Technical Activities: From Ancient Times to Today

Technical Activities

The technical term comes from the Greek technné, which meant art, craft, method, and technique. We can define it as the ability to modify the environment to one's advantage, which consists of the possession of effective ways to proceed, the possibility of creating, and using tools that construct the action helpers. Animals can build things that seem to be a product of the technique, but in reality, it is limited to fixed patterns of behavior, so they do not have the capacity to refine their constructions, nor to invent and fabricate other devices that work best. Primates only minimally approach the human ability to imagine, build, and use effective tools in the solution of the problems they encounter.

Features

• An adaptation of the subject to the medium: The appearance of technical capacity was a much more effective adaptive mechanism than biological adaptation. Thus, thanks to the technique, the early hominids were able to successfully meet their needs.
• An adaptation of the environment to the subject: The essence of the technique is not to allow the subject to adapt to the environment, but rather to enable the subject to modify the environment and make it more favorable. This is characteristic of the technique: the creation of an artificial world to meet each new need. Humans not only want to survive, but also want to have fun, travel, learn, and for that, they construct buildings, roads, parks, cinemas... ultimately transforming nature and constructing a fantastic world.

Technical Evolution

• Technical of chance (up to the 7th century BC): Technical resources are scarce. All members of the community have the technical skills. Discoveries and inventions are coincidental and by chance. There is no awareness of technical activity distinct from the natural process. Companies are little developed.
• Technical craftsman (from ancient times to the Middle Ages): Growth occurs in the repertoire of technical activities. Specialization emerges: not all individuals have the resources for dry cleaning. There is a beginning of awareness of the technique as something special. However, there is not yet full awareness of the technique as an invention. The technique is limited to the utilization of useful instruments.
• Technical-technician (from the Renaissance to today): The technical dimension is extended to all fields of life. There is a deep expertise. There is a constant process of invention and innovation. The technique is enriched and expands with the manufacture of machines. Differentiation occurs between the technician and the worker.