STSC 212 Final Exam Questions With Correct Answers

Standpoint Epistemology - Answer A way of looking at history that developed from feminist criticisms regarding women's absence from/marginalized position in knowledge systems. This method emphasized the experience of events from different perspectives, and that truth is shaped by a person's position in society. Specifically in military technological systems, this calls attention to the many different perspectives from which technologies (like the atomic bomb) can be interpreted and experienced. Military Industrial Complex - Answer The convergence/alliance between the military and the defense industry (the rest of society) that supplies it that as a single entity influence public policy. Truly emerged after WWII during the militarization of science/tech/industry during the Cold War, and the term gained popularity after President Eisenhower used it in his farewell address. Black Boxing - Answer The idea that scientific and military history can be viewed from the outside/in terms of its inputs and outputs without any knowledge of how it works. It suggests that while we might know how to use an innovation, we do not understand the process/its implementation. Also argues that scientific/technical work is "made invisible by its own success," since when a machine runs efficiently, one no longer needs to focus on its inputs/outputs and not its internal complexity. This leads to the paradox that the more science/tech succeeds, the more opaque/obscure/"black" they become. Hegemonic Power - Answer The internalized and normalized power/ set of meanings/values which as they are experienced appear reciprocally conforming functions through individual action, commitment and identity. Those who are subjected to it are those who internalize it, and thus creates a social structure/reality in which we self-regulate. (Requirement is state hegemony too, i.e. USA) Teleology - Answer A general approach to determinism not limited to technology. Aristotle proposed that we live in a static world and life is made for a single purpose, and that every thing is defined by their purpose alone, as in they have a specific outcome that they always tend to. Technical Distancing - Answer The means by which technology permits acts that would not otherwise happen in close proximity. Allows for a disaffiliation between offense and victim. Fascism - Answer An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization. Characteristics of such regimes include heightened nationalism, human rights abuses, scapegoats as unifying cause, military funding privileged over domestic needs, control of Mass Media, fear-based social control etc. They are considered to be situations in which there are "poor choices" leading to possible adioaphoria (esp. on the part of scientists such as Nazi Germany and Ping Fan). Joseph Rotblat claimed that "under fascism truth cannot exist" suggesting that pure/true science (being equal to truth) is not possible in fascist environments. Garrison State - Answer Harold Lasswell first coined this term in 1941. This is the developmental construct that argues that there is a political-military elite in the modern state, of which "specialists on violence are the most powerful group in society." In terms of technical experts (scientists), this mean permanent militarization, mobilization, and the establishment of militarized disciplines now funded by the state. Consumption Junction - Answer A methodology developed by Cohen that starts with an analysis of the (involuntary) consumers (of military technology and weapons) and draws out the network/web from there. This illuminates the power relationships that other producer and laboratory oriented methodologies cannot. Ex. in the context of the atomic bomb, if you think about the victims as the consumers you get a different perspective than if you look at the developers as the consumers. Sociotechnical System - Answer This refers to the merging of training and technology (i.e. people+tech+rules), and when the integration of human action/the human component and technology become inseparable as they "work" in conjunction to achieve a certain goal. A good example is the utilization of drill/Maurician training methods in 16th/17th century European armies in order to compensate for flaws in the weaknesses of the guns at the time. Technological Momentum - Answer The theory that systems gain momentum as they are implemented and succeed in their "goal-orientation." It refers to the general property of systems that reach and maintain some "lock-in" that produces predictable interaction and eventually resist change. In other words, when technology becomes so successful that it becomes so integrated within a society that it cannot be "stopped." Technological Choice - Answer The idea that technologies mean different things in different places. It demonstrates that in any society, choices of whether to adopt or reject a certain technological innovation results from cultural and social values/relations, rather than inherent benefits of the technology itself. Compartmentalization - Answer The socio-technological process that allows for the dispersion of blame by dividing and subdividing labor/knowledge and thus permits a lack of a sense of responsibility for outcomes. The American Century - Answer The time period that started with the American win during the Spanish American war (1898) and ended with 9/11. Refers to when the United States was the political, military, and cultural capital of the world with almost impenetrable security. Aka the time period of US global dominance. Neoliberalism - Answer A newer/capitalistic approach to liberal open market systems first coined in 1938 as a response to fears about Roosevelt's New Deal, "welfare states" and "collectivism". Argues the best way to organize society and politics is to think of citizens as consumers and that the goal is to "get rich." Highlights the influence of competition, that government intervention should be limited, and that "the market ensures that everyone gets what they deserve." Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek were big influencers in this concept. Interchangeable Parts - Answer A revolutionary way of producing/standardizing technologies, especially guns, that allowed for more efficient and mass production. Eli Whitney credits himself with this method, however it is known that it was used in France by Honoré Blanc and Jean-Baptiste de Gribeauval. It is not only an object but a system, social ideology of human labor, a contractual commitment, and an expression of the valorization of reason, efficiency, and order. The Fog of War - Answer An idea proposed by Carl von Clausewitz that war is surrounded by a "lack of clarity," much like a fog, that leads to exaggeration of emotions and experiences (almost a warped reality) that makes everything much more difficult. This is why science/tech becomes so important. Gunpowder Empires - Answer Empires that developed monopolies on and systematically used artilleries and other firearms. This resulted in the creation of highly centralized and diverse populations, industrialized networks of trade and transportation, and enabled greater control over populations/citizens. Often specifically refers to the Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal empires which all had considerable military success using newly developed firearms. The theory surrounding these argue that guns created a new kind of statehood. Reverse Salient - Answer More concretely speaking, it refers to a "backward bulge" in the advancing line of a military front, as in the case of the Battle of Verdun. But it has since been extrapolated (first by Thomas Hughes in his book on networks of power) to refer to glitches/vulnerabilities in new technologies (due to insufficient development) that prevents the whole technological system from achieving its end goal. Arendt Thesis - Answer A theory proposed by Hannah Arendt that explains human behavior. It claims people (and in context of this class, scientists) are incentivized in predictable, banal, structural, and industrialized ways. Claims individuals are neither innocent nor to blame in any simple way, and this notion challenges religious social order. She also wrote the book Eichmann in Jerusalem, and highlighted how to call someone "evil" is too simple of an explanation for why people do evil things, and rather focused on the "banality of evil"