The Science-Technology-Society Connection
The Science-Technology-Society Connection
Can understanding the science-technology-society connection make you a better a science writer?
Science leads to novel insights which impact and change society.
This week’s newsletter is from Kelly, who is currently pursuing her PhD in sociology, so she understands the linkages between science and society. In last month’s newsletter, Kelly blogged about the intersection of social science and SciComm — what she calls “social SciComm.” If you missed last month’s newsletter, you can read it here:
This week, Kelly expands upon the topic of Social SciComm, talking about the science-technology-connection. Keep reading to learn more!
The Science-Technology-Society Connection
The connection between science, technology, and society is deep and enduring. We are moving further and more swiftly into the information age, with increasingly rapid and complex technological advancements. With adaptations and increasing dependence on these advancements, the impact of scientific knowledge is integral to the structure of society.
As a science writer, how often do you really think about the connections between science, technology, society? As the pandemic has shown us, science doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Not only is it shaped by society, its implementation also depends on societal norms and attitudes, for instance. Sometimes a new discovery can solve one problem, but create new challenges.
The Science-Technology Connection
The connection between science and technology is bi-directional. New scientific discoveries and research directions create the need for new or improved technologies and new technologies increase the capacity and efficiency of scientific research.
Over the 20th century, computer technology advanced from merely solving complex equations over days to rapid complex data processing, vast data storage, and instantaneous global communication. With each improvement in computer science, computer technology became more efficient and accessible. These technological improvements created space for advancement in computer science.
Scientific research is built “on the shoulders of giants.” The modern computer, for example, is the culmination of over a century of computer science evolution. Theories and data from previous research are the pillars for future research and invention. Previous technologies are perfected or give rise to new technologies to better answer the scientific questions and everyday demands of the age.
Increased efficiency and capacity created by advancements creates space for new research directions. New and better technologies make scientific research more efficient, allowing more questions to be answered more quickly and a deeper understanding of what is being studied, launching expansions into new realms of research. In the case of modern computer, advancements in processing and memory capacities paved the way for programs that could calculate complex equations in minutes rather than days, allowing for significant increases in the pace of research.
The Technology-Society Connection
Like that between science and technology, the connection between technology and society is also bi-directional. New technologies give rise to changes in the experiences, demands, and pace of everyday life and changing lifestyles and demands compel further technological advancements.
Advancements in information technology like the internet increased access to knowledge, making research more efficient, and increasing the information employees and students are expected to access, in short order, to complete their work. The modern reliance on computer technology makes it nearly impossible to think about carrying out activities from banking or communication to work or education without a computer.
New technologies simultaneously facilitate and expand life’s demands. Changes in the norms and routines of everyday life compel technological advancements facilitating work, education, community and political involvement, and family organization and health management. Technological advancements increase the efficiency, affordability, and accessibility to new technologies. With new capacities created by technologies, new expectations surface. Our daily lives have become both simpler and more complex because of computers.
The Science-Society Connection
Like the connections between science and technology and technology and society, the connection between science and society is also bi-directional. The effects of science on society are numerous. Science and technology impact various social institutions: politics, religion, education, family, work, the list goes on. In turn, society adapts and becomes dependent on scientific and technological advancements which gives rise to new demands for further comprehension of and accessibility to scientific knowledge and technology. This then gives rise to new scientific discoveries and technological innovations.
Scientific discoveries inform everyday activities and decisions from the mundane to the exceptional, from those that only impact the individual to those that shape entire societies. Scientific knowledge and advancements impact public policy around medicine, education, work, politics, governance – nearly every facet of life and society. Further, scientific knowledge not only impacts individual and group behavior, but also perceptions of reality: science influences understandings of cause and effect and the meaning and impact of events. Computer technology from allows individuals across the globe to access vast information that they can disseminate instantaneously and globally with the click of a button.
The structure of society: the availability of natural resources, individual and group freedoms of thought and expression, and accessibility of information and education all structure the role and capacity of science within society. As well, scientific knowledge and advancements also restructure society, creating greater space for scientific understanding and advancements. As societies become more accepting of and dependent on science, science plays an ever-greater role in informing social structure and social reality. Societies across the globe have gained access to vast information and communication and with that the power to challenge held perspectives and allow communities to promote and share new and innovative ideas.
The Science-Technology-Society Connection
Since the invention of stone-cutting tools and the discovery of fire, comprehension of the laws of nature, the creation of tools (technologies), and the structure of social life have been deeply intertwined. The question of which comes first is essentially a question of the chicken or the egg, and is arbitrary: scientific, technological, and societal changes all have a cascading, snowball effect on each other.
Scientific advancements breed technological advancements which alter the structure of society: social institutions, everyday life, group behavior. Advancements in technology make possible and drive scientific discoveries which reshape societal policy and public perceptions of reality. Shifts in public perception and fundamental social institutions bring new scientific inquiries and demands for improved technologies.
The case of the computer offers a prominent example of this perpetual cycle. Scientific research demanded computer technology to process data for research. Science then created the necessary technology: computers – as well as creating a new field of scientific research: computer science. Advancements in computer science facilitated scientific research, including computer science (think programming). As all of this was occurring, society was becoming more dependent upon the scientific research findings and inventions produced with the help of computers as well as upon computer technology itself.
What do you think about the linkages between science, technology, and society? What resources have you found that address this topic? Chime in in the comments. :)
What we’ve been reading (and writing): Links from around the web
How has the pandemic changed science writing? “The pandemic made it clear that science touches everything, and everything touches science,” writes Ed Yong in the Atlantic.
Carl Zimmer offers science writing guidelines and guidance, gleaned from a course he taught at Yale, on his website.
Angela Tague of WebWritingAdvice shares her blog pre-publication checklist. Such a smart idea!
Have you ever considered marketing writing as a science communicator? Learn about the lucrative field of science copywriting over on our blog.
The pandemic has changed social media (thanks to Christina Garrett for sharing this link on Twitter).
Thanks for reading our newsletter! If you liked it, please share it with your friends and colleagues. :)