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The utility of solar energy is perhaps one of the most important technological advances in recent history. Solar energy represents a form of renewable energy that will prove to be most beneficial especially in light of the energy crisis faced by many nations.
Over time the consumption of non-renewable energy has been problematic and is one that has had devastating economic effects on numerous countries throughout the world. In examining the impact of solar energy on the world, it is prudent that we create a theoretical framework for such an examination. This paper will examine solar energy utilizing the theoretical constructs of technological determinism and social constructivism. It will also view technology as a neutral entity. I will begin by first introducing the theoretical constructs and then establishing a relationship between the constructs and solar energy.
Technological Determinism
Technology continues to improve all aspects of the human experience. Developments in medical, communicative, media, and research technologies have improved people’s quality of life. While for most Americans this is true, some people are being left behind and the digital divide continues to separate the informed from the uniformed. There are several reasons why this problem exists and this research will try to explain why it occurs.
The father of technological determinism is Marshall McLuhan, a scientist from Canada who studied media and its different forms and uses. He studied the way individuals receive messages and the medium that delivered the message. From this, he developed several theories about different mediums and their effectiveness. He viewed technology as an extension of man. He believed that the wheel was the extension of our feet, the hammer was an extension of our hands, and technology is the extension of our mind and mentality.
McLuhan said, “The medium is the message.”1 He thought that the medium in which an individual received the information was more important than the information itself. The medium communicates the message in a way that will affect the listener. In some instances, the medium increases the chance of connection and just the opposite in others. Radio, television, and the Internet all have changed how we receive information and process it.
McLuhan believed this was the most important factor for a receiver to remember a message and pass it along to other individuals to become opinion leaders in society. McLuhan also felt a new medium would come along and would not only affect the conscious level but it would change patterns of perceptions. This holds on technologies such as the Internet. Using a computer to seek and find information has revolutionized how we live in society. It is important to note whether or not that this effect is positive or negative.
Other researchers such as Hank Bromley thought that technology moves and that people cannot change a direction of technology. The only option available to individuals is to adapt to the changing technology. He said, “…new technologies arise as natural consequences of existing ones, with little social control of the course of development, and that the impact of new technologies is again a consequence of the features of the technology itself, with the outcomes largely insusceptible to human control.”2 He felt that technology in many ways controls itself and that society has little to do with the development of new technologies. He felt that we adapt to the changing technology and use it to fit our needs and the needs of society. He felt that technology evolves throughout our existence from one medium to the next and that humans have very little control over this process. He thought that technology continues to grow and build upon itself rather than being a new type of media.3
Social Constructivism
Social Constructivists, on the other hand, view all of our knowledge and reality as “constructed” since these are actively created by social relationships and interactions. Thus, Social constructivism argues that technology is meaningful in human development only when it has a significant relationship with human beings.
Feenberg (1982) is often regarded as a strict social constructivist. His main commentary on the use of technology was that technology is nothing but a means of achieving the goals human beings set. Thus, human beings’ desires are ahead of emerging technology, not vise versa. It is a human ideology that drives technological progress. Thus, social constructivists argue that technology is completely controlled by human action and is given its meaning through selecting how, when, and why it will be used. Feenberg discusses the notion of the use of the Internet as a political tool4 but this same concept can be extended to include the use of solar energy.
When extended, Feenberg’s notion can be extended to mean no matter how good the concept of utilizing solar energy may be, it is of no use unless individuals use it in their daily lives. Thus, unlike Technological Determinism, the presence of solar energy as an alternative energy source does not necessitate its use.
After having reviewed the use of solar energy under the basic tenets of both technological determinism and social constructivism one can see that solar energy represents a renewable source of energy that is meant to augment the present sources of energy. It is not a source of energy that is meant to replace the existing sources. It proves to be valuable in that it utilizes technology in a manner that proves to be both beneficial to humans and one that holds the potential to solve the current energy crisis. The technological determinists view solar energy as a mere extension of the capabilities of man while the social constructionists view it as only being meaningful when it can be utilized by man.
The technological deterministic view of solar energy is most practical and offers potential for the use which unsurpassed that of any other form of renewable energy. In this vein, solar energy can be used as a source of energy for some of the fundamental needs and can be used to provide energy for residential & holiday homes, commercial properties, Central Power Stations, industrial applications, water pumping, lighting, and heating in the developing nations. In proving energy for residential and holiday homes, solar energy can be utilized to provide energy during the day to power small appliances such as televisions, microwaves, fluorescent lamps, etc.
The use of solar energy in commercial properties requires special solar panels to facilitate the use of solar energy. In terms of central power stations, solar energy can be utilized in the same manner as conventional energy sources. Currently, there are logistic problems with its utility in that it can only span a relatively small distance and can only be distributed in small aggregate amounts. Its use in central power stations is limited to pilot studies in the United States, Italy, and Spain.5 In examining the utility of solar energy we can see that it represents an extension of the capabilities of man but with more advanced studies it can be made practical for the use by the majority of individuals on earth.
Bibliography
Bromley, Hank. “The Social Chicken and the Technological Egg: Educational Computing and the Technological/Society Divide.” Educational Theory 47.1 (1997): 51-65.
Rogers, Everett M. “The Extensions of Men: The correspondence of Marshall McLuhan and Edward T. Hall,” Mass Communication and Society 3.1 (2000): 119-135.
Feenberg, Andrew. “The Idea of Progress and the Politics of Technology.” Philosophy and Technology 5 (1982): 15-21.
Solar Buzz. “The Uses of Solar Energy”. Web.
Footnotes
- Everett M. Rogers, “The Extensions of Men: The correspondence of Marshall McLuhan and Edward T. Hall,” Mass Communication and Society, Vol. 3, Issue 1, (2000): 119.
- Hank Bromley, “The Social Chicken and the Technological Egg: Educational Computing and the Technological/Society Divide,” Educational Theory, 47, Issue 1 (1997): 59.
- Ibid, Rogers, 119.
- See Feenberg, Andrew. 1982. “The Idea of Progress and the Politics of Technology.” Philosophy and Technology 5:15-21.
- See Solar Buzz, “Uses of solar energy”. Web.
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