{"id":1084,"date":"2019-01-15T01:26:43","date_gmt":"2019-01-15T01:26:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/digitalwisdom\/?p=1084"},"modified":"2019-01-15T01:26:43","modified_gmt":"2019-01-15T01:26:43","slug":"material-and-formative-technologies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/digitalwisdom\/2019\/01\/material-and-formative-technologies\/","title":{"rendered":"Material and Formative Technologies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

When we talk about technology, we are often thinking of the instruments we use to interact with our environments\u2014tools such as computers, clocks, books, wheels, et cetera. But technological artifacts are created with specialized knowledge and skills, such as engineering, timekeeping, writing, and pottery. Technology is also technique. And tools and techniques are developed and sustained within social structures and systems that shape people and the world. When we talk about technology, we should be thinking about human culture.<\/p>\n

\"View
View of Seattle\u2019s Alaskan Way Viaduct in 2018 before its demolition in 2019<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Using Simone Weil\u2019s succinct definition of culture as the \u201cformation of attention,\u201d we can think of technology as having both material and formative dimensions. What we\u2019ve been formed to pay attention to and value will influence how (and whether) we develop material technologies. Intentional or not, these technologies will have certain agentic affordances, which will then form us individually and collectively\u2014as well as the natural world. It\u2019s best when we are as intentional as we can be, and develop formative practices that leverage the best\u2014and mitigate the worst\u2014aspects of our technologies.<\/p>\n

Chad Wellmon provides a good example of what a material-formative technological synthesis looks like when he describes<\/a> how the modern research university was developed as a technology for information management. The intention of this new form of the university was to supplement prolific printed material with new scholarly practices for the formation of attention and agency.<\/p>\n

(An even greater\u2014if not the greatest\u2014information technology for integrating material and formative technologies is the library<\/a>, but that\u2019s another post.)<\/p>\n

Imagine if internet, social media, and mobile technologies had been developed along with formative practices that could have enhanced their use and constrained their abuse! \u2026 More encouraging is the current ethical attention being given to the design, use, and governance of artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n

When we take an instrumental or deterministic view of technology\u2014asserting that technology is simply neutral or inevitable\u2014we separate material technologies from related formative practices that nonetheless precede, could have productively paralleled, and will deformatively succeed them. And we create dystopian realities rather than apocalyptic<\/a> truth.<\/p>\n

Alternatively, when we view technology as an integral part of human culture, we can approach it with the most important questions about what we can know, what we may hope for, and what we must do\u2014philosophical questions of epistemology, eschatology, and ethics. And we can cultivate practices, such as those associated with the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love, which will help us use technology wisely.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Technology encompasses tools, techniques, and culture\u2014it is material as well as formative.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3120,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[134,304,307],"class_list":["post-1084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-counter-formative-practices","tag-defining-technology","tag-formative-technologies"],"yoast_head":"\nMaterial and Formative Technologies<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Technology encompasses tools, techniques, and culture\u2014it is material as well as formative.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/digitalwisdom\/2019\/01\/material-and-formative-technologies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Material and Formative Technologies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Technology encompasses tools, techniques, and culture\u2014it is material as well as formative.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/digitalwisdom\/2019\/01\/material-and-formative-technologies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Digital Wisdom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-01-15T01:26:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/846\/2019\/01\/formativetech.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael Paulus\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@mjpaulusjr\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michael Paulus\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/digitalwisdom\/2019\/01\/material-and-formative-technologies\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/digitalwisdom\/2019\/01\/material-and-formative-technologies\/\",\"name\":\"Material and Formative Technologies\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/digitalwisdom\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-01-15T01:26:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-01-15T01:26:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/digitalwisdom\/#\/schema\/person\/f2b1ab370cd4dda7608f6165567c80f2\"},\"description\":\"Technology encompasses tools, techniques, and culture\u2014it is material as well as formative.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/digitalwisdom\/2019\/01\/material-and-formative-technologies\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/digitalwisdom\/2019\/01\/material-and-formative-technologies\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/digitalwisdom\/2019\/01\/material-and-formative-technologies\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/digitalwisdom\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Material and Formative Technologies\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/digitalwisdom\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/digitalwisdom\/\",\"name\":\"Digital Wisdom\",\"description\":\"Reflecting on Theology and Technology in the Digital Age\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/digitalwisdom\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/digitalwisdom\/#\/schema\/person\/f2b1ab370cd4dda7608f6165567c80f2\",\"name\":\"Michael Paulus\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/digitalwisdom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f2d029e3d8979e0a51c36d40c3a999b6?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f2d029e3d8979e0a51c36d40c3a999b6?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Michael Paulus\"},\"description\":\"Michael Paulus is University Librarian, Assistant Provost for Educational Technology, and Director and Associate Professor of Information Studies at Seattle Pacific University. 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