I’d Hammer Out Freedom

I’d hammer out Freedom

October 17, 2011
In the article, “I’d Hammer Out Freedom: Technology as Politics and Culture, written by Richard Sclove, tells the almost hidden truth about technology and its effects and functions upon mankind. Sclove stresses how important it is to find other know-hows that will keep ideals and hopes humane and not to allow our inventions to override our human morals The word “Polypotency” means potent in many ways. Sclove used it in the context that states that society’s technologies such as the telephone, computer, military gadgetry and something as so simple as the hammer, all have underlying functions that effects society in many different ways. In his lengthy example of the hammer and the effects of the use of it, he elaborates on the concept of polypotency from every angle. Taking the ordinary hammer’s meaning and its function to levels that are unseen by man. In the article, he writes that when man uses the hammer, he will better himself physically, mentally and become more confident from only a few uses of it. Stating the use of the hammer will resonate with mans’ semi-conscious memories of a black smith or its symbolism of justice. Sclove explains how technologies are seen as social structures but are independent of their individual intended purpose. With having the view of society being “polypotency”, Sclove feels that it is vital to look for alternative technologies to keep ideas and aspirations humane. He feels that technology has and will influence society but it does not dictate or determine how society develops and will function. I do agree with Sclove’s position of technology carrying that trait. The way that he describes the concept of “polypotency” in societies various forms of technologies, to me, is like unveiling the world’s 10th   Wonder. To take some of man’s simplest inventions such as the hammer and to expand on it in such a way that it stems from the origin of man’s need to survive and it’s psychologically...