CHAPTER 4

JAY - EM G. AJOC, LPT, MSciEd Bio (CAR)

Surigao Education Center
 “the illiterate of the 21st century will
not be those who cannot read and

WAVES write, but those who cannot learn,

unlearn and relearn”

it pertains to the “wave front analysis”

which refers to history as succession of
wave of change

waves as characterized by technology

technology as a driving force for social

change
Domestication is process of taming
cultivating or controlling plants or animals
that were originally wild, e.g. by selective
breeding.
Farming and Irrigation is more
productive than hunting
Use of “living batteries” and renewable resources.
What was the significance of the invention and improvement of
farming implements?

Who are the producers and consumers?

How did these changes affect the structure of society?

What are the impacts of agriculture on the environment?

impact … LAND is the basis of economy,
life, culture, family structure,
Domestication Food Security politics

Population Formation of elite

growth settlements (feudal lord)

Waste, disease,
issues
peasants, slaves, workers
(landless, uneducated, unhealthy)
 18th -19th centuries

what causes it

Discovery of “new worlds”

Population growth
Pressure on timber forests
More use of coal
Invention of the engine
“First wave societies live off widely dispersed sources of
energy. Second Wave societies became almost totally dependent
on highly concentrated deposits of fossil fuel” (Toffler, 1980)
 it was a rich, many-sided social system that touched every aspect of human life
and attacked every feature of the First Wave

it put … the Civil War

was fought over
✓ the tractor on the farm, who would rule the
✓ the typewriter in the office continent: farmers
✓ the refrigerator in the kitchen or industrialists
✓ the daily newspaper and the cinema,
✓ the railway
✓ the universalized the wristwatch and the ballot box
how it changed the environment
o scale of resource use
o pollution generation
o concentration of people
how it changed production & consumption
o differentiation (jobs,
producers vs. consumers)
o mass production
mass media

mass consumption = mass production mass education

how it changed education
o Westerns raised the needs for basic
education: literacy & numeracy

“overt curriculum” – basic reading,

writing, arithmetic, history …

“covert curriculum” – punctuality,

obedience, rote repetitive work…
how it changed families
o factories needed workers esp.
those willing to move from place
to place when needed

o key functions of the family were

relegated to institution (education,
care for elderly, health)

o streamline nuclear family

beliefs …
o nature as a resource to be
exploited: man in opposition with
nature and dominating it

o humans as principles of evolution;

industrial societies as superior

o the Progress Principle: history

flows irreversibly towards a better
life
impacts …
o end of cheap energy

o biosphere cannot assimilate all

wastes

o end of cheap materials

o disintegrative pressure within the

system
its code … political structure
o standardization
o specialization
o synchronization
o concentration of energy,
money & power
o maximization
o centralization
…
all elections are based no geographic
division, not on social class, occupation or
ethnic group
politics composed of:
individuals armed with vote, parties
collecting the vote, candidates (who will
win) become representatives of the voters,
legislatures for parliaments and
assemblies, and executives (presidents,
prime ministers) who feed policies to law
making machines and enforce it
how far have we become “640 KB ought
to be enough for
“there is no everybody”
reason for any
individual to
have a computer
in his home”

President Ken Olsen (Dec.1977) Bill Gates (1981)

how has technology evolved

how has this affected our

relationship with each other
and with the environment
 …
transitions
o integration of more functions into
fewer parts

o mass production & standardization

(2nd wave) vs. differentiation &
customization (3rd wave)

o means of work (e.g. flexibility in

terms of work arrangement
 …
transitions
o value placed on multiple intelligences
and competencies (and higher
educational attainment)

o “prosumers” producers are consumers

and vice versa… also professional
consumer which is product and brand
advocate (DIY)
 …
transitions
o diversified, renewable, energy sources
(e.g. bio-electronics, piezo-
electronics, systems which shut down
everything for nano-seconds)

o methods of production which make

factories and assembly line obsolete
driven by …
o the rise of dynamic new industries based
on scientific breakthroughs: quantum
electronics, information theory, molecular
biology, oceanic, nucleonics, ecology, space
sciences
o enhanced manipulative abilities via
computers, data processing, aerospace,
sophisticated petrochemicals,
semiconductors, advanced communications,
solid-state physics, systems engineering,
artificial intelligence, polymer chemistry
Network Readiness Index, published in the Global Information Technology Report by the World Economic
Forum, a measure of a country’s realization of its “digital potential,” or ability to marshal information and
communications technology (ICT) to advance business and society.
 TECHNOLOGY
AUTONOMY
is the capacity to decide
which technology to import
and develop

what determines TECHNOLOGICAL AUTONOMY

well-established tech
infrastructure trained manpower
(Universities, R&D)

= TECHNOLOGY AUTONOMY
what about the less developed countries

Lack of
technological
infrastructure

Technological
Lack of skilled
importer and
manpower
consumer
summary …
Type of Technology First Wave Technologies Second Wave Technologies Third Wave Technologies
Copper, Bronze, Iron, Steel, Aluminum, Semiconductors,
Material Technology
Ceramic Petrochemicals Composites
Plow, Saw, Spinning Engines, Motors, Machine Lasers, Robots,
Instrument Technology
Wheel Tools Micromachines
Firewood, Watermill, Steam Engine, Photovoltaics, Nuclear
Energy Technology
Windmill Turbogenerator Fusion
Typewriter, Television, Computers, Internet,
Information Technology Printing Press, Pens, Books
Telephone, Radio Mobile Phones
Immunization, Modern MRI, Biotech Medicine,
Medical Technology Traditional Medicine
Surgery Smart Drugs
Mechanized Agriculture, Biotech Agriculture,
Agricultural Technology Traditional Agriculture
Green Revolution Precision Smart Farming
Craft-based and Guild- Factory-based, Mass
Manufacturing Technology Robotic Factories
based Production
Sword-and-Shield, Bow- Guns, Explosives, Tanks, Space Wars, Electronic
Military Technology
and-Arrow Airplanes Battlefield, BioWars