Chapter three was an interesting chapter in that it questioned the difference between humanities and the technology we already perceive. Mitcham described humanities and culture as a technology in its own definition. The fact that we as humans have different cultures makes us that much more human, thus being a technology different from the physical technologies we already know. He argued that technology is not just a physical tool used by humanity, but more that humanity itself is the engineer of technology. Seeing as the modern engineer creates things that make civilized life possible, it seems clear that humanities also create a more civilized environment. Its obvious that humanities are a technological building block because of Mitcham’s interpretation of the fact that engineering, and a civilized society are building blocks towards the definition of humanities. I enjoyed this chapter because Mitcham never lets you lose sight that an engineer and a humanist are two entirely different people, yet they share common ideals. I especially enjoyed the last page or two of the chapter when Mitcham quoted Socrates, and then discussed about it. So philosophical…Go figure
From Engineering to Humanities Philosophy
Advertisement