Article Review: "Technology, Technique and the Body"
Edward Tenner (1) makes the point that "IF we define technology as a modification of the environment, then we must recognize the complementary principle of technique: how that modification is used in performance." A central thesis in his article is that technology in and of itself represents only potential; it is the way in which humans employ technology that determines it ultimate impact, whether one uses the metaphor of sports as does Tenner (2) or some other example of how humans employ technological innovations. Technology, said Tenner (1), may actually "equal" technique in that the machine is the result of technique and not the revere.
Tenner employed several themes to illustrate his contention that technology and technique are ultimately one and the same. Tenner's (2) discussion of how various analysts have addressed the impact and meaning of various technological innovations (including new sources of energy, weapons of war and so forth) serves to illustrate his contention that technique (understood as competence and ability) and technology go hand in hand. Similarly, he notes that the "spirit behind the power sources and machinery" (2) of the early modern era was a driving force in the development of those sources; had many not had the "technique" to develop a musket, he could not have used a musket. In other words, technique in developing a technology precedes and is a necessary antecedent to the technology. The military analogy is an important element n this article.
A second point made by Tenner (3) is that technique is shaped in part by the capacity of the body to perform certain tasks, to move and function in specific and flexible ways, and to extend its capacity through experimentation and practice. He drew upon ideas advanced earlier by anthropologist Marcel Mauss รป ideas focused on how physical habits interact with tools to create new tools and new us...