10 Paradoxes of Technology

10 Paradoxes of Technology 3.
Paradox of the origin

Behind everything technological there is a
Andrew Feenberg tells that most of our ideas
forgotten history. Technologies seem to be
about technology are… wrong
disconnected from their past as they appear self-
He questions the counter-intuitive nature of sufficient in their everyday functioning. We have
what we know about technology and points out that little idea where technologies come from, how they
paradox may very well be intrinsic to technology. He developed, what decisions were made to determine
distinguishes ten technological paradoxes, in the unique features, etc. Consider the lighted exit signs
hopes they will cease being paradoxical and become in a theatre: we see the glowing letters, but we are
the new common sense. Paradoxically, however, blind to the story behind their origin.
when we come to the crossroads of “true and
4. Paradox of the frame
false” understandings of technology, we have to “go
Efficiency does not explain success; success
both ways” so we are better equipped to control
explains efficiency. While all technologies must be
the consequences of our actions as human powers
more or less efficient, what explains why specific
increase through technology.
technologies are present in our milieu technique
1. Paradox of the parts and the whole (chosen from among many possible alternatives)?
We fail to realize the dependence of the parts
5. Paradox of action
upon the complex whole to which they belong. To
put it another way, technology does not have Feenberg applies the Newtonian reciprocity of action
meaning without relationships, environment and and reaction to human/technology behaviour to find
context. To put it yet another way, consider that: in acting, we become the object of
Heidegger’s puzzling question whether birds fly action. This is the illusion of technique that blinds us
because they have wings or have wings because they to three paradoxes of technical action: 1) causal side
fly? Humans can no more abandon technological effects of technology; 2) changes in the meaning of
development than birds can abandon flight. our worlds; and 3) transformation of our identities
2. Paradox of the obvious 6. Paradox of the means

What is most obvious about technology is also The means are already the end. Obviously
what is most hidden. For example, fish do not know means and ends are related, but Feenberg’s point is
they are wet as they are so perfectly adapted for the that they are “one and the same” over a wide range
niche environment they exist in; neither do humans of technologies. Possession of the means is an end in
think much about the air we breathe; neither do we itself because identity is at stake in human relations
think very carefully about the technologies we take to technology: the technologies we own symbolize
for granted. When we watch a movie, we lose sight the kind of people we are and social status is in part
of the screen as a screen, just as we have many determined by the technologies we use.
experiences of technology in which the obvious
withdraws from view.
7. Paradox of Complexity
Simplification complicates! As technology is
already decontextualized (separate from its natural
connections and conditions), recontextualization is
not always successful. Awareness of context is a
matter of concern as there are all-too-many
examples where the decontextualizing and
recontextualizing processes of technical objects
result in unexpected problems. Technologies suitably
adapted to one world may consequentially disrupt
another world.
8. Paradox of the Value and Fact

`While it may appear that technical knowledge
(fact, truth) and everyday experience (values,
desires) interact separately, Feenberg finds them to
be complimentary. Values are not opposite of fact:
values are the facts of the future. This overall
dynamic of technological value and fact completes
the paradox of action: “what goes around comes
around”.
9. Paradox of democracy
Society and technology are co-constituted in
an “entangled hierarchy”. Society and technology
cannot be understood in isolation from each other
because neither has a stable identity nor separate
form. Consider Escher’s self-drawing hands (where
each hand is drawing the other).
10. Paradox of conquest

Feenberg’s paradox of conquest can be
succinctly stated by F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, “the
victor belongs to the spoils”. Technologies enable
society to conquer, exploit and oppress nature (and
other beings), but paradoxically, these actions often
come back to haunt a society despoiled by its own
violent assault (pollution, environmental toxins,
etc.)

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10 Paradoxes of Technology 3.

Paradox of the origin

2. Paradox of the obvious 6. Paradox of the means

8. Paradox of the Value and Fact

10. Paradox of conquest

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