This chapter considers mechanisms that act like machines but aren’t normally thought of as part of technopoly’s repertoire. Questions give direction to our thoughts, generate new ideas, venerate old ones, expose facts, hide them. Examples in p. 125,126.

Examples of “statistics gone wild” on p. 129. Stephen Jay Gould’s book “The Mismeasure of Man” explores the malignant role of stats in “measurement” of intelligence. Three points from it: (1) reification (turning an abstract idea into a thing): we use “intelligence” for a variety of human capabilities of which we approve, but if we believe it to be a thing, we’ll believe scientific procedures can locate and measure it; (2) ranking requires a criterion for assigning individuals in a single series; thus we assume that intelligence is not only a thing, but a single thing, located in the brain and accessible to the assignment of a number; (3) this restricts and biases us, but it would go unnoticed because numbers are the ultimate test of objectivity. Fundamental subjectivity will become invisible and the objective number will become reified.

It’s not unreasonable to argue that polling of public opinion is good. Our political leaders must have some information about what we believe to represent us. The problems are:

1.The forms of the questions condition the answers.2.Promoting the assumption that an opinion is a thing inside people that can

be exactly located and extracted with the pollster’s questions.3.Ignoring (generally) what people know about the subjects they’re queried

on.4.Shifting responsibility between political leaders and their constituents.

Congressmen were expected to use their own judgement about what was in the public interest.

Not all statistics statements are useless, just that like any other technology it tends to go out of control. In technopoly, we tend to believe that only through autonomy of techniques we can achieve our goals. But will we control them or will they control us?

The argument is not with technique, but with techniques that become sanctified and rule out the possibilities of other ones. When a method of doing things is so associated with an institution that we don’t know what came first, it’s hard to change the institution or even imagine alternative methods for achieving our purposes. So it’s necessary to understand where our techniques come from and what they’re good for; we must make them visible so that they may be restored to our sovereignty.

The author, Postman (1993) in “Invisible Technologies”, highlighted the

various hidden tools which may not be classified as technologies. Postman firmly insisted that some technologies are viewed in disguise, which he likened to language, statistics, opinion polls, accounting procedures, IQ tests, and management. These invisible technologies go on and do their work in the society for good or bad without criticism or awareness.

He pointed out that language is an invisible technology because it assumes absolute control of our thoughts and ideas, and that technology relied so much on statistical calculations in order to make meanings to its findings, yet statistics is not vastly recognized like technology itself. More so, Postman stated that statistics create room for new ideas, perceptions, and realities by making visible large scale patterns. Even at that, opinion polls which is also a statistical framework is so much relied upon by politicians for major political and public policy decision making.

Management is yet another concept of invisible technology, which the author stressed and explained as a technology in disguise. Management in itself uses the technique of organizing, arranging, and controlling to strengthen organizational growth and development. Through this invisible technology, organizational goals, aims, vision, and objectives are actualized. Management is technically organized in a hierarchical structure to arrange work flows from bottom top and vice-versa. It is through this technologically arranged concept of management that quality control, and inventory accounting's are developed, which the author classified as new ways of doing things. These two factors are however prominent for increased productivity and cost effectiveness in organizations, businesses, as well as government sectors.