Yesterday's keynote speaker at WFX was Ed Stetzer. It was a very good talk on how to move people from being passive spectators to active participants in the mission of God in our local churches. He cautioned that technical excellence can turn people into passive consumers of the product of the local church. But, that's a whole other discussion.
This morning in a brief conversation with Anthony Coppedge, he noted how Ed used the terms "tools" and "technology" as almost synonomous things in his speech. Anthony argued that they are not the same and that a "tool" is not a "technology." He used the example of a monkey digging a hole in the ground with a stick reasoning that there's no technology involved just a tool.
I believe that the stick IS the monkey's technology. It's all he has to get that job done. Unless and until his job gets bigger, it's all the technology he needs. Advancements in technology, and therefore our tools, only comes out of necessity.
What do you think? Are "tools" and "technology" synonomous? Does a "tool" not count as "technology" unless and/or until it is used for a purpose?
i think whether or not they are synonymous depends on your operating definition for "technology." if you mean technology in the sense of computers/internet/smart phones, etc then technology one type of tool. however, if you are referring to technology in a much larger sense then the stick is technology...that specific tool is technology. but then that's get's into defining tool as well :)
ReplyDelete