Editing Technological evolution

{{Short description|Theory describing technology development}}
{{more citations needed|date=March 2023}}

The term "'''technological evolution'''" captures explanations of technological change that draw on mechanisms from evolutionary biology. Evolutionary biology was originally described in ''[[On the Origin of Species]]'' by [[Charles Darwin]]. In the style of this catchphrase, technological evolution can be used to describe the origin of new technologies.

==Combinatoric theory of technological change==

The combinatoric theory of technological change states that every technology always consists of simpler technologies, and a new technology is made of already existing technologies. One notion of this theory is that this interaction of technologies creates a network. All the technologies which interact to form a new technology can be thought of as complements, such as a screwdriver and a screw which by their interaction create the process of screwing a screw.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kauffman|first1=Stuart|date=2019|title=Innovation and The Evolution of the Economic Web|journal=Entropy|volume=21|issue=9|page=864|doi=10.3390/e21090864|pmc=7515393|doi-access=free|bibcode=2019Entrp..21..864K }}</ref> This newly formed process of screwing a screw can be perceived as a technology itself and can therefore be represented by a new node in the network of technologies. The new technology itself can interact with other technologies to form a new technology again. As the process of combining existing technologies is repeated again and again, the network of technologies grows.

A described mechanism of technological change has been termed, “combinatorial evolution”.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Arthur |first1=W. Brian |title=Darwinism theory of evolution applied to technology |url=https://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Darwinism-theory-of-evolution-applied-to-technology#:~:text=Their%20reasoning%2C%20very%20much%20%C3%A0,ideas%20%2D%20which%20produces%20many%20variations.&text=The%20steady%20accumulation%20of%20such,and%20the%20result%20is%20evolution. |website=ComputerWeekly.com |access-date=18 August 2021}}</ref> Others have called it, “technological recursion”.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fink |first1=Thomas M. A. |last2=Teimouri |first2=Ali |title=The mathematical structure of innovation |date=2019 |page=1 |arxiv=1912.03281 }}</ref>

Brian Arthur has elaborated how the theory is related to the mechanism of genetic recombination from evolutionary biology and in which aspects it differs.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Arthur |first1=W. Brian |title=Darwinism theory of evolution applied to technology |url=https://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Darwinism-theory-of-evolution-applied-to-technology#:~:text=Their%20reasoning%2C%20very%20much%20%C3%A0,ideas%20%2D%20which%20produces%20many%20variations.&text=The%20steady%20accumulation%20of%20such,and%20the%20result%20is%20evolution. |website=ComputerWeekly.com |access-date=18 August 2021}}</ref>

==History of technological evolution==
'''Technological evolution''' is a theory of radical transformation of society through technological development. This theory originated with [[Czechs|Czech]] philosopher [[Radovan Richta]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Böhme|first1=Gernot|last2=Stehr|first2=Nico|title=The Knowledge Society: The Growing Impact of Scientific Knowledge on Social Relations|date=2012|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=9789400947245|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3mdDBAAAQBAJ&q=radovan%20richta%20describes%20the%20radical%20transformation%20of%20society%20through%20technological%20development&pg=PA5|access-date=27 March 2017|language=en}}</ref>

''Mankind In Transition; A View of the Distant Past, the Present and the Far Future'', Masefield Books, 1993.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bloomfield|first1=Masse|title=The Automated Society; A View of the Distant Past, the Present and the Far Future|date=1993|publisher=Masefield Books|isbn=1879981025|url=http://massebloomfield.com/books/the-automated-society/|access-date=29 March 2017|language=en}}</ref> [[Technology]] (which Richta defines as "a material entity created by the application of mental and physical effort to nature in order to achieve some value") evolves in three stages: tools, machine, [[automation]]. This evolution, he says, follows two trends:

The pre-technological period, in which other animal species remain today (aside from some avian and primate species) was a non-rational period of the early [[Prehistory|prehistoric man]].

The emergence of technology, made possible by the development of the rational faculty, paved the way for the first stage: the tool. A tool provides a mechanical advantage in accomplishing a physical task, such as an arrow, plow, or hammer that augments physical labor to more efficiently achieve his objective. Later animal-powered tools such as  the plow and the horse, increased the productivity of food production about tenfold over the technology of the hunter-gatherers. Tools allow one to do things impossible to accomplish with one's body alone, such as seeing minute visual detail with a [[microscope]], manipulating heavy objects with a [[pulley]] and cart, or carrying volumes of water in a bucket.

The second technological stage was the creation of the [[machine]]. A machine (a powered machine to be more precise) is a tool that substitutes part of or all of the element of human physical effort, requiring only the control of its functions. Machines became widespread with the industrial revolution, though [[windmills]], a type of machine, are much older.

Examples of this include cars, trains, [[computers]], and lights. Machines allow humans to tremendously exceed the limitations of their bodies. Putting a machine on the farm, a tractor, increased food productivity at least tenfold over the technology of the plow and the horse.

The third, and final stage of technological evolution is the [[automation]]. The automation is a machine that removes the element of human control with an automatic algorithm. Examples of machines that exhibit this characteristic are [[digital watches]], automatic telephone switches, [[pacemakers]], and computer programs.

Each of these three stages outline the introduction and development of the fundamental types of technology, and all three continue to be widely used today. A spear, a plow, a pen, a knife, a glove, and an optical microscope are all examples of tools.

==See also==
*[[Self-replicating machines in fiction]]
*[[Sociocultural evolution]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
[https://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/history/history-science-and-technology/evolution-technology?format=PB&isbn=9780521296816 The Evolution of Technology, George Basalla, University of Delaware]

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[[Category:Technology in society]]
[[Category:Evolution]]
[[Category:Technological change]]