Benefits of culture and technology synergy today from Barbara Jarabik : As read in Implications of Changing Cultural Values by Eldon E. Snyder. It says that sociocultural values don’t only represent ideals and goals that people in a society strive to achieve. But it also selects the means that are used to achieve these goals and ideals. In addition, it is stated that “from the standpoint of society, cultural values function as ideals that orient the activities within and between social institutions. Thus, to properly understand the functioning of the family, or political, religious, economic, and educational institutions within society requires an analysis of sociocultural values.”
In spite of pros and cons of technology, for the better part it has greatly helped to make our lives better. It has not only able to save our important resource as time and money but also has worked well in unifying the world by turning into global village which helped people to easily overcome their cultural, racial and continental barriers. The ease of connecting through technology and communicating online does have impact on culture locally and globally as more and more people choose to communicate online instead of person.
Technology, for an example, mobile phones find a very unique integration with culture and the work that an individual does (Palen, 2001, pp. 109- 122), today we see that technologies like mobile phones are being used in various roles , in one culture we see that it is used from the simple function as a torch light to more complex roles like fishermen using it for marketing and weather reports (Mittal, 2010). In another we observe how it changes the way people think and brings about a change in society (Contarello, 2007, pp. 149-163), we also observed that it has also seen applications in businesses like new apps (Butler, 2011), our daily activities. Technology is slowly getting locked with our culture, and becomes a daily necessity in some other cultures.
Technology influences society through its products and processes, which consequently influences the quality of life and the ways people act and interact. On the other hand, social needs, attitudes, and values also influence the direction of technological development. For societies to thrive and evolve, technological innovations have become necessary. It has evolved over the last centuries from simple tools such as stone tools and basic books to complex genetic engineering, smart machines, and information technology such as TV, computers, and cell phones. As technological systems are invented by humans, they reflect the very essence of a population’s needs and culture. Find more details at Barbara Jarabik.
The way technology advances is dependent on the way a culture or society wants it. This calls in for a continuous improvement of the technology by collectively improving the thoughts behind the technology, normally it is seen that such a technological change is beyond a cultural or social influence and is seen as “technological imperative” (Pacey, 2013), but these kind of models also then deny the possibility of directing technology, consequent to cultural or social change. “The main argument tends to be its inadequacy and its ideological function in mystifying and furthering the interests certain groups who benefit from technology could change” (Williams, 1996).