DeTocqueville in my opinion wrote on technology. The main difference that people do not recognize is that even though he did not call it specifially technology, it still is. He talks about how everything is changing and how the Industrial Revolution came about. DeTocqueville says that "technology is at the heart of how we understand ourselves".
The argument on the Industrial Revolution is rather persuasive. DeTocqueville touches on the bright and dark sides of the Revolution. He says that industrialization is related to the Democratic times in society. He believes that these correlations are related to the Democratic views of people who have strong morals and virtues. To keep his opinion unbiased, he talks a little about the opposite side of the spectrum. DeTocqueville feels that industrialization effects on the environment that could back-fire. Also, he says that our workers and the equality in the work force could be affected by these changes in society. Not only are the employees concerned with industrialization, but also the employers. DeTocqueville feels that the Industrialization Revolution could influence our political growth and freedom, possibly enough to infringe on our human liberties.
When DeTocqueville said, "a way of thinking and believing and feeling, a way of standing in and toward the world", I agree with him. By this he means that the Industrial Revolution was a time for pondering new ways to make things work easier. This statement works toward the future and the ways that we need to live in today's society. He never uses the word "technology" because his definition is more descriptive. DeTocqueville says that technology is how we do something and make advancements in certain fields, rather than a new piece of equipment. Technology can also be know as a process, invention, or method.
I believe that Storey's claim does provide insight into the American innovation spirit. He says that we are searching for ideals. He says that the works do not have to be in the form of verse, but rather they can be in any form that can clearly define the ideal that you are trying to show. DeTocqueville says that people have to search for the best possible ways to do things. He says that it is part of our human nature to seek the best in everything. This is true when you consider things that are going on in present time. We as a society are always trying to improve our phones, computers, or even cars.
Manifest destiny figures into Storey's argument because he says that people have their own plan. If they want it to happen, it will. Everyone will have a different destiny that they have to manifest. Man controls technology because of how they create new ideas. The ideas themselves are already there by nature. Man did not create nature, such as lumber or steel - goods that can be used in technology today. Innovation, in my opinion, does not completely begin with the desire to transform nature. I feel that innovation uses nature to make new advances that we call technology. I do not feel that people go out to make new things solely to change something, but rather to make it better than it already is.
Storey makes a valid argument about how we as people are restless in our well being. I believe this is true especially in the example he gave of American society. He said that the poor and middle class are always working to better themselves, but also, the rich and upper class are also working just as hard not to fall. This is such a strong point he makes because of how a vast majority of people view the social classes. A lot of people feel that the bottom classes work just as hard, if not harder than the upper class. This is most certainly not 100% true or false. The upper class had to work hard to get to where they are in life; unless they are the low percentage that had everything spoon fed to them in life. In a specific scenario today with gas and oil, I feel that this statement he made applies well. People today are always searching for the best possible ways to improve, regardless of social standing.
DeTocqueville says that we are good at solving specific problems such as to machines that have malfunctions. When we become more focused on fixing those problems than working toward human happiness, we loss track of our goals. He goes on to talk about how if we continue to keep worrying about how good everything is and how to make it better we will not be as happy. DeToucqueville says there are material problems with technological solutions, but there will always be challenges that we have to deal with. Some material problems will get to severe and end up not being able to be fixed.
I agree with DeTocqueville on the idea of measuring technology on what we have created with our words and how we have learned to understand our new ways of doing things. We do not have to measure how much we produce, sell, or buy in order to tell how technologically advanced we are. As a society, we are already trying to measure the future of technology based off of what we believe we can create. I am not persuaded by this argument that he was wrong for looking past measuring physical material for technology. Technology is not important for what it does for things, but what it does for human good.
In DeTocqueville's statement about a safety net in the article, I end up agreeing with him on this issue as well. People in the industrialized economy need to be careful because they could easily be out of a job with no back-up plan. In a digital economy, like today, you still need to be careful. You can easily fall under the wrong influence and mess something up with all of the digital factors in todays world. This is an important part to consider that I do not think should be left out because it is a serious matter when regarding the well-being of people's life.
In an article on The Guardian they discuss an issue that is serious. I would take the information that was introduced in the article with a grain of salt simply because the story was presented from one side and I do not know the other sides view on this issue. Also, this story does not take place near me so I can not do as much physical research to know the true facts involved. I feel like this could be a case where people are not happy, but go just a little far. Causing physical damage to another person is a little extreme such as the case with the busses.
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