TINST 401 - Technology in the Service of Society: A Seminar in the Integration of Technology and Social Interests

5 credit hours

Prerequisites: Completion of UWT QSR and NW minimums

Students: This course is open to all UWT students.

Catalog Description

Justification

Syllabus

Coordinator: George Mobus

Course Description:

Globalization is bringing to light numerous social and environmental problems that require resolving within the span of the lifetime of the next generation (1). The rate of social and technological change has accelerated creating significant global challenges as well as opportunities. Issues such as global warming, wealth disparities within and between nations, food production and distribution, regional conflicts spreading through terrorism, and many others threaten world peace and development as never before in history.

It is clear that a key component, though by no means a sufficient one, in solving many problems will be the appropriate use of new and developing technologies such as information (computing and communications), non-hydrocarbon based energy, bioengineering, robotics and nanotechnology (2, esp. Chapter 9, p. 151). Many technologies must, and will be brought to bear in finding ways to solve these problems. For example a critical piece of reducing anthropogenic greenhouse gasses is likely to involve the use of hydrogen fuel cells to reduce burning fossil fuels. But, ironically, hydrogen can only be obtained by processing fossil fuels, which produces CO₂, or by the electrolysis of water, which requires electrical energy. Both processes take additional energy and may have undesirable side effects. It is important for citizens of the modern world to understand the implications of proposed technologies (especially those on which tax dollars are to be spent). Every citizen should be able to apply critical thinking, based on basic understanding of the science and technologies involved in proposed solutions. There should be a healthy amount of skepticism that not all technologies will necessarily provide solutions to problems or that there are no hidden costs to take into account.

In this seminar we will choose one globally important problem for which technological solutions have been proposed or might be feasible in the near future (e.g., global warming). We will analyze the nature of the problem, with particular interest in the root causes, from a scientific, political and social perspective (e.g., burning fossil fuels). We will then investigate the science and engineering aspects of the technologies that might be brought to bear, looking, in particular, at the side effects, hidden and external costs and long-range implications. We will bring in speakers, either familiar with the problem domain or the technology (or both) and we will conduct open discussion of the issues. Though we will be discussing science and technology to a deeper degree than one usually sees in media reports, we will do this with minimal math requirements. We will attempt to make the issues accessible to anyone who has had algebra. Our objective is to gain a deeper understanding of the nature of the problem and the technologies, especially the costs, benefits and trade-offs. Armed with this understanding we will apply critical analysis to the policy environment that will affect the development and deployment of the technology.

Public policies, such as tax incentives, research investment and support for education in science and engineering, will determine how we actually solve these problems. As an example of a policy decision effect on technology, the current administration decided that it would not sign the Kyoto Protocol or support the efforts, which has subsequently put a damper on federal spending on emissions research.

Learning Objectives:

Understanding a Major (Global) Problem

At the outset of the seminar we will examine the nature of a problem or issue of major scope. The problem will be described based on the relevant science. For example, global warming will be examined through articles that have appeared in Scientific American or the Perspectives section of Science. These articles require no significant mathematical background beyond algebra, and are generally accessible to any college student with at least one science course. In-seminar explanations for aspects of the science not understood by the general audience will be provided as needed. In addition, hints of the methods and uses of higher math, such as calculus (and/or statistics), will be introduced to give the student a better appreciation for such math and its role in the sciences. The student will learn the details of the problem domain in sufficient depth so as to be able to engage in a meaningful discussion/debate of the causes and implications.

Technology Understanding

One does not need to be a computer scientist in order to understand the basic notions of data processing to produce information, or to understand the applications of the World Wide Web to social change. But one does need to have a sense of what is possible and what isn't in order to make critical judgments about the uses of technology in solving important problems.

When we investigate both the issues and the technological aspects of solutions we will not just look at the surface of these subjects. A central objective of this seminar is to develop a deeper, better understanding of technologies (and science behind them), how they work, what they can and what they cannot do. Some of this understanding can come from looking at the historical context of technologies (c.f. 3, for an approach to looking at the social, economic and political histories embedding technological developments).

The popular science press is currently full of unfounded or hyped expectations for how many technologies will be the salvation of civilization. For example, genetic engineering will give us all the food we need; hydrogen technology (or solar) will provide boundless energy. By having a deeper understanding of how various technologies actually work, by looking at some of the science behind the technologies, you will be able to more critically judge the claims made.

Understanding Public Policy Formulation and Effects

Understanding the nature of the technology, including the costs/benefits and externalities, will also put the student in a position to critique and even develop public policy proposals that would have the intent of stimulating research and development of needed technologies (or thwarting development of undesirable ones). The last part of the seminar examines some policy issues, both at the nation state level and the international (e.g., United Nations) level, that influence the development and deployment of technology (e.g., the Cap-and-Trade proposals that limit CO₂ emissions but allow variances across emitters - what effect will this have on CO₂ scrubbing/sequestering technology?).

Evaluation:

Every participant will be expected to do a substantial research project covering some particular aspect of the problem domain being studied in a particular quarter, proposed technologies needed to solve the problem and public policies, in place or proposed, that will further or inhibit the development of the technologies in question. The project will be broken down into the following phases (with associated percentages of final grade):

1. Topic selection and project proposal - a one to two page proposal detailing what aspect of the problem/technology the student would like to research. The proposal should include a discussion of why this aspect is important, methodology to be used and expected outcome. The coordinator will provide an extensive bibliography providing background information that will allow the student to develop this proposal. (10%)
2. Annotated bibliography - submit a list of references to be used in the research/paper with working notes. This bibliography is to be composed of new references in addition to any obtained in (1) above. (20%)
3. Research Paper - a final research paper. The format will be given by the seminar coordinator. (30%)
4. Presentation - presenting the paper to the seminar class. (20%)
5. Discussion Participation - Active participation in seminar discussions is a must for this seminar. Individuals will be partially assessed based on the degree of participation (5%) and the value of that participation in terms of how much additional discussion it generates (5%). Asking insightful questions is most valued, but bringing observations and claims to the discussion, based on producible evidence, is also valued.
6. Collaborative e-Discourse Participation - The course will maintain a Wiki site which will be used to develop policy recommendations. All course participants are expected to provide input, either direct editing of the common document, or in the form of background commentary. (10%)

Sample Problem and Technology Investigation with Public Policy Options

As an example of a global problem that will surely require technological advances, as part of the solution, consider global warming, for which there is an acknowledged consensus among scientists (4) that the problem is real and is most likely of human cause (anthropogenic). A seminar in this topic would examine the science behind greenhouse effects, the heat budget of the planet and climate effects. We would review the two major approaches to determining the veracity of the thesis - computer modeling and empirical research. We would look at the relative strengths and weaknesses of these approaches. Then we might turn our attention to various technologically based approaches to solutions.

For example, a new technology, affectionately called motes, involves the deployment of intelligent sensors that are wireless-enabled, throughout an ecosystem (5). Through GPS and mutual interactions through a peer-to-peer communications protocol (not unlike Napster!), these motes form a network for collecting geographically distributed data in real time. They then communicate their data results (e.g., time averaged temperature, or CO₂ concentrations, etc.) through the network to a long-range station and eventually to a central server. The collected data is stored in a database and then is available for analysis. We will look at the technology of data collection, communications, data storage and subsequent analysis for purposes of making decisions.

In this model we have an opportunity for non-IT students to learn about existing technologies (i.e., peer-to-peer distributed computing, wireless communications and GPS) by examining a new use of these to help in the solution of an important problem. Motes of the type just described may become an important instrument in collecting fine-grained (higher resolution) data to monitor the trends in global warming.

The seminar class will critically examine aspects of the technology proposal, looking at both positive and negative issues (e.g., battery life for the sensors). Finally, the students would be asked to consider what sorts of public policies might affect this technology in development and/or deployment (e.g., what might the EPA do to promote use of motes for monitoring CO₂ emission compliance?)

Obviously the seminar cannot cover all aspects of the problem or even the proposed technological solution. However with adequate narrowing of the scope and content, the student should complete this course with a much better understanding of the complexities of technologically based solutions and experience in deep critical thinking about such issues.

References

1. Rischard, J. F., (2002). High Noon: 20 Global Problems, 20 Years to Solve Them, Basic Books, New York.
2. Brown, L. R., (2003). Plan B: Rescuing a Planet under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble, Earth Policy Institute, W. W. Norton & Company, New York. Also online at: http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/PlanB_contents.htm
3. Burke, J., (1978). Connections, Little Brown, Boston. (Also available in original video production).
4. THE STATE OF CLIMATE SCIENCE: OCTOBER 2003, An open letter to the Senate of the United States of America sponsored by the Union of Concerned Scientists. Available at: http://www.ucsusa.org/global_environment/global_warming/page.cfm?pageID=1264
5. Baer, M. (2003). The Ultimate on-the-fly Network, Wired Magazine, 11-12. Available at: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.12/network_pr.html

   Sample Reading List

   The following list is a sample of the wide ranging, general readings that have an integrated, holistic approach that would support this course.
   • Adams, W.M., Brockington, D., Dyson, J. & Vira, B. (2003). Managing Tragedies: Understanding Conflict over Common Pool Resources, Science, Vol. 302, No. 5652, pp. 1915-1916.
   • Alley, Richard B. (2004). Abrupt Climate Change, Scientific American, Vol. 291, No. 5, pp. 62-69.
   • Anderson, Walter Truett (2004). All Connected Now: Life in the First Global Civilization, Westview Press, Boulder, CO.
   • Aperovitz, Gar (2005). America Beyond Capitalism: Reclaiming Our Wealth, Our Liberty, and Our Democracy, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ.
   • Appenzeller, Tim & Dimick, Dennis R., with photographs by Essick, Peter, (2004). The Heat is On: Introduction to Special Section on Global Warming, National Geographic, Vol. 206, No. 3, pp 2-12.
   • Barrow, John D. (2002). The Constants of Nature, Vintage Press, New York.
   • Bezdek, R.H. & Wendling, R.M. (2005). Fuel Efficiency and the Economy, American Scientist, Vol. 93, pp. 132-139.
   • Brown, L.R. (2003). Plan B: Rescuing a Planet under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble, W. W. Norton & Company, New York.
   • Brown, L.R. (2001). Eco-Economy: Building an Economy for the Earth, W. W. Norton & Company, New York.
   • Calvin, William H. (1986). The River that Flows Uphill: A Journey from the Big Bang to the Big Brain, MacMillan Publishing Co., New York.
   • Chambers, N., Simmons, C., & Wackernagel, M. (2000). Sharing Nature's Interest: Ecological Footprints As An Indicator of Sustainability , Earthscan, London.
   • Churchman, C. West (1968). The Systems Approach, Laurel Books, New York.
   • Cohen, Joel E. (2003). Human Population: The Next Half Century, Science, Vol. 302, No. 5648, pp. 1172-1175.
   • Coontz, R. & Hanson, B. (eds) (2004). Toward a Hydrogen Economy, Science, Special Section, Vol. 305, No. 5686, pp. 957-976.
   • Damasio, A. (1994?), Descartes' Error, Harcourt Brace, New York.
   • . . . (1999), The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness, Harcourt Brace, New York.
   • . . . (2003), Looking for Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow, and the Feeling Brain, Harcourt Brace, New York.
   • Dawkins, Richard (1987). The Blind Watchmaker, W.W. Norton & Co., New York.
   • Demirdöven, N. & Deutch, J. (2004). Hybrid Cars Now, Fuel Cell Cars Later, Science, Vol. 305, No. 5686, pp. 974-976.
   • Dennett, Daniel C. (1995). Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolutions and the Meanings of Life, Simon & Schuster, New York
   • Diamond, Jared (1999). Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., New York.
   • . . . (2005). Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, Viking Press, New York
   • Dietz, T., Ostrom, E. & Stern, P.C. (2003). The Struggle to Govern the Commons, Science, Vol. 302, No. 5652, pp. 1907-1912.
   • Gelbspan, R. (2004). Boiling Point, Basic Books, New York.
   • Glick, Daniel (2004). GeoSigns, In Special Section on Global Warming, National Geographic, Vol. 206, No. 3, pp 12-33.
   • Gribbin, John (2004). Deep Simplicity: Bringing Order to Chaos and Complexity, Random House, New York.
   • Grossman, D. (2004). Spring Forward, Scientific American, Vol. 290, No. 1, pp 84-91.
   • Halstead, Ted (ed.)(2004). The Real State of the Union, Basic Books, New York.
   • Hardin, G. (1968). The Tragedy of the Commons, Science, Vol.162, pp. 1243-1248.
   • Hasselmann, K., Latif, M., Hooss, G., Azar, C., Edenhofer, O., Jaeger, C.C., Johannessen, O.M., Kemfert, C., Welp, M., & Wokaun, A. (2003). The Challenge of Long-Term Climate Change, Science, Vol. 302, No. 5652, pp. 1923-1925.
   • Hodgson, Geoffrey M. (1993). Economics and Evolution: Bringing Life Back Into Economics, The University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor.
   • Houck, Oliver (2003). Tales from a Troubled Marriage: Science and Law in Environmental Policy, Science, Vol. 302, No. 5652, pp. 1926-1929.
   • Hughes, Thomas P. (2004). Human-Built World: How to Think About Technology and Culture, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
   • Jenkins, Martin (2003). Prospects for Biodiversity, Science, Vol. 302, No. 5648, pp. 1175-1177.
   • Kauffman, Stuart (1995). At Home in the Universe: The Search for the Laws of Self-Organization and Complexity, Oxford University Press, New York.
   • Leaky, Richard & Lewin, Roger (1995). The Sixth Extinction: Patterns of Life and the Future of Humankind, Doubleday, New York.
   • Leggett, J. (2001). The Carbon War, Routledge, New York.
   • Lynas, M. (2004). High Tide, Picador, New York.
   • Margulis, Lynn & Sagan, Dorion (2000). What is Life?, University of California Press, Berkeley.
   • Mascie-Taylor, C.G.N. & Karim, E. (2003). The Burden of Chronic Disease, Science, Vol. 302, No. 5652, pp. 1921-1922.
   • McMichael, A.J., Butler, C.D. & Folke, C. (2003). New Visions for Addressing Sustainability, Science, Vol. 302, No. 5652, pp. 1919-1920.
   • Montaigne, Fen (2004). EcoSigns, In Special Section on Global Warming, National Geographic, Vol. 206, No. 3, pp 34-55.
   • Morell, Virginia (2004). TimeSigns, In Special Section on Global Warming, National Geographic, Vol. 206, No. 3, pp 56-75.
   • Pacala, S. & Socolow, R. (2004). Stabilization Wedges: Solving the Climate Problem for the Next 50 Years with Current Technologies, Science, Vol. 305, No. 5686, pp. 968-972.
   • Pretty, Jules (2003). Social Capital and the Collective Management of Resources, Science, Vol. 302, No. 5652, pp. 1912-1914.
   • Rischard, J.F. (2002). High Noon: 20 Global Problems, 20 Years to Solve Them, Basic Books, New York.
   • Rees, M. (2003). Our Final Hour, Basic Books, New York.
   • Rosegrant, M.W. & Cline, S.A. (2003). Global Food Security: Challenges and Policies, Science, Vol. 302, No. 5652, pp. 1917-1919.
   • Seabright, Paul (2004). The Company of Strangers: A Natural History of Economic Life, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.
   • Schneider, S.H., Rosencranz, A. & Niles, J.O. (eds.) (2002), Climate Change Policy: A Survey, Island Press, Washington.
   • Simon, Herbert A. (1996). The Sciences of the Artificial, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
   • Smith, H.J. (ed) (2003). Special Section: State of the Planet, Science, Vol. 302, pp 1171-1177. Available on the Web at: http://www.sciencemag.org/sciext/sotp/
   • Speth, J.G. (2004). Red Sky at Morning: America and the Crisis of the Global Environment, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT.
   • Strum, M., et. al. (2003). Meltdown in the North, Scientific American, Vol. 289, No. 4, pp 60-67.
   • Sudgen, A., Ash, C. Hanson, B. & Smith, J. (eds) (2003). Special Section: Tragedy of the Commons: Where Do We Go From Here?, Science, Vol. 302, pp 1906-1929. Available on the Web at: http://www.sciencemag.org/sciext/sotp/
   • Turner, John A. (2004). Sustainable Hydrogen Production, Science, Vol. 305, No. 5686, pp. 972-974.
   • Ward, Peter (1994). The End of Evolution, Bantam Books, New York.
   • Watson, Robert T. (2003). Climate Change: The Political Situation, Science, Vol. 302, No. 5652, pp. 1925-1926.
   • Wiener, Norbert (1950). The Human Use of Human Beings: Cybernetics and Society, Avon Books, New York.
   • Wilson, Edward O. (1998). Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge, Vintage Press, New York.
   • . . . (2002). The Future of Life, Vintage Press, New York.