Technofix Thinking
Discussion
Roberto Verzola:
" The technofix. A more general expression of the automation paradigm is “technofix thinking”—that for any human problem, a technology exists or can be developed to solve it. “Technofixers” often ignore social solutions to social problems, preferring instead the technological solution. The problem can be hunger (technological solution: genetically-modified food; social solution: improving the income of the poor), election cheating (technological solution: computerized counting; social solution: punish the cheaters severely), or infertility (technological solution: test-tube babies; social solution: adoption). The technological solution is often something for sale, while the social solution is usually something we simply need to do together. Early societies, including those that have survived until now, have evolved social solutions to most human problems. Unfortunately, even if they may still be relevant under modern conditions, these solutions are giving way, often under pressure, to expensive high-tech solutions sold by industrial and information economies. In effect, technofix thinking supports the market expansion of the economies that sell these technologies." (http://www.scu.edu/sts/nexus/summer2005/VerzolaArticle.cfm)