of workers was achieved was by the application of principles of Taylorism, or scientific management. Taylorism, named after its founder, Frederick Taylor, is the science of managing someone else's work under capitalism. Taylor wanted to achieve the highest possible productivity of labor by applying scientific methods, and he hoped that everyone, including workers, would see the rationality of his approach. The basic principles of Taylorism are the separation of the work process from the skills of workers, the separation of ideas from execution, and that all mental work should be removed from the plant and concentrated in the planning department, in order to use the knowledge monopoly to control every step of the work process. Craftsmen had great theoretical and technical knowledge in the 18th and 19th centuries, while the application of Taylorism separated skill and knowledge, so the worker stopped being a craftsman and became a living tool of the machine.

Ivan Illich believed that technological development negatively affects human relations, the human spirit, and the natural environment. Illich believed that the solutions for the excessive and negative impact that technology, experts, and institutions exert on our lives are in building a value system based on non-market reciprocity, production for one's own needs, limiting one’s own needs, as well as autonomous use of technology. All of that would lead to the building of a free society.

Lewis Mumford, in the two-volume book The Myth of the Machine (1967, 1970), warns of the possibility that technology (megamachines) and cumbersome and inadequate cities (megalopolises) can lead to failure to meet the humanistic goals of free individual human development and quality of life in the community.

Erich Fromm claims that after the Second World War, "supercapitalism" arose, a new form of capitalism that uses robots and communication technologies to increase production productivity to the maximum possible limit. The development of technology increases the dependence of workers on the employer, and the work itself becomes boring and monotonous, which leads to social atomization and self-isolation of people.

Max Horkheimer argues that in Western culture, as a consequence of the Enlightenment, the instrumental form of formal rationality dominates, and the goal of that rationality is to achieve control over human action and society through dehumanized science and technology. Capitalist societies, through the culture industry and dehumanized science and technology, destroy any real opposition by either assimilating or neutralizing it. In these societies, all models of social communication become monolithic and lead to cultural indoctrination. Modern society is becoming an iron cage of total administration, consumerism, and resignation.

                          Technology and Uncertainty

Technological change is characterized by four main types of uncertainty. First, market uncertainty arises because firms cannot predict which competitor will successfully develop an innovation or when success will occur. Second, technological uncertainty stems from limited knowledge about the resources and research efforts required to achieve innovation. Third, diffusion uncertainty concerns whether consumers and businesses will adopt and accept a new product or process. Fourth, regulatory uncertainty relates to potential government actions regarding safety, reliability, or environmental standards. The rate of technological change varies across industries, firms, and countries, depending on research investments and the nature of the technologies being developed.

                       Modern State and Technology

Governments play an important role in promoting technological change through a variety of policies and initiatives. These include funding research directly, providing subsidies and tax incentives for innovation, attracting foreign investment, and strengthening intellectual property protections. Governments may also support the adoption of new technologies by reducing learning costs through grants, training programs, or educational services. Developing countries often seek access to advanced technologies through foreign investment, although technology transfer can be limited by concerns over weak intellectual property enforcement. A central objective of technology policy is to ensure that inventors receive sufficient returns on their innovations, thereby maintaining incentives for research and development while fostering long-term technological progress. Patents are a common policy tool used to protect inventions and reward innovators. At the same time, governments regulate certain technologies to safeguard public welfare, requiring measures such as drug testing and environmental impact assessments before new products or processes are introduced into the market.

                     Technological Determinism

In Does Technology Drive History? (1994), Merritt Roe Smith and Leo Marx present technological determinism as a spectrum ranging from hard to soft determinism. At the hard determinist end, technology is viewed as an autonomous force with the capacity to shape historical change independently. Proponents of this perspective attribute agency to technology itself, as well as to the institutions and systems created to support it. Technological innovation is therefore seen as the primary driver of historical development, while individuals, social structures, and cultural practices are regarded largely as by-products of this underlying technological force.

Soft determinism offers a more nuanced interpretation. While it acknowledges that technology plays an important role in influencing historical processes, it does not treat technology as an independent or self-governing force. Instead, technological change is understood as operating within a broader framework of economic, political, social, and cultural factors. From this perspective, technology contributes to shaping history, but its effects are mediated by the wider context in which it is developed and used.

             Hard Technological Determinism

One of the earliest examples of technological determinism can be found in the works of Karl Marx. Marx, in his book A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy (1859), presents a materialistic conception of man and society because the history of the human race arose when man began to control nature and began to produce a means of subsistence. The production of livelihoods is not an individual, but a joint (social) endeavor, because production requires cooperation. In order to survive, people must enter into the social „relations of production, so they can produce all the material goods that are necessary for their survival. Social relations of production shape the "way of life" and human nature because they are the expression of these relations. In this sense, people as individuals, but also the whole society and culture, are a consequence of the production of material life. Marx argued that social relations of production are never arbitrary and random but depend on the stage of development of „material productive forces“. Material production forces are determined by the level of technological and scientific development and technical organization of the production process, on the one hand, as well as raw materials, land, and other natural preconditions of production, on the other hand. Social relations of production are relations that people enter into in order to produce goods. Social relations of production consist of rules governing the ownership of the „means of production“, which consist of „means of labor“ (land, tools and machinery, buildings, etc.) and „objects of labor“, as well as rules governing the „productive forces“. Such relations of production form the economic „base“ of society, and that economic base has a key influence on the shaping of the social „superstructure“ (Überbau). The social superstructure consists of social consciousness, legal and political ways of organizing society, art, ideology, etc.

In the book Ancient Society (1877), Henry Lewis Morgan developed the theory of universal stages of mankind’s biological and cultural evolution. He analyzed kinship systems, types of marriage, types of political organization, forms of property ownership, ideas (magic, religion, philosophy, and science), and technology, and their interdependence, to give a general account of the evolution of mankind. Morgan introduces the distinction between technological inventions, that follow the line of successive discoveries, on one hand, and cultural institutions, that have been developed from primary germs of thought.“ Morgan delimits the stages according to technological criteria that affected the development of other aspects of culture, but had the greatest impact on forms of subsistence. He suggested that societies went through three main stages of evolution – savagery, barbarism, and civilization. Stages of savagery and barbarism were each further divided into three successive stages or ‘ethnical periods’ (lower, middle, and higher). Although cultural evolution develops in parallel stages, it happens at varying paces in different societies and locations.

Edward B. Tylor took Morgan’s classifications of evolutionary stages into savagery, barbarism, and civilization and applied them to his theory. Based on archaeological and historical research of technological inventions and technological progress all over the world, Tyler divided these stages by their major technological developments. Savagery starts with the use of stone tools, barbarism starts with the invention of farming and metallurgy, while civilization begins with the use of writing. Evolutionary progress in the use of technology is in almost all cases nonreversible; that is, once some society invents better technology, it does not revert to an earlier lesser form. 

In the book, The Evolution of Culture (1959), Leslie White distinguishes four separate components of cultural systems: technological, sociological, ideological, and sentimental (attitudinal). The technological sector is most directly involved in the adaptation process, and the determining feature of technology development is the amount and type of energy used to meet human needs. While animals use only the power of their muscles, primitive people use tools and the energy of fire, to later tame the energy of the sun, through the domestication of plants and animals, then fossil fuels, and finally the power of atoms. Energy and technology appear to dominate other sectors of culture. The evolution towards larger political units is fundamentally a technological matter. Society, philosophy, and sentiments are, in fact, non-technological forms of expression of the basic technological process. When a technological system comes into conflict with other cultural elements, then, depending on the strength of the technological system, it wins or submits. But if the technology is strong enough, then it creates a new social system. The importance of technology for the development of culture makes White's theory of universal evolution based on technological determinism. White believes that every social system is determined by three determinants (subfactors): securing subsistence (nutrition and other means of living), protection from the elements, and defense. These subfactors are always present, but they do not always have the same importance or influence, so culture and its direction of development largely depend on the relationship between the environment and these determinants. Livelihoods include clothing, tools, and even magic; protection is focused on battling weather and other elements of nature; and defense concerns confrontation with both internal and external enemies.         

Marvin Harris views societies and cultures as complex and intertwined systems that are best defined as socio-cultural systems. Socio-cultural systems have three levels: infrastructure, structure, and superstructure. Infrastructure is the first and most important level of study of socio-cultural systems that. The infrastructure consists of technology, production, and reproductive activities related to solving basic human needs - food, water, shelter, protection from diseases and dangers, as well as biological reproduction. Infrastructure is the basis of the entire reproduction of socio-cultural systems and affects other spheres; that is, it probabilistically determines the structure, which further probabilistically defines the superstructure.

Gerhard Lenski developed his macro-theoretical perspective, which he called "ecological-evolutionary theory" in the books Power and Privilege (1966), Human Societies (1970), and Ecological-Evolutionary Theory (2006). Lenski believes that biological needs in all human societies are, in essence, always the same, and to meet those needs all societies create and maintain the same cultural subsystems: language, morality, ideology, kinship systems, technology, political organization, and religion. In his opinion, population pressures were one of the strongest sources of human creativity and social change. Since the biological foundations of all societies are the same, differences in cultural patterns (in all the subsystems listed earlier), as well as the potential for social development, are a consequence of differences in the biophysical environment. In addition to the biophysical environment, most societies have a socio-cultural environment, that is, other societies and cultures. The sociocultural environment acts in two ways: as a threat (military, political or economic), but also as a resource. The most important resources that surrounding societies give to society are technological and other innovations, which are obtained through cultural diffusion. Lenski believes that cultural diffusion has been a much greater source of useful information (in all cultural subsystems), than independent discoveries and inventions.

The most important cultural subsystem is technology, because technology is the meeting place of the biophysical environment and all other components of socio-cultural systems, and thus affects almost all aspects of human life. Technology, genetics, and the biophysical environment have a decisive influence on the choices made by individuals and societies. The need to save energy is the biggest motive and pressure for technological innovation. Although Lenski attaches the greatest importance to the study of all types of technology, he believes that ideology can have a reciprocal impact on the development of technology. During the evolution of societies, there was a change of periods in which ideology was prone to change, and thus technological change was happening, and periods in which ideology sought to keep society at the same technological levels, so there was resistance to new technologies. The ideological subsystem, in order to survive, strives to maintain the status quo and therefore opposes technological change. Technological stagnation is possible until economic pressures become large enough that the development of new technology becomes inevitable.

For Lenski, political economy is less important than ideology, which is viewed autonomously. Since Lenski sees technology as a key cultural subsystem, he based his evolutionary taxonomy of societies on the dominant technology in the economy. Thus, the types of societies that he singles out are: 1) hunting and gathering societies, 2) simple horticultural societies, 3) advanced horticultural societies, 4) simple agrarian societies, 5) advanced agrarian societies, 6) fishing societies, 7) maritime societies, 8) simple herding societies, 9) advanced herding societies, and 10) industrial societies.

These ten types of societies are not in direct evolutionary order. Hunting and gathering societies can adopt new technologies and become either fishing, horticultural, or livestock societies. These three types of society can be transformed into agrarian societies. Agrarian societies, in the technological sense, are characterized by the use of plows that pull draft animals, such as oxen or horses. Eventually, some agrarian societies grow into industrial societies by adopting new technologies. The speed of evolutionary change depends on many factors: the size of the population, the physical and social environment, as well as ideology. However, societies do not necessarily have to go through evolutionary development, because they can remain in a static state if there is no change in the physical and social environment, or they can fail if they do not adapt to changes in the environment.

With each transformation from one type of society to another with better technology, there comes a greater possibility for creating economic surpluses. Increasing the possibilities for creating these surpluses also enables stratification in society in terms of political power and social prestige. There is no hierarchy among hunter-gatherers in terms of political power, but only in terms of social prestige. The situation is similar with horticultural societies with a smaller population. But, as soon as large amounts of economic surpluses are created, there comes population increases and higher population density, and that necessarily leads to the creation of stratification in society. Advanced horticultural and herding societies, in general, have three basic social classes: chiefs, lower chiefs, and ordinary people. Agrarian societies have the highest stratification and have a larger number of social classes. The ruling class in agrarian societies controls almost all the wealth of those societies, and the basis of economic exploitation can be agricultural rent, which is taken from subordinate classes, or exploitation can be done through the unpaid labor of slaves. The transformation of agrarian societies into industrial societies has led to a partial reduction in the hierarchical structure of societies.

Ogburn's theory of cultural and social change, which was discussed earlier, contains aspects of technological determinism, not only because it pays the most attention to technology, which causes a change in other areas, but also because it pays little attention to great historical events or influential individuals.

Jacques Ellul, in The Technological Society (1954), developed the concept of “technique.” By this, he meant not just machines or technology, but the total system of rational, efficiency-driven methods that increasingly dominate all areas of life. Ellul argued that in modern society, especially after World War II, technique has become the central organizing force, shaping everything from politics and the economy to education, religion, and personal life. Humans no longer live primarily in a natural world, but in an artificial one created by technical systems. As a result, problems caused by technological advancement are also approached only with technical solutions, and efficiency becomes the main value—blurring the distinction between means and ends.

He also examined the role of the modern state, describing it as both highly powerful and fundamentally limited. It is powerful because it uses advanced administrative systems and propaganda, but impotent because it cannot act outside the logic of technique. According to Ellul, political change—whether through elections or revolutions—rarely leads to real transformation, as systems remain governed by the same technical principles. He believed true change requires a moral and social transformation rather than reliance on political systems or technological solutions.

                   Soft Technological Determinism

John Stuart Mill, in Principles of Political Economy (1848), analyzed the potential for economic growth in the future and presented four possible scenarios for it. In the first scenario, economic development unfolds in line with the predictions of Robert Malthus – population growth outpaces the growth of capital and technology, which results in lower wages and standard of living for ordinary workers and higher profits for capitalists. The second scenario reflects Adam Smith’s predictions – capital accumulates faster than population growth, which leads to higher wages and a standard of living for workers.

The third scenario follows the reasoning of David Ricardo and envisions a situation where the supply of capital and the growth of the population increase at the same rate, but technological development lags. In this case, the supply of labor and the demand for it will increase at the same rate, so the real wages will stay the same. Lack of technological development will lead to increased use of inferior agricultural land to feed the growing population. Rising food and rent prices will cause a reduction in profits. Mill argued that it is the most likely scenario to happen. In the fourth scenario, technological development supersedes the growth of both capital and population, leading to lower wages, rents, and food prices, higher profits, and the overall growth of the economy.

In his book Speed ​​and Politics: An Essays on Dromology (1977), Virilio introduces the term "dromology" which refers to the forced logic of speed behind the development of technology. He believes that military projects and military technology have a key impact on the course of history. At the end of the twentieth century, war ceases to be territorial and industrial and becomes extraterritorial and post-industrial - information warfare takes place in real time. Temporal and spatial disintegration, which occurs due to the rise of mass media and information technologies, makes it impossible to effectively review strategic political and military decisions and prevents any ethical and diplomatic solutions to world problems.

Manuel Castells researches how social movements function in the age of the Internet, as well as on information technology and network society. He believes that both the economic crisis of the 1970s and the development of information and communication technologies produced a new type of society. Castells uses the terms "information capitalism" and "information age" to describe current development trends. Networks in the modern age affect all areas of human behavior, thus creating a "network society". Globalization and networks have led to accelerating change at the global level. Networking leads to fewer opportunities for nation-states to influence the economy.

Bauman, in the books Legislators and Interpreters: On Modernity, Postmodernity, and Intellectuals (1987), Freedom (1988), and Intimations of Postmodernity (1992), argues that specific features of postmodernity are: the huge growth and expansion of mass media, new information technologies, an increase in transnational migrations, the post-industrial economy, the growth of the ideology of consumerism, the commodification of culture, etc. Large metanarratives and a strong state, which dominated modernity, have been replaced by a state of consumerism that is subject to the will of multinational corporations.

Joan Woodward, in Industrial Organization: Theory and Practice (1965), studied organizational structure and its relation to the technology they use. She argues that differences in technology were a decisive factor shaping organizational structure. Technological requirements, she showed, influenced patterns of authority, coordination, and control within firms. On this basis, Woodward developed a well-known typology of production systems arranged by increasing technical complexity: from unit and small-batch production, to large-batch and mass production, and finally to the most technologically complex form, process production.

Amos Hawley, in the book Human Ecology: A Theory of Community Structure (1950), states that the adaptation of people to their social and physical environment always takes place through social organization. Relationships between individuals are structures that adapt to changes in the social, technical, and physical environment. These structures are independent of individual people and are much more durable than them.

Organizations can grow in size, and they can evolve to adapt to changes in the environment as new technology develops. His theory is based on several theoretical postulates: adaptation takes place by creating interdependence between individuals, in order to increase the chances of survival of the entire population; the system will continue to grow until it reaches the upper maximum that is sustainable with the use of some communication and transport technology. When new technologies are adopted, the processes of adaptation and growth of the system continue until the system returns to equilibrium.

In Alienation and Freedom (1964), Robert Blauner studied alienation in the work process in four different production technologies. He defines alienation as a condition of powerlessness, social isolation, meaninglessness, and self-estrangement. He concludes that levels of alienation varies proportionaly to the level of automation of the production technology. The greatest automation and the greatest alienation were in the automobile industry. Workers in this sector lost power over the productive process, their activities were unrelated to the larger goal of production, and their selfhood was destroyed.

In the book The Theory of Economic Development (1912), Joseph Schumpeter claims that the actions of entrepreneurs are the basis of economic development. Entrepreneurs' main role is to be leaders in introducing innovations. Innovations they introduce vary: new technologies, new goods, new raw materials, new markets, different organization of production, etc. Such entrepreneurial innovations deviate from established ways of producing and doing business, using new methods or an innovative combination of old methods, doing what Schumpeter calls "creative destruction" in order to create a new, better economic system. It distinguishes economic innovations made by entrepreneurs from technological inventions. In that sense, entrepreneurs differ from inventors, capitalists, bankers, managers, landowners, and workers because only entrepreneurs introduce real innovations into the economy. Although entrepreneurs may, at the same time, have other functions (those mentioned above), they are primarily driven by the desire to innovate and take risks, and not the desire for profit or earnings. Entrepreneurial activities thus represent the basis of capitalism and its development, and in Schumpeter's theory, their activity is crucial for understanding his theories of credit, profit, capital, and economic cycles.

In The Gutenberg Galaxy (1962), McLuhan studies how the printing press and printed books and press rearranged the culture, consciousness, and sensibilities after the invention of the printing press by Gutenberg. This book introduced two new concepts – “global village” and “Gutenberg galaxy”. Global village refers to time and space distances losing their significance due to the development and spread of printing technology. This new technology allowed for mass communication that shaped contemporary culture and created a village-like mindset all over the world.  Gutenberg galaxy is a globally accumulated body of intellectual and artistic works, which is contained in all printed materials over the centuries. In Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (1964), McLuhan introduces the distinction between two types of media: “cool media,” which involve active users connected to the media on a deeper level, and  “hot media” that don’t connect users with media on a deep level and make users passively consume the content. Electric media changed the perception of time and space and permitted the development of cool media. Electric media truly brought the age of the global village and rendered national forms of identification irrelevant.

Alvin Toffler, in Future Shock (1970), introduces the concept of „future shock“, which refers to the psychological state of disorientation and stress that people and societies experience when radical changes occur in a short period. Toffler believes that people have a limited ability to adapt to social and technological transformations, so the speed of change is the one that causes the greatest negative psychological consequences, and not the direction or orientation of the change. The future shock will only increase over time, as technological and social changes will be even more drastic. The consequences of this process are many: changes in interpersonal relations, increased individual and collective mobility, increased social stratification and diversity, increased consumption of new goods, and the like. He believed that societies must actively manage these changes because they are taking place at such a speed that individuals and societies cannot manage to adapt to them.

In his book The Third Wave (1980), Toffler continues his research into the consequences of technical and social change. He examines how changes affect the creation of new forms of marriage and family, dramatic changes in the economy, the emergence of new forms of work and entertainment, and possible new forms of democracy. 

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