LPU-St.

Cabrini School of Health

Sciences, Inc. C-GESTS
Lumbres, Ma. Janna Lyka M. I BSN 2-1 Prof. Shin Akiko A. Kashiwagi

Lesson 1- INTERACTION OF SCIENCE, STS INTERACTON THROUGH TIME

TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY THROUGH CASE STUDY 1: Birth Pains (1000s-1200s)
TIME  Science: Aristotelian Philosophy
(Basic intuition, Aristotelian Chemistry
WHAT WILL BE STUDIED IN SCIENCE, shows only 4 elements – Earth, Water,
TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY (STS)? Fire, Air)
 Unlike what the course title suggests, this  Technology: Primitive (Stones, Wood)
course will not focus on the individual fields  Society: Religious, Thomas Aquinas as
of science, technology, and society but more central figure in authority
on their interactions through time.
Outcomes:
UNDERSTANDING SCIENCE:  Stagnated development of science (no one
 Way of knowing dared attack Aristotelian Philosophy as it was
 Seeks answers in consonance with Religion)
 Finds explanations  Example (1500s-1600s): Nicolas
 Arrives at an understanding of the world Copernicus’ theory on Helicentrism was
and other factors shunned. Galileo Galilei who proved this was
put under house arrest in fear of subversive
UNDERSTANDING TECHNOLOGY: scientific theories against God and religion
 Control
 Alter, modify, tamper, with the natural world STS INTERACTON THROUGH TIME CASE
 Troubleshoot STUDY 2: First Industrial Revolution
 Practical application/usage of science  Science: Power Generation, New Materials,
Newtonian Mechanics, Economics
UNDERSTANDING SOCIETY:  Technology: Machines in mining,
 Group of people manufacturing, construction, transportation
 Values, morals, prejudices, ethics, law and communication
 Problems and priorities  Society: English, Mass Production, Rise of
Working/Proletariat Class, Art and Culture
BASIC INTERACTION OF SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY: Outcomes:
 The development of science brings the  Socialist Revolution of the Working Class
development of new technology (i.e. (new machines generated many workers who
Computer Science, Mechanics, and were exploited for their labor)
Mathematics ushered the development of the  Rising consciousness leading to different
Computer) social issues (i.e. Alan Turing, the father of
 The development of new technology is used computers, committed suicide due to a
to verify and further explore scientific homophobic society)
theories and hypotheses (i.e. the development
of the telescope widened Galileo’s scope of STS INTERACTON THROUGH TIME CASE 3:
astrophysics) Modern Times
 Science: Computer Programming, Software
BASIC INTERACTION OF TECHNOLOGY Development, Data Science, Machine
AND SOCIETY: Learning
 The development of new technology is used  Technology: Laptops, Cellphones,
by society to meet its demands (machines to Robotics, Social Networking
hasten the production and processing of raw  Society: Technology-dependent generation
materials)
 Society is the one which creates technology Outcomes:
 Society is also the biggest  In terms of politics, modern technology has
limitation/constraint to the development of been pivotal in ushering politicians into
technology power through manipulation of information

Science, Technology and Society I Page 1 of 11

  In culture, modern technology has created a Technology
culture of leniency, passivity, and  Sticks, stones, wood for essentials
dependence

Lesson 2: Science, Technology, and Society Society

Through History  Communal, shared, equal

(Historical antecedents in which social considerations Outcomes?

changed the course of science and technology)  Period of early discoveries - Laid the
foundations for the development (and also
Interaction of Science, Technology, and Society the stagnant nature) of science
varies with:
1. Geography Slave and Feudal Societies
2. Global Affairs  Ancient Civilizations under different
3. Time slave/feudal societies
 Rome, Babylon, Egypt, China, Greece
DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM
 A perspective of the material world and Babylonian Society (2300 BC)
society proposed by Karl Marx and Frederick  Ancient Mesopotamia
Engels  Founded by ancient Akkadian-speaking
 All material things are born from people of southern Mesopotamia
CONTRADICTIONS  Small port town on the Euphrates River
 Largest cities of the ancient world
HISTORICAL MATERIALISM  Rule of Amorite King Hammurabi (1972 to
 A perspective of viewing history by 1750 BC) - Code of Hammurabi - Centuries
analyzing the classes in society and its later, Neo-Babylonian empire was
relation to the modes of production established
 Heavily Religious (i.e. Marduk)
1. PRIMITIVE COMMUNAL  Well-established but short-lived due to
 A classless society with backwards Persian colonization
technology and production
2. SLAVE SOCIETY Babylonian Science
 A society wherein materials are still shared,  All practical and devoid of any abstract
but slaves and slave-owners ushered. reasoning such as theorems or proofs
3. FEUDAL SOCIETY  Advanced Mathematics and Physics
 Relationships were derived from holding of (sexagesimal, Pythagorean theorem)
land in exchange for labor  Astronomy and astrology
[Link]
 Science were used for the king – astrology
 Benefits of profitable trading,
made temporal predictions for societal
commercialism. decisions
5. CAPITALISM
 Characterized by mass production and Babylonian Technology
private ownership over the means of  Writing
production Bourgeoisie and Proletariat
 Wheel
Working Class
 Siege Weapons
STS during The Ancient Ages  Agriculture (irrigation, bronze metal, pottery,
weaving)
Primitive Society  Calendar
Science  Walls of Babylon
 Fundamentals, elements, mythology, early  Hanging Gardens of Babylon
religion
 Egyptian Society (3100 BC)

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  Located along the Nile River  Differential Gears
 Heavily respected gods (Ra, Osiris, Isis).  Crane
 Al laws were enacted at the discretion of the  Plumbing
pharaoh  Urban Planning
 Pharaoh  Light house
 Government Officials – Nobles, Priests  Analog Computers
 Soldier  Etc
 Scribes
 Merchants Greek Science (800 BC)
 Artisans  Thales, Pythagoras, Aristotle, Plato
 Farmer  Science and Philosophy
 Slaves and Servant  Logic
 Mathematics
Egyptian Science  Deductive
 Calendar  Astronomy
 Akhet – July 19  Scientific Progress
 Peret – November 16  Laid the foundations as Aristotle’s
 Shemu – Mach 17 contributions became an authority and
 5 Days – July 14 to 18 remained unchallenged as late as the modern
 Astronomy age
 Duat
 Mathematics Roman Society (753 BC)
 Decimals  Began as a small village in Central Italy’s
 Arithmetic, Hieroglyphics Tiber River
 Fractions  Grew and expanded into the entire
 Medicine Mediterranean Sea after centuries
 Magic spells with remedies  Feudal. Political, military, and cultural
(amulets) superpower which shaped Western
 Mummification Civilization
 Divided into three periods:
Egyptian Technology  Regal (Monarchy)
 Papyrus  Republican (Republican – Consuls)
 Irrigation using mud leeves  Imperial (Rise and fall of Roman
 Mastaba and Pyramids Empire)
 Ships  Slow and steady expansion

Greek Society (800 BC) Roman Technology

 Classes/Social Hierarchy: aristocrat citizens,  Aqueducts
businessmen, women, children, semi-free  50,000-mile long road system
laborers, slaves
 Male dominance Roman Science
 City-state (polis) – institutions of  Latin
government, religion, and learning were  Art and Architecture Influences
housed  Gladiator Combat
 Formal education  Rise of Christianity (Constantine I)
 Polytheistic religion
 Dependence of imported goods Chinese Society
 Feudal economy
Greek Technology
 Archimedes Screw
 Streets
 Cartography
Science, Technology and Society l Page 3 of 11
  Social Structure: In conclusion…

Chinese Sciences
 Traditional Medicine
 Astronomy
 Sciences
 Philosophy (“anti-science?”) Lesson 3: The Scientific Revolution
 Social Contexts of Practicioners
Thomas Kuhn
Chinese Technology Just a Theory
 The Old Silk Road  Identified the paradigm shift
 Ships
The Structure of Scientific Revolution
 Compass
 Different sciences undergo “revolution”
 Papermaking
when scientists gather enough data that they
 Printing
can’t explain using their current paradigm, or
 Gunpowder unstated, world- organizing theory about how
 Iron Plough the universe works.
 Wheelbarrow
 Propeller
 Different Materials for Trade

STS in the Middle Age

First Industrial Revolution
 Science: Power Generation, New Materials,
Newtonian Mechanics, Economics
 Technology: Machines in mining,
manufacturing, construction, transportation
and communication
 Society: English, Mass Production, Rise of
Working/Proletariat Class, Art and Culture

STS in the Modern Age

STS in times of heightened Capitalism
 Science: Data Science, Engineering,
Mathematics, etc.
 Technology: Artificial Intelligence, Hi-tech
Machines, Mass Production
 Society: Profit accumulation, over
production, war

Claudius Ptolemy – 100AD –Geocentrism

Nicole Oresme
 “Where are we?”

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  He pioneered the use of mathematical “Radical transformation of ideas”
graphs to describe how objects move
through space over time. And he scooped Theory of Evolution “The Origin of Species”
Galileo on the physics of falling objects,
again by well over a century! 5-year Voyage
 Changed the concept of the creation of
Nicolaus Copernicus humans
Just a Theory  All spices of life have evolved over the years
 A mathematician and astronomer who from common ancestors through natural
formulated a model of the universe that selection – “Evolution”
places the Sun rather than the earth at the
center of the universe. Humanity was displaced astronomically and
 Ultimately, Copernicus proposed a biologically
heliocentric cosmos: in this model, the earth
rotates on its axis once every twenty-four
hours, and the earth revolves around the sun Rene Descartes
once every year.  I think therefore, I am
 Commentariolus  Cogitoergosum
 Ptolemians and Christians
 Heliocentrism was blasphemous Sigmund Freud
 On the Revolutions of Heavenly Bodies  Pioneered Psychoanalysis
 Explored the Unconscious Mind
Aristarchus of Samos  Focused on Human sexuality and the evil
Just a Theory nature of man
 A pioneer for heliocentrism  Release of repressed emotions
 Copernicus hypothesized that his theory must
be a better-fit model for the cosmos than the Blaise Pascal
geocentrism of Ptolemy, because a sun-  “All of our dignity then, consists of
centered model was more “pleasing to the thought”
mind.” And Copernicus’s theory was so
pleasing! Pascalina
 Relieved us not only of mental work, but also
Copernicus = Revolutionary? our central role as the only smart agents un
the infosphere.
The book was only a thought experiment: it didn’t
need to be true to help astronomers better understand Turning Machine
the math behind the motions of the planets, and thus  The era of Modern Computer –Alan Turing
make better predictions about them it didn’t even
need to be probable. What now is the central role of humanity?

How Europeans answered big questions such as Humanities, Social Science, and Religion
“where are we?” really started to change around the  Although science may solve the problem of
middle of the 1500s. By the middle of 1600s, natural how the universe began, it cannot answer the
philosophers had developed new methods of making question:
all kinds of knowledge. We dub this shift, “THE  Why does the universe bother to exist?
SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION!”
Lesson 4: Science and Technology in Nation
Science Changes Our Understanding in 2 ways: Building in the Philippine Context
 Extrovert – understanding of the world
 Introvert – understanding of the self A brief overview of Philippine S&T

Astronomically, mankind was not the center. Influences in the development of Science &
Technology in the Philippines
Science, Technology and Society l Page 5 of 11
  Agriculture
Brief History of Science and Technology in the  Resources
Philippines  Calamities
 Infrastructure
Pre-colonial Period
 Indigenous Knowledge Lesson 5: HUMAN FLOURISHING IN
 Traditional and Communal SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Spanish Colonial Period HUMAN FLOURISHING

 Schools  It is important to build a philosophy as to
 Galeon Trade what constitutes a good life.
 Agricultural Dev’t for Spaniards
HOW DO I LIVE A GOOD LIFE? - Aristotle on
American Colonial Period “Flourishing”
 Higher Education
 Trade Policies Eudaimonia “good-spirited”
 Dependence  Pinnacle of happiness to be achieved by
Post-colonial humans
 Lack of Industrialization  “human flourishing”
 Foreign Dependence  Flourish through cultivating virtues
 Brain Drain
Doctrine of the Golden Mean
Influences in the development of Science &  Cowardice -Courage- Recklessness
Technology in the Philippines  Stinginess-Generosity-Profligacy

Internal  Virtues according to Aristotle’s

 Survival Nichomachean Ethics to gain phronesis,
 Culture friendship, power
 Economic Activities
As times changed, technology developed, and
External elements that comprised human flourishing also
 Foreign Colonizers changed.
 Foreign Trading
 International Economic Demands Humans are now expected to be a “man of the
world.” This shows how different Western and
Science and Technology in the Philippines Now: Eastern concepts of human flourishing is.

“There are many philosophies to a good life. What

matters is determining the truth behind our existence
to guide us in how to live a good life.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN HUMAN

FLOURISHING
 Every discovery contributes to our pool of
human knowledge. The business of
uncovering the secrets of the universe
answers the question of our existence.
Fields to Focus on for Philippine S&T
 Energy PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
 Mining  How Science deals with knowledge and truth
 Health
PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
 Transportation

Science, Technology and Society l Page 6 of 11

  Objectivity brought upon by an arbitrary,
rigid methodology whose very character However, both falsification and verification are not
absolves it from any accusation of prejudice perfect. It is argued that instead, science is also a
 The scientific method presents a general idea social endeavor concerned with results
of science
 Science vs Pseudoscience THINK ABOUT IT!
 Theorize that all of us humans are simply in
Many scientific discoveries were being made, but no a simulation being controlled by someone
one was asking what science is and how it deals with and we do not really have free will. How will
finding the truth. you disprove this theory? Is it possible? If
not, does that mean it is true?
Karl Popper “Not all scientific achievements were
created equal” Some quests for truth are inaccessible to merely
 Taught about nature of knowledge and how humans alone. This is why technology was developed
to test it to assist humans in the quest for truth
 Freud: uses past data to predict the present; PHILOSOPHY OF TECHNOLOGY
Einstein: predicted the future state of affairs Questions concerning technology by Martin
Heidegger
Recall and Compare:  Doctrine states that technology is a means to
 Freud’s Psychoanalysis an end and a human activity.
 Einstein’s Theory of Relativity  However, according to Heidegger,
technology must be understood as a way of
The traditional understanding of the scientific revealing
method: to look at the world with a scientific eye is to
observe with no preconceived notions Technology as a way of revealing:
 Alètheuein – discover, uncover,
Karl Popper unconcealment
 Developed the Falsification theory in  Poeisis - Technology is a way of bringing
contrast to the Verification theory forth the truth in a poetic/harmonious
 Argued that everyone has preconceived relationship with nature
notions of some kind  Techne – art and skill, whatever truth is
 Convinced that Freud’s methods were uncovered, it will be something more
pseudoscience meaningful than the superficial use of
technology
According to Popper, it is only by seeking to disprove
Santa’s existence that you can demonstrate his Technology as a way of revealing:
unreality.  Thus according to Heidegger, technology
should be defined as a skill or way of art
When we begin to test a theory, do we confirm it or which brings forth and unconceals the truth
deconfirm it? about the nature and ourselves.

FALSIFICATION VS VERIFICATION: Poeisis: Applicable to Modern Technology?

 It’s easy to find verification of a theory if  Modern technology is very aggressive in its
you’re looking for it activity
 Verification should only count if it is for  Modern technology reveals nature as a
risky predictions reserve. It challenges nature and demands its
 Every false belief we discover is actually resources by forcibly extracting them for
good, because that gets us much closer to human consumption and storage
believing only true things  Revealing never comes to an end. Revealing
 Only genuine test of a theory is to falsify it always happens on our own terms
 Irrefutable theories are not scientific
 Be willing to let beliefs go: testable, Poeisis vs Enframing: Way of Revealing in
refutable, falsifiable Modern Technology
Science, Technology and Society l Page 7 of 11
  This enframing makes unconcealment not in Flourishing
harmony with nature. Unconcealment are  According to Aristotle, every human person
only in terms of man, even if it is aggressive aspires for an end. This end is happiness or
against nature human flourishing. We all want to be
 Calculative thinking vs Meditative thinking happy.
 People prefer enframing for security and
control, even if it is violent 2. Happiness as the Goal of a Good Life
 Achieving human flourishing through
Humanity swallowed by Technology – fails to happiness
acknowledge the forceful and negative effects of
technology for the sake of unconcealment Greatest Happiness Principle
 According to John Stuart Mill, an action is
What then is our solution? Since modern technology right as far as it maximizes the attainment of
now forcefully unconceals, should we just remove happiness for the greatest number of people.
technology altogether?
According to Heidegger: Thus, we shall never
experience our relationship to the essence of
technology so long as we merely represent and Mining and Fuel
pursue the technological, put up with it, or evade it.  Think about it. Many are against mining and
Everywhere we remain unfree and chained to fuel but does it bring happiness to the
technology, whether we passionately affirm or deny majority of the people?
it. But we are delivered over to it in the worst possible
way when we regard it as something neutral; for this Recall Heidegger’s Enframing vs Poeisis
conception of it, to which today we particularly like  According to Martin Heidegger, only
to pay homage, makes us utterly blind to the essence thinking of mankind’s happiness is
of technology. dangerous. It leads to abuse and struggle with
nature and the external world.
Art as A Way Out of Enframing
 Enframing blocks poeisis So, how should we live the good life?
 Art is a way out of enframing
 When meditatively looking at technology, 3. Different school of thought in living a good life
one will begin to question its significance in
his/her life more than its instrumental use Materialism
 Technology solves problems, but it must be  Came from atomists in Ancient Greece
questioned Democritus and Leucippus
 Calculative thinking in which we perceive in  Atomos comes together to form things
a scientific nature is important, but  Material entities matter - Material wealth
meditative thinking allows us to stay rooted attains happiness. Objects are the meaning of
to our essence life
 Movie: Confessions of a Shopaholic
We ponder technology and question it. In so doing,
we become aware of the crisis we have plunged the Hedonism
Earth into. The danger is made present and more  Led by Epicurus
palpable through our art and poetry. Amid this  Meaning of life is to acquire pleasure
realization, we remain hopeful, because poetically  Life is limited
man dwells upon this Earth  “Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we
die.”
Lesson 7: Examining the Good life  Does not believe in afterlife
1. The Quest for a Good Life  Movie: American Pie
 Man is constantly in pursuit of the good life.
Stoicism
 Also led by Epicurus

Science, Technology and Society l Page 8 of 11

  To be happy, one must learn to distance In some aspects, this entanglement can lead to
oneself and be apathetic or indifferent worrying prospects
 Accept that some things are not in our control  Too much technology can be bad.
 Movie: The Shawshank Redemption  Various ethical dilemmas have been
identified throughout time involving the use
Theism of different technological devices and its
 God as fulcrum of existence effects to humanity.
 Based on the entity of Heaven  Usually, different problems arise when:
 Ultimate basis of happiness is communion 1. Technology is misused or;
with God 2. In the first place, it was invented to
 World is temporary, we return to God in the produce bad results.
end  In this lesson, we will examine several
 Movie: God’s Not Dead technologies. Specifically, the roles they
play in society and their effects to humanity.
Humanism
 Freedom of man to carve his own destiny Examining the Television Sets
 Happiness is achieved by freeing oneself History of the TV
from shackles of religion and society 1800s
 “Captain of my own ship, master of my own  Paul Gottlieb Nipkow
soul”  Successfully sent images through
 We can freely unearth the planet to improve wires with the aid of a rotating metal
disk. This was called the “electric
the lives of inhabitants
telescope” which has 18 lines of
 Movie: The Danish Girl
resolution.
1907
“As a result of humanism, scientists turned to
technology to ease the difficulty of life.  Alan Archibald Campbell-Swinton
 Boris Rosing
4. Technology and Good Life  Created a new system of television
 Attempts at altering the world for the benefit by using the cathode ray tube in
addition to the mechanical scanner
of humanity
system
Whether or not we agree with these technological
advancements, these are all undertaken in the hopes Role of Television Sets
1. Television is mainly used as a platform for
of attaining the good life. The balance, however,
advertisements and information
between the good life, ethics, and technology has to
be attained. dissemination.
2. Television is also used for recreational
activities and stress reliever for most
Lesson 7: When Technology and Humanity Cross
Filipino families.
3. Television also has a big impact in spreading
Our Lives Are Increasingly Entangled with
different propagandas and advocacies.
Technology
 Technology as a form of necessity
In the Philippines:
 Technology has become an inevitable part of
 92% of urban homes and
society
 70% of rural homes own a television set
 Technology makes life easier and more
 15.135 million households own a TV set
convenient
 Enhances human well-being in areas such as  TV is ultimate medium for advertisement
medical research and treatment, in our placements.
transport system, in social care settings and
in efforts to protect the environment. Examining the Mobile Phones
History of the Mobile Phone:
Motorola DynaTAC 8000X

Science, Technology and Society l Page 9 of 11

  First commercial mobile phone made public  47M active Facebook accounts
in 1983 invented by: Martin Copper (made  Fastest growing app market in Southeast Asia
the world’s first phone call on April 3. 1973)

Roles of Mobile Phones Ethical Dilemmas (Faced by these Technological

 Compute Advancement)
 Surfing the net  Laziness consume Alienate
 Store Files  Your phone is trying to control you
 Online Shopping
 Navigate Are these technologies ethical? If not, who is to be
 Take Pictures blamed for its dangers?
 Call People  Let’s Discuss: Nosedive
 Organize Documents  Examining Robotics & Humanity
 Social Networking  Ask Yourself: would you let a robot take care
 Texting of your dying mother?

Mobile Phone in the Philippines The International Federation of Robotics (IFR)

 67% of Filipinos own a mobile phone defines robots as the following:
 Mobile phones considered a “must have” Robot
among youth  Actuated mechanism programmable in two
 119M counted mobile phone subscribers or more axes with a degree of autonomy,
moving within its environment, to perform
 30% of Filipinos see mobile phone as
necessity intended tasks.

Examining Computers & Laptops Service Robot

History:  Performs useful tasks for humans or
1837 equipment excluding industrial automation
 Charles Babbage invents the Analytical application
Engine
Personal Service Robot
 The Engine served as the basic framework of
 Used for noncommercial task, usually by
computers even three generations later.
laypersons (i.e. domestic servant robot,
automated wheelchair, pet exercising robot)
Osborne 1
 Osborne 1 was the first portable computer. It
Professional Service Robot
was believed that the transition from a
 Used for a commercial task, usually operated
computer to laptop was just a matter of design
and innovation. From that moment on, the by a trained operator (i.e. cleaning robot,
delivery robot, fire-fighting robot, surgery
evolution of laptops continued.
robot, war machines)
Role of the Laptop & Computer:
Desire (Deutsche Servicerobotik Initiative
 Many of the laptop’s functions are actually
 One of the first service robots developed by
present in a mobile phone. However, laptops
have wide screens and separate keyboards. Germany launched on October 1, 2005
Because of this people prefer to use it for
gaming and work. However, it is not Unimate
portable.  One of the earliest robots created in the early
1950s by George Devol. It comes from the
A Profile of Internet Users in the Philippines word “Universal Automation” since it
 Mobile phone subscription is at 119 M performed dangerous welding in heated
machines.
 Filipinos spend approximately 3.2 hours on
mobile and 5.2 hours on desktop daily.
Ethical Dilemmans
 Highest digital population in the world
 Safety and Sentience
Science, Technology and Society l Page 10 of 11
  What if someone’s life is compromised by a
robot?
 What id robots develop emotions? What if
they start to think for themselves?
 Should they be granted rights when they
develop the ability to feel?

Are robots capable of having feelings?

 Recall BLACK MIRROR’S “Be Right Back”

Technology is inevitable.
Problems faced calls for ethics.

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