The social nature of technology fixes

Abstract

In this paper we argue that concerns about ‘technological fixes’ are often misguided because people misunderstand the basic concept, which is both value neutral and fundamentally about social issues rather than properly technical ones. After analysing and expanding the concept of a technological fix, these insights are applied to several cases, including an example from software engineering. We contend that decision-making processes involved with technological solutions and innovations need to build in more reflective components sensitive to basic human behaviour in order to be more successful.

Keywords

• philosophy of technology
• philosophy of engineering
• technology fixes
• software engineering.