Due today - anyone?

RESPOND TO THE BELOW (minimum 100 WORDS) - 

in response to the below do this:  offering advice or strategy; posing a question and providing an alternative point-of-view, 

forum to respond to is: 

The Critical Theory mimics a Marxist viewpoint on society: “Like Marx, the critical theorists saw in modern industrial societies an oppressive, dehumanizing social order. And, like Marx, their aim was not simply to con­struct a theory capable of explaining the real workings of society, but also, in Horkheimer’s words, to foster “man’s emancipation from slavery” (Horkheimer 1972b:246). Yet, the critical theorists offered a picture of the sources of domination and the struggle to overcome them that was very different from that posited by Marx.” (Appelrouth & Edles, 2011, p. 81)  

Education does indeed play a role in promoting a totally administered society in many ways.  A totally administered society is somewhat one dimensional.  With education comes development, not just of higher thought but of how to make things “better” and as a result technology has developed as well.  There is a huge emphasis on education in society these days, many people cannot get well paying jobs without a degree and even with a four year degree becoming more of a norm society pushes even more now for master’s degrees.  It is a bit of a cycle with increased education come the development in technology which in turn expands the parameters of what we know and results in the inflation of yet more education. With that said, I think the best way to look at the influence of technology on society is that it has both been both a blessing and a curse in it’s own right.  So many things have been made easier with the advancement of technology, it has opened so many doors.  It has allowed up to travel the world and travel into space. Technological advances have led to higher quality health care, being able to increase trade and communication with other cultures, and so much more.  On the flip side of that technology has also stunted the human connection in many ways and has caused people to lose touch with their compassion and empathy in my opinion.  I think that this is where the critical theory is correct, while in the time of it’s development, the theory was focused more on industrialization and bourgeois capitalism, the concept is the same today.  I think, like most other technology, the internet is both a source of liberation and domination.  It is liberating because it expands the resources individuals have and puts them right at their fingertips.  It is also dominating because so many are walking around with their faces in their phones, job applications are online now removing much of the personal/human aspect, and we are losing the actual connection from person to person.  I think this quote says it best: “In fact, these technological wonders are in part responsible for perpetuating the very dehumanizing conditions that they are advertised to alleviate.”