[INES Discuss] Online talk Dec 20, 12-1pm (EST): “Critiquing Engineering Practice: From Archimedes to Modern Technological Progress”

[Bono Shih]

Dear INES colleagues,

I am sharing the info about my online talk “Critiquing Engineering
Practice: From Archimedes to Modern Technological Progress
<https://www.sciencehistory.org/event/lunchtime-lecture-bono-shih>” with
the Science History Institute on Tuesday, December 20, 12-1 pm EST (UTC
-5). I believe my talk may be of interest to some of you.

Direct link to the talk (live-streamed on YouTube):
https://youtu.be/Ro4WvRmXiF8

*Abstract (full version)*
My talk attempts to critique and engage with dominant values in modern
engineering practice—such as the prioritization of quantity, efficiency,
problem-solving, and “better” technology—by identifying the
linguistic-conceptual genesis of engineering in the military conflicts
during ancient Greek and Roman times. I demonstrate that dominant values of
engineering were associated, mutually reinforced, and cemented by a sense
of urgency from ancient siege warfare and the war’s life-or-death binary
consequences. The interconnected values formed into what I call an enduring
historical-conceptual structure of ideas of engineering and have continued
to the present day. Still, while these dominant values originated from the
military context, they became increasingly prominent in civilian sectors,
where the development of modern economic and commercial competitions
created the ubiquitous pressure for one-dimensional technological progress.
Finally, with an eye to our present question of engineering, I draw from my
previous analysis and discuss several policy recommendations to
problematize the sociopolitical conditions for dominant values, neutralize
their exclusive mutual reinforcement, and empower alternative values and
practices.

Best,
Bono (Po-Jen) Shih
PhD in Science and Technology Studies (STS)
Virginia Tech
bonoshi at vt.edu
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