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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
4 pages in length. Giedion's thesis points to how humanity has 1) all but handed over the operation of daily processes to technological advancements that allow for complete mechanization and 2) become a mechanized drone himself by constantly increasing productivity. His main argument revolves around the fact that man has convinced himself these mechanized approaches either improve productivity or save him so much time that he can engage in a greater amount of leisure, however, the truth is that leisure has become a foreign concept to an overworked nation and what may have originally been intended as such has merely become a permit to engage in even more work. The significance of Giedion's book is his ability to illustrate that while technology may be a necessary component of an ever-progressing species, it also has the tendency to multiply problems it seeks to resolve. No additional sources cited.
Page Count:
4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: LM1_TLCgiedion.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
increasing productivity. His main argument revolves around the fact that man has convinced himself these mechanized approaches either improve productivity or save him so much time that he can
engage in a greater amount of leisure, however, the truth is that leisure has become a foreign concept to an overworked nation and what may have originally been intended as
such has merely become a permit to engage in even more work. The significance of Giedions book is his ability to illustrate that while technology may be a necessary
component of an ever-progressing species, it also has the tendency to multiply problems it seeks to resolve. The innovation of having machines perform tasks that humans have historically completed was
a watershed moment in the timeline of human existence. For example, following close behind the Industrial Revolution that handed an eager public time-saving processed foods like TV dinners, mechanization
of the home resulted in women having more free time to focus upon other activities besides housework. Yet even though the dishwasher, clothes washer and vacuum took hours off
a housewifes weekly chores, that extra time did not relocate to as much leisure activity as it did to just a different type of work those appliance could not do.
Giedions treatment of this spurt in technological advancement and how it did not provide its intended reprieve gives greater insight into the exchange between manpower and the utilization of
tools to increase output. This is not to say that all productivity improvement has been the result of inequitable yield, inasmuch as many times it meant easing the physical and/or
mental stress of a task that was ultimately performed better and more easily. Bricklaying, Giedion notes, was one particular undertaking that called for workers to "bend over and raise
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