Philosophical Issues on Scientific Advancement - Essay Example

What evidence is there that Carey has been influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment and Modernism in "Technology and ideology: the case of the telegraph" In Technology and Ideology: The Case of the Telegraph James Carey uses what might appear to be just a piece of technology to suggest that scientific advance can influence not only the manner in which people communicate with one another, but also what it actually means to be human. In this manner he uses a number of ideas that were prevalent during both the Enlightenment and the Modernist period. Carey's basic hypothesis is that the telegraph changed the nature of American culture, and then paradoxically7 states that this hypothesis cannot be proven by the normal scientific method. In a sense Carey uses some of the ideas of the Enlightenment in reverse: thus the argument that systematic, scientific thinking could provide truths and laws about even the most complex of human relationships is reversed by Carey. He suggests that tracing the influence of the invention of a communication device must rely upon more than a seeking for the objective truth. But the method that Carey uses for convincing his readers actually borrows a lot from the scientific method. He argues that the telegraph shifted the nature of human culture because it freed communication from transportation. Until this point, messages between individuals (or between countries) needed to be transported physically from place to place, either by foot, horse or latterly, the railroad. The telegraph allowed messages to move independently of other forms of transportation. Thus Carey looks at something which was fairly obvious in a new manner: - just as a scientist will explore phenomena that are seen by human beings every day in a new manner in order to explain them. The scientific method continues as the telegraphy is seen as a driver for a number of actions and reactions within society. It led to the eventual disappearance of certain kinds of writing, and even changed the manner in which human beings saw time. Thus until the invention of the telegraph human beings had the sense that time was the same everywhere on earth - thus when it was midday in their home town it was midday everywhere. While science may have told the educated otherwise for centuries, people did not become consciously aware of the fact until the arrival of the telegraph. Now people could communicate instantly with others who were living in a different time zone. His discussion of language turns more to the precepts of Modernism - as he both uses some of its ideas and also explains some of the changes that occurred through the invention of the telegraph. The telegraph enabled news to travel 'instantly' from one side of the country to another, but due to the cost involved, the words used to describe events was constantly cut. Carey terms this as "the lowest common denominator" and thus language was reduced to its basic components. Colloquial English that could only be understood within a particular locality could not be used in nationwide news reporting. Short, simple descriptive sentences took over from the more long-winded, flowery language of before. It is this new type of language that comes to dominate, and even spreads into the work of "great writers" such as Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway was known for using short, simple sentences that could be understood by anyone with even a basic education. While the ideas behind the words might be only accessible to the few, a whole mass of the population could now read, understand and even enjoy elite literature. The telegraph thus led to a democratization of both language and literature within Modernism. Modernism itself was characterized by the tendency to reject the old dichotomies between "high" and "low" art; it also rejected the idea of dividing knowledge into that which was 'objective' and that which was 'subjective'. All human behavior and knowledge was questioned and problematized within the Modernist perspective, as shown by Carey's own argument. Along with a change in the view of time that occurred with the telgraph came the sense that time had now been 'conquered'. Americans, and it is particularly Americans that Carey is writing about, had conquered space (in the form of the massive plains, deserts and distances of the continent), but they also now conquered time as they could communicate with someone on the other side of the country in a matter of seconds. This conquering of time, a Modernist obsession, would have a profound effect upon a whole range of human behavior. Carey uses the example of the commodity markets. Before the telegraph goods were essentially priced in a local manner, but with instant communication came the ability to have prices aligned between markets on the same day. The commodities no longer needed to rely upon a merely local supply and demand curve, but rather a nationalized market. This in turn led to standardization so a product would be same in terms of quality, weight, standard etc. wherever it was bought. TS Elliot, one of the great Modernist poets, spoke of the human experience being "a heap of broken images", and it is this type of world that Carey eventually describes. While human beings can communicate infinitely better because of the telegraph, they are also able to complicate their lives in a more infinitely refined manner. An individual may "talk" with another on the other side of the continent through the telegraph and misunderstandings may instantly occur despite the thousands of miles separating the two. The science that the Enlightenment regarded with such awe led to the telegraph, but while it made communication easier, it also made it more confusing. More misunderstandings could occur, and also more central control could occur. Thus the Imperialist urge within both Europe and America was encouraged by the telegraph. Central powers, whether they be in London, Paris or Washington, DC could now know what was happening in the far-flung parts of their empire almost instantly. Orders could also be given to officials in those regions almost instantly. The telegraph, in a highly Modernist irony, provided far more freedom and power to people, yet also allowed central authorities to keep them more certainly in chains. The telegraph enabled far more efficient empires, eventually leading to the massive wars of the Twentieth Century. In another Modernist tone, Carey does not state whether the changes that were wrought by the telegraph are good or bad. They merely are. In a sense this might be seen as an Enlightenment attachment to the objectivity of the scientific method: merely describing what is and why it is as it is. But it should be remembered that the Enlightenment saw the scientific method as eventually leading to solid and certain laws regarding human behavior, especially in an ethical and moral sense. Carey suggests that the telegraph, as an example of the massive technological change which was about to engulf the world, showed that ethical concerns would soon become irrelevant before rapid change. ___________________________________________ Read More