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Resistance to Technology

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Resistance to Technology

Resistance to Technology Technologies are attempts to solve problems in various fields and industries. In education technology, online schooling has been a popular choice for working professionals because it gives the flexibility that traditional schools could not offer. In medical technology, scanning devices, like x-rays, are continuously utilized to aid in diagnosis and rehabilitation. In information technology, additional tools are continually developed to better handle data and faster processing. Despite the multiple advantages, there are numerous individuals and organizations who oppose technologies. The vast majority who oppose is only selective, but there are few who resist technology as a whole. Typically, most of those who oppose are due to select issues. These organizations include Luddites, Amish, and Greenpeace. Luddites opposes technology that interferes with people’s livelihood. Such is the case when machines are built for manufacturers, the demand for human workers declines and income plummets, which causes the group to revolt (Pynchon, 1984). The Amish community opposes most technologies. The community’s way of life is through agriculture and hard work (Labi, 2005). The Amish are averse to any technology that they feel weakens the family structure (Powell, n.d.). When a member wants to adopt a new technology, it needed to be within guidelines, and then brought up to the elders for approval. The third in the groups, who resist, are environmentalists, called Greenpeace (Harrington, 2009). The organization’s concern is focused more on the negative residuals to the environment caused by technology. In addition to the groups previously mentioned, there are also a few who oppose technology to its fullest. Two of these groups include the Neo-Luddites and Anarcho-Primitivism. Contrary to Luddites, neo-Luddism opposes everything with regards to technology. The organization’s perspective is that technology has nothing beneficial to offer, but to degrade humans and destroy many cultural features. The second group in this category supports the ideology behind real anarchy. The Anarcho-Primitive does not see the need for government, and also promotes a hunter-gatherer lifestyle (Harrington, 2009). There are various reasons as to why individuals and organizations would oppose technology. Surprisingly, technology is not the only cause for resistance. Most individuals resist change because they do not like changes. According to Kanter (2012), change creates excess uncertainty for most of the most people. It raises concerns about competency, leaving individuals wondering if their skills will be obsolete. Finally, it raises the concern that changes create more work.

References
Pynchon, T. (1984, January 1). Is it o.k. to be a Luddite? Retrieved May 1, 2015, from https://www.nytimes.com/books/97/05/18/reviews/pynchon-luddite.html Labi, N. (2005, January 1). The gentle people. Retrieved May 4, 2015, from http://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/January-February-2005/feature_labi_janfeb05.msp Powell, A. (n.d.). History of the Amish settlement in America. Retrieved May 2, 2015, from http://pittsburgh.about.com/cs/pennsylvania/a/amish.htm Harrington, J. (2009). Technology and society. Sudbury, Mass.: Jones and Bartlett.

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