Techne 14:1 Winter 2010 Feenberg,Ten Paradoxes of Technology/11 Here is an example.To make the paper on which this lecture is printed,trees were removed from their place in the ecology of the forest as they were reduced to simplified raw materials.They were then transformed to become useful in a new context,the context of contemporary writing practices.That new context brought with it all sorts of constraints such as size,thickness, compatibility with current printers,and so on.We recognize the paper as belonging to this new context. But the process of decontextualizing and recontextualizing technical objects sometimes results in unexpected problems.In the case in point,paper making employs dangerous chemicals and its poorly regulated pursuit causes air pollution and immense harm to rivers and their inhabitants.In sum,in simplifying,technological projects such as paper making produce new complications. This is why context matters.Ignorance of context is especially prevalent in developing societies that receive a great deal of transferred technology.Blindness to context and consequence is the rule in such cases.Technologies adapted to one world disrupt another world.These complications become the occasion for popular reactions and protests as they impinge on the health and well being of ordinary people.This proposition is tested over and over in one developing society after another.Where popular reaction leading to correctives is effectively suppressed,as it was in the Soviet Union,the consequences of development can be catastrophic:severe chemical pollution of the air,water and soil,extensive radioactive contamination,and declining fertility and life expectancy 8.The paradox of value and fact. As it grows more powerful and pervasive,it becomes more and more difficult to insulate technology from feedback from the underlying population.Workers,users,victims,and potential victims all have their say at some point.Their feedback,provoked by maladaptation,negative side effects or unrealized technical potential,leads to interventions that constrain development and orient its path. Once mobilized to protect themselves,protesters attempt to impose the lessons of experience with technologies on the technical experts who possess the knowledge necessary to build working devices in a modern society.It appears superficially that two separate things,technical knowledge and everyday experience interact in a clash of opposites.Technical experts sometimes decry what they think of as ideological interference with their pure and objective knowledge of nature.They protest that values and desires must not be allowed to muddy the waters of fact and truth. Protesters may make the corresponding error and denounce the experts in general while nevertheless employing their technology constantly in everyday life. But in fact technical knowledge and experience are complementary rather than opposed. Technical knowledge is incomplete without the input from experience that corrects its oversights and simplifications.Public protests indirectly reveal the complications unintentionally caused by those simplifications,i.e.aspects of nature so far overlooked by the experts. Protests work by formulating values and priorities.Demand for such things as safety,health, skilled employment,recreational resources,aesthetically pleasing cities testify to the failure of technology to adequately incorporate all the constraints of its environment.Eventually those values will be incorporated into improved technical designs and the conflict between the public and its experts will die down.Indeed,in years to come the technical experts will forget theTechné 14:1 Winter 2010 Feenberg, Ten Paradoxes of Technology/11 Here is an example. To make the paper on which this lecture is printed, trees were removed from their place in the ecology of the forest as they were reduced to simplified raw materials. They were then transformed to become useful in a new context, the context of contemporary writing practices. That new context brought with it all sorts of constraints such as size, thickness, compatibility with current printers, and so on. We recognize the paper as belonging to this new context. But the process of decontextualizing and recontextualizing technical objects sometimes results in unexpected problems. In the case in point, paper making employs dangerous chemicals and its poorly regulated pursuit causes air pollution and immense harm to rivers and their inhabitants. In sum, in simplifying, technological projects such as paper making produce new complications. This is why context matters. Ignorance of context is especially prevalent in developing societies that receive a great deal of transferred technology. Blindness to context and consequence is the rule in such cases. Technologies adapted to one world disrupt another world. These complications become the occasion for popular reactions and protests as they impinge on the health and well being of ordinary people. This proposition is tested over and over in one developing society after another. Where popular reaction leading to correctives is effectively suppressed, as it was in the Soviet Union, the consequences of development can be catastrophic: severe chemical pollution of the air, water and soil, extensive radioactive contamination, and declining fertility and life expectancy. 8. The paradox of value and fact. As it grows more powerful and pervasive, it becomes more and more difficult to insulate technology from feedback from the underlying population. Workers, users, victims, and potential victims all have their say at some point. Their feedback, provoked by maladaptation, negative side effects or unrealized technical potential, leads to interventions that constrain development and orient its path. Once mobilized to protect themselves, protesters attempt to impose the lessons of experience with technologies on the technical experts who possess the knowledge necessary to build working devices in a modern society. It appears superficially that two separate things, technical knowledge and everyday experience interact in a clash of opposites. Technical experts sometimes decry what they think of as ideological interference with their pure and objective knowledge of nature. They protest that values and desires must not be allowed to muddy the waters of fact and truth. Protesters may make the corresponding error and denounce the experts in general while nevertheless employing their technology constantly in everyday life. But in fact technical knowledge and experience are complementary rather than opposed. Technical knowledge is incomplete without the input from experience that corrects its oversights and simplifications. Public protests indirectly reveal the complications unintentionally caused by those simplifications, i.e. aspects of nature so far overlooked by the experts. Protests work by formulating values and priorities. Demand for such things as safety, health, skilled employment, recreational resources, aesthetically pleasing cities testify to the failure of technology to adequately incorporate all the constraints of its environment. Eventually those values will be incorporated into improved technical designs and the conflict between the public and its experts will die down. Indeed, in years to come the technical experts will forget the