The
Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory
Abstracts
The
impact of cognitive technologies: Towards a pragmatic approach
Marcelo Dascal
& Itiel E. Dror
Technological advances have been an
integral part of human development throughout history. In recent decades such
advances have been dramatic in that many of the new technologies have quickly penetrated
into activities in the daily life of ordinary
people. In contrast to very specific technologies used by highly specialized
experts new technologies are now deeply embedded in many everyday activities of
virtually everyone. What we propose to consider is technology's impact not so
much in terms of the ‘quantity’ of work and time employed in a
given activity, but rather in terms of the ‘quality’ or kind of the
activity. Technological innovations have not necessarily reduced the amount of ‘work’ but rather significantly
changed the type of work performed by humans. In this respect, these
innovations did not replace human labour, but introduced deep changes in
its environment, which led to the requirement and development of new cognitive competencies. Hence we
suggest moving from the external effects
of technology to emphasising its internal
implications. Technology, on this view, becomes the contextual drive responsible for the evolution of new human capacities
and their use – a role that requires its study within the framework of a pragmatic
theory of cognition.
Dascal, M. & Dror,
