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    Predicting the Success of Technologies
    Predicting the Success of Technologies
    Predicting the Success of Technologies
    Ebook19 pages17 minutes

    Predicting the Success of Technologies

    By John Youker

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    About this ebook

    A brief essay that discusses the nature of science versus that of technology, and presents a general process for evaluating the potential success of new technologies.
    Science and technology as human activities are described and their differences discussed. A suggested four-step process for evaluating the viability and acceptability of new technologies is presented.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJohn Youker
    Release dateDec 15, 2019
    ISBN9780463042304
    Predicting the Success of Technologies
    Author

    John Youker

    Retired college teacher. Taught chemistry in NY and NC. Also worked on emergency planning and response for hazardous materials accidents.

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      Book preview

      Predicting the Success of Technologies - John Youker

      Preface

      If our species succeeds in contacting other inhabitable planets, how will we evaluate the lifeforms to determine if intelligent life exists?

      First and foremost we will look for the use of technology. After all, that's what we already do. On our own planet archaeologists look for uses of tools in their dig sites, basing the degree of advancement of previous hominids on the sophistication of their hand axes and spear points.. Evidence of civilization is essentially evidence that technology is in use. Of course, evidence of literacy, in the form of carvings, paintings, and a written language are also looked for, but they go hand in hand with technology. Is there any evidence for a past civilization that was literate but did not use any technology? Should we ever actually travel to another solar system and find an earth-like world, if we see no evidence of technology in use, we will question the existence of intelligent life.

      Current searches for alien life on exoplanets are searches for signals that can only originate from technologically well-advanced societies. There could be any number of inhabited planets at the level of 18th century earth and we will not hear from them.

      Even on our own planet we wonder about the intellectual capacity of certain species (dolphins?) that are physiologically limited in how they can develop technology, yet have large brains and show some attributes

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