Why was the phrase 'technological determinism' raised in the lecture?

Question

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The question presented is: 'Why was the phrase 'technological determinism' raised in the lecture?'

Note: The provided materials include an answer indicating that the correct choice is: 'b. Technological Determinism was raised in the lecture because some scholars have used it to criticise Medium Theory.' However, no other answer options are supplied in the dataset, so we will focus on explaining the given correct option and the surrounding concepts.

Understanding the key terms can help evaluate why this statement might be considered correct.

- Technological determinism is the view that technology shapes social structures, cultural values, and human behavior, often giving technology a causal primacy over social factors.
- Medium Theory generally refers to the idea that the medium of communication (e.g., print, radio, television, the internet) influences thought and social organization, sometimes emphasizing how the medium itself affects communication more than the content it carries.

Reason this option could be correct:
- The lecture likely discussed debates around Medium Theory and how critics use technological determinism to challenge it. If scholars argue that technology drives social change, they might criticize Medium Theory for underestimating human agency, social contexts, or content-specific effects, attributing too much to the medium rather than to users or institutions. This makes sense as a reason for raising technological determinism in the discussion: to contrast or critique Medium Theory by pointing to a more technology-centered causal account.

Why this option might be considered a plausible explanation over alternatives:
- It connects directly the concept (technological determinism) with a critique of another theory (Medium Theory), which is a common scholarly move: using determinist arguments to challenge media-centric theories that focus on the medium’s influence.
- It situates the term as a tool in a scholarly debate, rather than as a standalone endorsement of technology as the sole driver of social change.

Why this option might be elevated above possible alternatives (based on the given correct answer):
- If other options (which are not provided here) suggested that technological determinism was raised for wholly different reasons (e.g., to celebrate technology’s benevolence, or to dismiss human agency entirely) they would be less consistent with common academic discussions that examine both supportive and critical uses of determinist language.

In summary, the reasoning behind option b hinges on the idea that scholars invoke technological determinism to critique or question Medium Theory by arguing that technology exerts significant causal influence on social phenomena, thus enabling a critical comparison between the two perspectives.

2025 T1 DP DPHU1007 MEDA1307 Media, Society & Politics

Why was the phrase 'technological determinism' raised in the lecture?

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