Reference no: EM132306310

1. Dominant, residual, and emergent processes all create culture. Dominant views/shared beliefs in a society contributes to the influential changes within a culture. The masses determines how their culture is shaped. Residual plays a role in culture because some old/dated cultural traits help transform the current state of culture. Residual customs plays an influential factor on the transformation of culture. Lastly, emergent culture describes new cultural factors that a society starts to develop.

2. Progress and technology carries two relationships. The stronger of the two is that technology is progress. This progress carries us to the next step in evolution of our culture. The inverse to this is our technology is not progressing us as a society that works together. It is taking jobs and making us less in tune with one another. Also the questions, "progress for who, progress for what"? Are we helping our less fortunate people by being a technological giant, are we doing it for a better life or just to have more things.

3. Progress in terms of evolution, at least in the books idea, is that evolution is a series of paths in a sense. That the "moving forward" aspect of evolution is one that results in forward moving to different goals, not all of them "better." I'd also argue against this particular point. because while it is true evolution in its real sense often leads to dead ends, to say to evolve is not progress could also be argued false. Some evolutions are more useful than others, and though cockroaches might be more fit to survive almost anything, they also lack the capacity for society, mercy, power, art, and most importantly innovative though. The Human experience is powerful because despite living in a state that is actually weak to environmental factors, we are given a tool in which to change and overcome those factors. Roaches may be able to survive fallout, but can they protect themselves from fire? Traps? can they save other roaches lives through medical intervention.

4. Because technology is so commonly linked with progress, questioning technological progress goes against what many base their beliefs off of in modern day. Whenever approaching a problem that requires a solution, technology is engaged to get aid in the creation of the solution. To question if that is the best way to go about it causes unease as many believe that technology is necessary in every solution. The author points out that it is necessary to question this as one needs to know who benefits from the progress and what the purpose of the progress is. In modern day, the use of the word progress has almost lost its meaning as it is used so often. In the beginning, technology outlined the need for creating a better life but now the world is using technology for convenience and calling it progress.