A Study Of Social Selection Of Technological Development

Technological development is an issue that is widely concerned all over the world. An interactive relationship exists between technology and society; the introduction and innovation of technology, as well as a series of associated evolutionary processes, are related to a variety of social factors.The category of social selection of technological development (SSTD) originated from the social selection of biological evolution. SSTD is the practical verification towards technology throughout the process of utilizing technology, and it is a type of social activity that can determine the destiny of technology, SSTD appears in the main forms of market selection, governmental selection and cultural selection, expressing the characteristic of complexity. Society's selection of technology is, in a sense, technology's selection of society, which is an activity of mutually approving. It is also a process of self-adjustment in which technology and society adapt themselves to meet each other's demand and coexist. Social selection exists in technological development, which means the state of social selection directly influences the state of technology; improving the level of social selection is a social approach to promoting technological development. Currently, China is confronted by problems such as inability of digestion and absorption, slow technological innovation, unreasonable repetitive introduction and inappropriate introduction of technology based on foreign investment. Inorder to solve these problems, this thesis points out: the development of technology in China should begin with changing social status and the selection of technology should follow the principles of value standard, systematic standard and effectiveness/efficiency standard. At the same time, associated measures should be taken in China to improve the society's ability to select technology.