Dissertation Abstracts provide dissertations in all formats including APA, MLA, CHICAGO / TURABIAN styles. Below is a sample dissertation named "THE SURRENDER OF CULTURE TO TECHNOLOGY". Click on the desired style to view the paper.

[Author’s name]
[Professor’s name]
[Course title]
[Date]


The Surrender of Culture to Technology: by Neil Postman

Neil Postman is an intellectual reviewer, lecturer of Media Ecology, and writer of several books on the subject matter of learning and technology. He is well placed to remark on the relation of technology to culture.
“Neil Postman's books all aim to persuade readers to resist the technological forces that threaten to absorb us more deeply. If effective resistance is impossible, as Postman concedes, he would have us at least understand technology's power and attempt to minimize its effects. As for his own resistance, few could follow his example. He writes with pen and paper, does not own a computer, considers the Internet a distraction, and regards voice mail and call waiting as uncivil.” (Marty, 1999)
The relation, the same as he observes it, is one in which civilization is submissive to and restricted by both indistinguishable technology such as I.Q. scores, statistics, and polling techniques in addition to in evidence technologies which are television, computers, and automobiles. Technology, Postman divulges, is an ally however more often than not it is a "dangerous enemy" so as to "intrude" into a culture "changing everything", at the same time as demolishing "the vital sources of our humanity". Besides, technology is a complicated enemy by way of which to discuss given that it "does not invite a close examination of its own consequences" and even "eliminates alternatives to itself".
The writer gives to a distrustful observation of technological determinism furthermore, by itself, makes use of a grave and reproaching manner to spread a dystopian representation of a society with a sightless, dependable reliance in knowledge and machinery however devoid of principle, significance or else time-honored viewpoints. "Progress without limits", "rights without responsibilities", "technology without cost" and a "moral center" substitutes by means "efficiency, interest and economic advance": this is Postman's analysis of the human race moved out wide of the mark. This is what he stipulates a "Technopoly"- the leading case in point of which is the United States.
“Technopoly is a state of culture. It is also a state of mind. It consists in the deification of technology, which means that the culture seeks its authorization in technology, finds its satisfactions in technology, and takes its orders from technology. This requires the development of a new kind of social order, and of necessity leads to the rapid dissolution of much that is associated with traditional beliefs. Those who feel most comfortable in Technopoly are those who are convinced that technical progress is humanity's superhuman achievement and the instrument by which our most profound dilemmas may be solved. They also believe that information is an unmixed blessing, which through its continued and uncontrolled production and dissemination offers increased freedom, creativity, and peace of mind. The fact that information does none of these things -- but quite the opposite -- seems to change few opinions, for unwavering beliefs are inevitable products of the structure of Technopoly. In particular, Technopoly flourishes when the defenses against information break down.” (Postman, 2002)
Condemnation of technology’s blow on civilization is not infrequent. Countless come into view in the course of cynicism and anxiety at the escalating part technology plays in their lives. Postman's kind of disapproval is single on the other hand. During his application of the expression "Technopoly" to illustrate a shared status of mind gripped and fanatical with modus operandi, technology, and tools, Postman come across all that has gone off beam with the world and reifies it. Science, medicine, education, verbal communication, forms, tests, and polls - the whole thing give the impression to have a function to play in Postman's grave state of affairs.
“One of the most ominous consequences of Technopoly, according to Postman, is the explosion of context-free information. ‘The milieu in which Technopoly flourishes is one in which the tie between information and human purpose has been severed, i.e., information appears indiscriminately, directed at no one in particular, in enormous volume and at high speeds, and disconnected from theory, meaning, or purpose." The "information glut" leads to the breakdown of a coherent cultural narrative, he argues, for without a meaningful context, information is not only useless, but also potentially dangerous. He cites the old saying that, to a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail, and therefore, "to a man with a computer, everything looks like data.’ ” (Knopf)
It is not astonishing with a scheme of such complication and enormity that the creator was at a loss to make available practical explanation to the predicament. Notwithstanding these limitations, Postman's explanation of the world like he perceives it does compel us to inquire about a lot of vital questions such as the position of technology and science and our relation to them, how they alter us and how we alter them. In addition we can set out further than these questions and ask concerning change itself as well as in relation to individuals, societies or cultures to be in charge of change. Otherwise possibly we can take up an environmental standpoint - one that poses whether or not the expression "adapt" should stand-in for "control". We have got to establish also what is to be the function of technology in education and vice versa. As a final point, we should find out about the consequences of reifying and of anthropomorphizing technology. Paradoxically, technology is to be expected to be a constructive instrument in our look for responses to, information with reference to and argument of all these problems.

Works Cited

Knopf, A TECHNOPOLY The Surrender of Culture to Technology
By Neil Postman May 2, 2002 http://www.scottlondon.com/reviews/postman.html

Marty, M 10/10/1999 FOR NEIL POSTMAN, MODERN GADGETS ARE THE PROBLEM FOCUS ON TECHNOLOGY St. Louis Post-Dispatch FIVE STAR LIFT; Vol. 13-207; A&E Section May 2, 2002

Postman, Neil Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology, New York, Vintage Books, pp. 71-72. May 2, 2002