Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to discuss how a unified theory of technology could be forged philosophically, and suggest some implications for technology education. A post-phenomenological model of human-technology relations was employed as an analytical tool. It is concluded that both digital and analog technologies could be seen as technical artefacts with a dual nature and technologies of representation. The dual nature of technical artefacts, that is, the functional/intentional and physical dimensions of artefacts and systems, is reflected e.g. in the abstract programming language in conjunction with a specification, which relates to a physical configuration. Representational technologies could include everything from simple control systems to computers to AI systems, and it would be possible to conceive of the concrete and abstract parts of these technologies as different components of their representational capacity; a component could either be seen as representing (concrete) or represented (abstract), but part of the same representational system that makes up the technology. In both these “dual” perspectives on technology, artefacts and systems could be viewed from a common point of view and may consist of both digital, analog, concrete, and abstract components that together make up the technology. One important implication for technology education is that teaching needs to involve both abstract and concrete technological components. When programming, for instance, students need to learn not only about the code or software in itself, but also about what digital technology does in terms of solving real-world problems and achieving technical purposes.