the pyramid of technology

1. How technology becomes our nature
in seven steps
GeorgeThomaides
Panagiotis Kalogeropoulos
Project in English 2017
Teacher: Dimitra Dertili

2. • For centuries people have invented various forms of
technologies that have improved our lives
• Technology has become a necessary part of our life
to the point that we cannot live without it. Everyone
uses various forms and for centuries people have
adapted to all the changes and applications of
technology

3. • However, though we are totally dependent on technology we
seldom ask ourselves how all these forms of technology have been
introduced, accepted or removed in our societies

4. Level 1:envisioned
• The Envisioned level is the first level where technology appears
• All technology is a product of the human mind
• First there has to be an idea or a dream of how we can extend our skills
• Many commonplace technologies have spent a long time in this stage

5. The envisioned level is the stage of all
technological innovation
• While some technologies are applied right after being envisioned, others are
stuck in this stage for an indefinite time
• Cold nuclear fusion, teleportation, time traveling, or human-powered wings
have all been a part of our imagination for decades, but due to their
unattainability, they have not yet risen to a higher level on the pyramid

6. • Also, even though many ideas
regarding technologies never get
to the envisioned stage, they are
important as reference points for
other ideas that can be fulfilled
• The envisioned level is like a
dream stage, especially for artists,
poets, science fiction writers and
others

7. Level 2. Operational
The second stage at which a technology arrives is the operational level. Many
again may get stuck here for a while
In this stage operational proof of an idea exists, but has not been widely
applied
• One example is Lab-grown meat, muscle produced from cultured animal
cells
• Some scientists believe that in vitro meat will become very popular since it
will be a more sustainable, animal friendly option to raising and killing
livestock. Even though it is now possible to grow small pieces of muscle
tissue in the lab, it still is very expensive to do so

8. Some high potential technologies are stuck
in the operational level
• Other examples of technologies that are still in this stage are the quantum
computer, wireless electricity and engineered microbes that turn plant
waste into oil
• They’ve proven to work in the lab, but are far from being widely used

9. • These technologies remain in this level, because investors find their
application too risky and not profitable enough
• More than any other level, the operational level is the home of fundamental
engineering research

10. Level 3. Applied
Once a technology is moved into society
it reaches the applied level
• One example of a technology that has
recently entered this level is the
Google Glass, a piece of eyewear full of
electronics and a visual interface that
adds information onto your normal
vision

11. • Very few people have had the opportunity to buy and try a Google Glass
• First we will have to see if it can be widely applied to say for sure that we will
be chatting through such glasses

12. • The phase between invention and acceptance is often misculculated
• Many technologies remain in the applied stage for years before going onto
the next level of acceptance. Others just stay in the operational level

13. Level 4. Accepted
• There are so many gadgets and technologies that have been accepted as
part of our daily life
• These technologies are the ones that are massively reproduced and used by
society. And it is how they are perceived by their users that gives them
entrance into the accepted phase. So part of their success is based on how
they influence society and culture making people dependent on them

14. • In the accepted phase technologies are not seen as new and artificial but
normal and familiar
• So it is obvious that technologies like nuclear energy have great difficulty
entering this level while other technologies like television, smartphones and
microwave ovens were accepted immediately because of their usage

15. Level 5. Vital
• After being accepted, technologies become vital. At this stage, we are so
dependent on them that they feel like our second nature
• Like mobile phones many years ago when we were not sure if we needed
them.Today they are a huge part of our daily lives that we feel that
something is missing when we forget or lose them. So for example our
mobile phones because of this dependence have become part of who we are
• A technology enters the vital stage when the loss we feel if we do not have it
causes us to go through a crisis. So these technologies become essential
just like water and sewer drains and pipes

16. Level 6. Invisible
• Truly successful technologies are invisible. People do not see it as
technology anymore
• The ability to represent oral language by using symbols is an ancient
technology that made our thoughts and voices last throughout time

17. • Life would be totally different without an alphabet
• The design of clothing, exchanging money for goods and agriculture are a
good example of technologies that have become invisible

18. • When a technology reaches the invisible stage it moves from the conscious
sphere to the unconscious one, where it becomes our invisible partner

19. Level 7: Naturalized
• The ultimate level a technology can achieve is to become naturalized

20. • Most technologies succeed to reach halfway up the pyramid before they are
either stuck or pushed back into lower levels by more advanced
technologies
• Other technologies, like sewers and digital computing remain in the ‘vital’
stage. But only a few technologies such as writing and cooking our meals,
that is heating them, are totally invisible and not seen as technology

21. • Without cooking we would have to eat many kilos of raw food to get enough
nutrition

22. Thank you for your time
!!!!!!!!

23. Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_Techn
ology
https://www.nextnature.net/2014/08/pyramid
-of-technology/