Sci&Tech History

What do we actually refer when we talk about knowledge? Can knowledge be measured or knowledge is something non-calculable and we can only see its existence through performance? Does knowledge has anything to do with school? How things that we study, read, see, and listen influence our action? In an aggregate level, how this tendency affect policy maker to develop national innovation system so it can be used to increase national competitiveness? For me, the term knowledge is already confusing from its beginning. Can we say Google as an intelligent device because it can provide us with huge information or term knowledge, consciousness had nothing to do with material object: it can only be used for human?

To answer the questions above, Bruno Latour, one of Actor-Network Theory pioneer beside Michel Callon and John Law, introduce what he describe as inscription devices. Rather been confused by the term knowledge, Latour see action as an effect of concept named center of calculation. A scientific paper, for instance, refer to a lot of earlier papers. Researcher in the lab, refer to the earlier experiment and added his/her own findings in a journal. They are all connected, moreover, where is the knowledge? Text that we read, sound that we listen, chemical liquid in the lab, or something who connect all the impulse our brain receive from material thing we interact with?

Any idea?

Popularity: 4%

After World War II, US allocated a huge number of research fund to support defense industries. Between 1960 and 1967, the Department of Defense, awarded the Lockheed Corporation, an aerospace giant, more than US$ 10 billion in contracts and General Dynamics $8.84 billion. In 1968 the Pentagon warded MIT $119 million; John Hopkins University $57 million; the University of California, $17 million and etc (Hughes, 2004). This tendencies seems to repeat when US decided to attack Irak and allocate a huge money to support it. As a result, when the government decide to increase number of interest in bank to attract customer, people who have house credit failed to pay. This situation generated Lehman Brothers collapse and effected the whole international ecenomy crisis.

As an impact, an archeologist predict that the economy crisis will decrese number of research fund. This situation is contradictive with what technology was made for. As ’second-creation of God’ technology is supposed to help human from crisis, on the other hand, number of money is needed to be injected in the market to avoid a bigger catastrophe. Should the research fund be decreased? What do you think?

Popularity: 9%

One of my problem in finishing Indonesian Research Mapping is on transformation. The first stage is qualitative. I have to classify hundreds research tittle into priority sector as mentioned in the National Research Agenda. After the data is being grouped, I use quantitative approach to get the general idea of what was happened with Indonesian research activities, then I transform it again into qualitative recommendation. Hmm… so how valid the data would be? As a mathematician, my favorite data is the raw one. It’s the most honest one, but having hundreds data without any group won’t give any meaning, that is way transformation is needed.

Beside validation, the other problem is how this intrpretaion can give its impact? Is it on the quantitative layer or in the qualitative one, such as vision and mission? How rigid a policy should be?

Popularity: 21%

There are always something left behind in uncertainty: hope, prejudice, etc. In ancient times, the unexplained phenomena will be labeled as god/goddess area or sometimes, people who have the ability to cure other people or do something unusual will be see as a peacock, dukun, or even a witch. After renaissance, the blank spot was filled by knowledge, some religion authority decreased due to rebellion and shifting to intellectual communities. But after time, the history has showed us that knowledge don’t erase religion. Both of them, run in the same era, with a different path.

Popularity: 28%

Last week, I have the opportunity to go to Papua, the most east province of Indonesia. There are a lot of things that make me wondered: culture, technology penetration, outsiders, local people and how every elements seems to be messed up without any grand strategy. For instance, internet. In one hand, the local government has fund to support the technology, but on the other hand, people who capable to operate the technology is still very rare. As a way out, they import technology and people as well.

In my opinion, supply push like this bring negative impact. The technology play role as a standardization machine that can choose person who can or can’t work with them. The transformation change from people who have the capital to person who can operate the capital, and yeah, we can use Marx analysis for this.

Popularity: 29%

The title above is similar with humanizing technology vs technologizing human. Which one become more similar than the other? Are human become more mechanistic or technology become more flexible? In some references, I found stories about fluid technology. Rather occur in a certain shape, technology can be re-shaped by request and culture. On contrary, human are being controlled through presence machine and video security. Like Narciscus story, human fall in love with the image of their self.

Popularity: 32%

Why do we have to accept new technologies? Who can guarantee that the new device will bring prosperity and welfare to our life? On the other hand, can we avoid change? For instance, traditional tribe who hasn’t wear any cloth yet, is it a matter of democracy–to let other people life as their beliefs, or it is a matter of government careless?

Human history tells us a lot about otherness. Someone will be labeled as a freak if s/he doesn’t wear cloth, like songs, eat rice like the mass do. The same case occurs with technology issue, someone who reject to use internet will lost their network through communication lifestyle. If in the old times, we prefer communicate face to face, nowadays, people choose their finger as their representative. How emotions are described through emoticons such as for sad, for happy, :’( (cry), etc. Do those emoticons really represent our feelings?

Popularity: 32%

Recently issues on e-government has arised. Some regency has succeed in developing e-government, increased number of investment, license and government coordination efficiency. Success stories from Jembrana, Sragen, Denpasar and Kebumen have something in common, all of them have strong leadership. Before the regency implement the technology, burreucracy reformation has been done. The reformation gives the public services that manage citizen identification card and other licenses, power to make decision, cut the possibilities of cheating and corruption.

Relation between control, objectivity and technology can be traced back since it beginning. In ancient time, human tries to defeat the nature through simple tools called technology. Technology is seen as human representation to conquer nature. By time, technology has became part of capital owned by several people. This several people use technology to dominate other. For instance, attendance machine to control labour salary. Technology is assumed to be objective and neutral.

The same assumptions occur in e-gov, online system made the community possible to monitor the system. In this system, hybrid control occur. Man and machine. The technology make the monitor possible, while on the other side, who decide the technology is still human.

Popularity: 36%

Do you have any tendency in buying something? By clustering list of what you have bought by using your credit card, we can get some understanding about people and a certain product. A person who like to buy product A, for example, maybe have some similarities with someone who like watching metal music or literature book. For marketing, this information is used to approach niche market and increase possibility to success.

But in ethical point of view, is mapping credit card a right thing to do? Who have the access to seegoods that we buy?

Popularity: 41%

Does technology has paradigm? As human creation, technology contains human dreams to be useful and meaningful. But how this purposes are being translated in a wider community? Recently, I am doing research in ICT area. My involvement with this communities make me believe that ICT is a good entry point to reduce inequality among areas in Indonesia. But how to make the ICT works in community with different background? In Jembarana and Sragen, I observed that success factor is on the local leader. ICT is being used as part to support e-government and transparency. It can’t work separately with regulation reformation. In the other side, the technology make transparency possible.

How technology influence human life can be seen in a absent machine. Every morning we arrive at the office, we are asked to put our ID card or finger print on a machine. As a tools, the absent machine is considered as a neutral agent, therefor it is difficult to cheat on them. But by opening the black box, every thing can be reconstructed. The absent machine can be cracked, either technically or socially.

Popularity: 37%