Understanding Technology (TECH)

Arthur C. Clarke wrote that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Educated people must seek to understand how this “magic” works. The advent of nuclear energy, for example, offered a clean alternative to old methodologies, but with shortcomings that have become apparent. The internet offered instant access to mountains of information, but without distinguishing the incendiary and inaccurate. We buy increasingly complex cars, houses, and electronic devices in the 21^st century, and we are naively asking others to exploit us if we don’t learn as much about technology and the built environment we live in as we can. Even a single course in one technology can teach us how to go about understanding others and give us the confidence to do so.

SBC Learning Outcomes