Unit 1 - General Concepts in Science, Technology, and Society

Lesson 1: SCOPE OF SOCIETY, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
At the end of this lesson, the students are expected to:
1. Examine the definition of the terms - society, technology, and
science - in the context of the STS course
2. Explain how science and technology have both positive and negative
effects on society and the environment

SCOPE OF SOCIETY, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Science and technology play a vital role in our daily life as they make our
life simpler, faster, and safer. Almost everything we see around us is the
gift of science and technology, whether it is smartphones, fans, electricity,
microwave, radio, television, laptops, wheel, vehicles, cloth, paper,
toothbrushes, etc. We need science and technology in every area of our
life.

Scientific knowledge teaches us to express our civic aspirations, our

desire to connect with others and contribute to the world around us.
Science and technology have penetrated every aspect of our lives,
changing the way we work, how we learn and how we shop. Science and
technology have facilitated human life and made us feel comfortable and
enabled us to live in a modern way of life.

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With the help of things like microwaves, fans, smartphones, and cars,
science and technology have made cooking, sleeping, and communicating
and transportation easier and faster. We also use technology to
communicate with other people around the globe and share information,
clean our clothes, prepare our meals, move from one place to another,
and in all everyday items like floorboards, door locks and furniture are
technologies that we now take for granted that seem less impressive to
us than self-driving cars or 3D printing.
The Internet and related tools are already playing major and important
roles, in areas like data mapping and visualization, crowdsourcing, and
more. Internet facilitates communication and spreading the word now with
just one click and maybe one tweet, that's all anyone needs to do these
days to share something with a social network.
Technology is also important in business because transactions and other
events take place through the computer. Science and technology have
generated new knowledge, have greatly contributed to the development
and progress of people's lives, and helped us save time and money.

Science and technology feed each other, propelling both forward.

Scientific knowledge allows us to make new observations about the world,
build more scientific and technical knowledge, and build new technologies.
Science and technology have made a great contribution to the field of
education. Scientific knowledge allows us to solve practical problems,
make informed decisions and develop new technologies. It has provided
us with options such as smart classes, electronic libraries, e-books,
multimedia devices, etc.

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Science has made great contributions to health by providing treatment for
various chronic diseases. Technology devices have improved the care of
many patients and helped to record patients' real-time data and instantly
update their medical history and make their recovery less distressing and
painful. We benefit from technology in receiving these treatments through
various methods and tools such as x-rays, SC scans, MRIs, surgical
instruments, pacemakers, and much more.

SOCIETY
The following are definitions of the term “society”:
• a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a
large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory,
typically subject to the same political authority and dominant
cultural expectations
• the aggregate of people living together in
a more or less ordered community
• the community of people living in a
particular country or region and having
shared customs, laws, and organizations
• a large group of people who live together in an organized way,
making decisions about how to do things and sharing the work that
needs to be done. All the people in a country, or in several similar
countries, can be referred to as a society

TECHNOLOGY
The following are definitions of the term “technology”:
• the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes,
especially in industry
• the application of scientific knowledge to the practical aims of
human life or, as it is sometimes phrased, to the change and
manipulation of the human environment

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 • is the result of accumulated knowledge and application of skills,
methods, and processes used
in industrial production and
scientific research
• the sum of the ways in
which social groups provide
themselves with the material
objects of their civilization
• the study and knowledge of
the practical, especially industrial, use of scientific discoveries

SCIENCE
The following are definitions of the term “science”.
• the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic
study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world
through observation and experiment
• the careful study of the structure and behaviour of the physical
world, especially by watching, measuring, and doing experiments,
and the development of theories to describe the results of these
activities
• the pursuit and application of knowledge and understanding of the
natural and social world following a
systematic methodology based on
evidence. Scientific methodology
includes the following:
➢ Objective observation: Measurement
and data (possibly although not
necessarily using mathematics as a
tool)
➢ Evidence
➢ Experiment and/or observation as
benchmarks for testing hypotheses

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 ➢ Induction: reasoning to establish general rules or conclusions
drawn from facts or examples
➢ Repetition
➢ Critical analysis
➢ Verification and testing: critical exposure to scrutiny, peer review
and assessment

POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF TECHNOLOGY ON SOCIETY

In humanity’s quest for wellbeing, science and technology have been
among the most powerful tools in transforming societies, enabling
societies to manage, and meet or even go beyond their fundamental
needs. As a result, new opportunities for economic growth have unfolded,
several challenges of hunger and
disease have been met, and a
deeper understanding of the
secrets of nature and the
universe have been gained,
bringing tremendous benefits to
mankind as a whole.
Ancient and modern human civilizations have both benefited from and
been impeded by the technological innovations, inventions and
engineering applications used within societies to perform specific tasks.
For societies to thrive and evolve, technological innovations have become
necessary, while at the same time the culture, ideals and aspirations of
human societies have shaped how those civilizations have created,
benefited from, and been impeded by, technology.
Technology made life easier for multitudes, and have gifted many with the
resources, education and tools needed to live a better life. Such impacts
have greatly affected agriculture, transportation, communication, and the
education sectors within societies globally. Technology clearly has done a
lot to make human life easier, more enjoyable, and more convenient.
However, science and technology have also produced or enhanced
unanticipated negative developments such as wars, social inequalities, the
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spread of diseases or vulnerabilities and undesirable environmental
effects. It has also resulted in the depletion of natural resources, increase
in pollution due to industrialization, impacting global warming are all very
real issues created by an increasing use of technology.

References:
Padolina, W.G., Almazan, R.P.B., et al. (2019). Society, Science, and
Technology: Social Dynamics of Scientific Discovery and Technological
Innovation. Vibal Goup, Inc. [1]
The Scientific World. (March 14, 2021). The Importance of Science and
Technology in our Daily Life. Retrieved on 08/17/22 from https://www.
scientificworldinfo.com/2021/03/importance-of-science-and-technology-
in-our-life.html
Wardnyski, D.J. (October 24, 2019). Technology and Society: How
Technology Changed our Lives. Retrieved on 08/17/22 from https://www.
brainspire.com/blog/technology-and-society-how-technology-changed-
our-lives
Wikipedia. (nd). Society. Retrieved on 08/17/22 from https://en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Society