The way towards a knowledge society

some barriers not only for countries in transition

Lech W. Zacher

pp. 53-59

in: Gerhard Banse, Petr Machleidt, Dagmar Uhl, Christian J. Langenbach (eds), Towards the information society, Berlin, Springer, 2000

Abstract

There are more than C. N. Snow's "two cultures". The first is connected with academia. Scientists produce new visions and ideas, concepts and research results. It is not so difficult to theorize on, say, information society or knowledge society. There are many outstanding examples (e.g. Bell, Dizard, Castells, Dertouzos). However the approaches applied and conclusions recommended are sometimes divergent. Although it is possible to make some order according to the level of technocratic thinking and to socio-political radicalism. Technocrats are — not necessarily by definition — technological determinists and technological optimists (Zacher 1981). For them "a bright (information) future is a must". So the future (more often in the singular than the plural) seems to be another "technological fix" to be simply implemented. Technology is perceived de facto as an ever growing cake (the more the better?). Some time ago the idea of technological determinism was fundamentally questioned and criticized.