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The Structure of Thinking
in Technology
HENRYK SKOLIMOWSKI
371
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372 Henryk Skolimowski
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The Structure of Thinking in Technology 373
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374 Henryk Skolimowski
I shall now discuss the thesis that technology is not science. By this
statement I mean to say that the basic methodological factors that ac-
count for the growth of technology are quite different from the factors
that account for the growth of science. Consequently, the idea of tech-
nological progress as contrasted with scientific progress must be
examined more carefully.
I am in full agreement with Karl Popper that science, in order to exist,
must progress; the end of scientific progress is the end of science. This
progress results from the continuous improvement of scientific theories
and constant enlargement of the scientific store; more precisely it results
from a permanent overhaul of theories and incessant replacement of
worse theories by better ones; "better" means simpler, or more uni-
versal, or more detailed, or of greater explanatory power, or all these
things together. The objective underlying this endless succession of
theories is the increase of knowledge. The pursuit of knowledge
(which is another expression for the pursuit of truth) has been and still
is the most important aim of science. We critically scrutinize our
theories by devising tests of increasing ingenuity and severity in order to
learn how squarely they can face reality. Whatever operationists and
conventionalists of various denominations may say, science is about real-
ity. The acquisition of knowledge and the pursuit of truth are only pos-
sible if there is reality. Thus it is contained in the idea of scientific prog-
ress that we investigate reality and that we devise theories of increasing
depth in order to comprehend this reality.
What about technology? Is it another instrument for investigating
reality? Does it aim at the enlargement of knowledge and the acquisition
of truth? The answer is negative in both cases. Hence we come to
significant differences between science and technology. In science we
investigate the reality that is given; in technology we create a reality
according to our designs. In order to avoid confusion I should perhaps
say at once that these two kinds of reality are not of the same order. To
put it simply, in science we are concerned with reality in its basic mean-
ing; our investigations are recorded in treatises "on what there is." In
technology we produce artifacts; we provide means for constructing
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The Structure of Thinking in Technology 375
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376 Henryk Skolimowski
often bring about scientific progress as well. It should be observed, on
the other hand, that scientific progress may and indeed does facilitate
technological progress. Discoveries in pure science, regardless of how
abstract they appear at first, sooner or later find their technological em-
bodiment. These two observations lead to a conclusion that perhaps
neither scientific nor technological progress can be achieved in its pure
form; that in advancing technology, we advance science; and in ad-
vancing science, we advance technology. This being the case, it should
not prevent us from analyzing these two kinds of progress separately,
particularly because scientific progress is often treated autonomously
and is regarded as the key to an explanation of the growth and nature
of science. If we are permitted to divorce scientific progress from
technological progress when examining the nature of science, we should
be equally permitted to divorce technological progress from scientific
progress when examining the nature of technology.
In this context it is rather striking that even such mature and eminent
philosophers of science like Popper have nothing better to say than to
equate technology with computation rules. Neither Popper nor, to my
knowledge, any other authority in the philosophy of science, has cared
to examine the idea of technological progress. Hence their remarks on
technology, whenever they find it convenient to mention it, are rather
harsh and far from adequate.
To summarize, scientific and technological progress are responsible
for what science and technology, respectively, attempt to accomplish.
Science aims at enlarging our knowledge through devising better and
better theories; technology aims at creating new artifacts through devis-
ing means of increasing effectiveness. Thus the aims and the means
are different in each case.
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The Structure of Thinking in Technology 377
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378 Henryk Skolimowski
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The Structure of Thinking in Technology 379
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380 Henryk Skolimowski
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The Structure of Thinking in Technology 381
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382 Henryk Skolimowski
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The Structure of Thinking in Technology 383
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