Free Custom «Technological Rationality» Essay Paper

Technological rationality is the dehumanization of the masses and the individuals through capitalist systems. The dehumanization is performed through regimentation or standardization of all aspects of life. The instance of technology gradually makes life predictable, uniform and routine. Such system ultimately results in a society, in which there is uniformity in social behavior and life. Thus, it has a negative impact on the individual in the society since the individual is gradually stripped of his individual rationality, which is replaced by either mass rationality or manufactured rationality. Contemporary society has come to be dominated by technological rationality due to the insistence of capitalist efficiency, which calls for established means of doing things and, thus free individual thinking is stifled. An example of this is the insistence by organizations on turning profits and surpluses which make managers insist on doing things in a certain way other than exploring several means of operation.

 

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Critical rationality, on the other hand, is a concept of the renaissance era which emphasized on individual thought and rationality as its core tenet. Critical rationality has over time been eroded by the forces of technological rationality. Technological rationality is a child of capitalism which focus is on efficiency and other aspects such as division of labor and specialization. Such aspects usually place the instance of rational thinking upon experts and specialists who determine what the most efficient means of production or operation is. The most efficient means will thus be deemed as the most rational means that the masses will be subjected to. The masses have been conditioned to accept technological realities of efficiency as critical rationality. An example of this is for instance of technical processes in a factory. It is not uncommon for a person who does not have technical training to have insights into a process yet they will never get a chance to express their views or their views will be ignored to the detriment of the system.