The Question Concerning Technology and The Rise of the Network Society

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In his book, The Question Concerning Technology, Martin Heidegger prioritizes the impacts of technology, including how it is a danger to the world that is rapidly adopting technological thinking. Heidegger’s analysis exposes the reader to questions such as what society’s imagination of technology entails and how they relate to it. One can conclude that Heidegger focuses on orientation instead of technological existence. He argues that technology rapidly enslaves society, chaining masses, thus signaling a lack of free relationships. On the other hand, The rise of the network society was written by Manuel Castells. Castells is convinced that social exclusion and polarization rise in regions that do not entirely embrace or enjoy the rise of new technology. His book covers the information technology revolution, including the creation of the internet, which signals the dynamics of technological change. The focus further extends to the disruption resulting from technological existence, including the transformations in the employment sector. Even though the authors embrace different approaches and concepts, their main focus is on the rise of technology and how it influences contemporary society.
Heidegger is a 20th-century philosopher recognized for his involvement in areas such as existentialism, while Castells is affiliated with reputable organizations such as the University of California, where he works as a Sociology Professor Emeritus. Their background reveals they are influential and credible sources of information, especially in their respective social science majors. Importantly, Castells’ publication is more recent as compared to Heidegger, whose book was first published in 1954. This implies that Castells is more likely to capture recent technological developments and how the transition or transformation impacts human life. Studies suggest that recent publications include new information, including changes in a given topic that older publications might have missed (Garner et al.). Regardless, both authors offer influential insights regarding technology.
According to Castells, information technologies were at the center of the technological revolution witnessed across the world (3). Global phenomena such as capitalism underwent a restructuring facilitated by a technological revolution. His book covered the influence of information technology in the modern world, which includes the swift exchange and flow of information or communications and interconnectedness with other fields such as physics, math, and geography. Castells is convinced that the rising dependence on information technology, including the media, facilitates capitalism, where the influential group in society can easily control the rest. I have established that this is facilitated by Marxism, where a small section of the population controls the means of production and influences what the masses consume (Sehgal 73). His notabl...