Ursula K. Le Guin: A Rant About "Technology" (2005)

Ursula K. Le Guin argues that "technology" is routinely misused to refer only to complex modern innovations like computers, when the term should encompass all ways societies interact with the physical world—from food preparation to clothing to medicine. She contends that science fiction, including her own work, necessarily contains technological content regardless of whether it focuses on engineering or psychology, since any depiction of a future or alien society must describe how people manage their material existence. Le Guin criticizes the cultural desensitization that treats everyday objects like wheels, clocks, and paper as natural rather than recognizing them as genuine technologies.