A Fourth Basic Cultural Competence?

Abstract

In this essay, I plan to critically discuss widespread introduction of computer into classroom in modern society. I conceive of modern society as a society. The specific question I want to raise concerns discourse now dominant among policy makers who push for extensive use of computers and internet by students. In particular, do computer skills represent, in addition to traditional cultural techniques of reading, writing and arithmetic, a fourth cultural technique? The answer to this question I want to advance requires a brief detour. I want to respond to question about possible ascendancy of a fourth cultural technique by offering, first, some observations about notion of society and, second, difference between and The Concept of Knowledge Society In recent years, concept of society has enjoyed a boom in a number of developed countries. The academic world has naturally reacted gratefully to this success, although it is by no means certain that critical potential which has been present in this concept since its introduction (1) has been recognized. Rather, Ministry of Science and Technology in Germany, for example, has used concept to increase its own relative departmental strength and to legitimate certain programs, in particular program Schools to Net (Schulen ans Netz). From a policy point of view, designation of present society as society is intended to prepare for a restructuring of educational system. The central tenet of this restructuring, which has already begun, is view that ability to manipulate data, in other words, competence with computers and media, will represent society's crucial human capital in future. The concept of the society --simply represented a prestigious, forward, looking banner under which computer might make its entry into schools! In this way, because of positive connotations attached to idea of knowledge, concept of society has been able to assume ideological functions. Moreover, in political sphere it has been used purely descriptively, to designate a certain mega-trend -- namely growing importance of access to for social prosperity. In view of this it should be borne in mind that theory of society was originally intended as a critical theory of society. The term was chosen instead of terms such as information or science to indicate that there are alternative forms of knowledge, that hierarchies develop between these forms of and that these hierarchies, in marking status of different areas of knowledge, take on social significance. Against this background processes of scientification of human and social relationships can be described critically -- for example, as growing disempowerment of individual through dependence on experts . It also becomes apparent that, compared to older factors of birth and capital, is gaining importance as a basis both of social power and of personal opportunities. The power aspect of also has its application in international relations. To preserve and develop this critical potential of theory of modern society as a society it is necessary to work with binary concepts, such as pair value and price in critique of political economy and pair body and corporeality in critical theory of human nature. In theory of society crucial pair of concepts is knowledge and information. These concepts should be so elaborated that they refer to each other while at same time preserving a clear difference. To achieve this it is not enough to fall back on traditional philosophical concept of knowledge, because a strong concept of (equated with science) has evolved in this tradition since Plato (2) -- a concept which has consolidated hierarchy of forms of while discrediting and consigning to obsolescence other forms of in relation to science. …