The most radical technological determinist in the United States in the 20th century was most likely Clarence Ayres who was a follower of Thorstein Veblen as well as John Dewey.
The origins of technological determinism as a formal concept are often traced to Thorstein Veblen (1857–1929), an influential American sociologist and economist.
Veblen, known for his work on social and economic issues, introduced ideas that portrayed technology as a powerful, autonomous force capable of shaping societal norms and structures.
He argued that the development and use of machinery exerted an independent influence on human thought and behavior, notably asserting that "the machine throws out anthropomorphic habits of thought.”[2][3] This notion laid the foundation for technological determinism by suggesting that technology inherently transforms society by reshaping patterns of thought and behavior.
Innovations in manufacturing and transportation, such as the assembly line and railroads, demonstrated technology’s potential to reshape economic and social structures.
Marx argued that technology drives historical change by shaping the "material base" of society.
For instance, he suggested that the railway in colonial India would challenge and erode the caste system by introducing new economic activities and altering social hierarchies.
[5][6] Later, Clarence Ayres, a 20th-century economist inspired by Veblen, expanded on these ideas by introducing the concept of "technological drag."
[9] It is a theory subscribed to by "hyperglobalists" who claim that as a consequence of the wide availability of technology, accelerated globalization is inevitable.
It changes the way people think and how they interact with others and can be described as '...a three-word logical proposition: "Technology determines history"' (Rosalind H. Williams) .
[13] The second is that as technology is stabilized, its design tends to dictate users' behaviors, consequently resulting in social change.
Other examples include the invention of language, expanding modes of communication between individuals, the introduction of bookkeeping and written documentation, impacting the circulation of knowledge, and having streamlined effects on the socioeconomic and political systems as a whole.
Because of the urgency from the protestant side to get the reform off the ground before the church could react, "early Lutheran leaders, led by Luther himself, wrote thousands of anti-papal pamphlets in the Reformation's first decades and these works spread rapidly through reprinting in various print shops throughout central Europe".
[19] As such the urgency of the socio-political context to utilize such technology in the beginning of its invention caused its fast adoption and normalization into European culture.
We could view its uses in its popularization – for political propaganda purposes – in line with the continued traditions of newspapers in modern times, as well as newly adopted uses for other printed text, adapting to change in a social context such as an emphasis on leisurely activities such as reading.
They would say that technology creates a set of powerful forces acting to regulate our social activity and its meaning.
The 20th century French philosopher and social theorist Jacques Ellul could be said to be a hard determinist and proponent of autonomous technique (technology).
“Soft determinism”, as the name suggests, is a more passive view of the way technology interacts with socio-political situations.
Soft determinists still subscribe to the fact that technology is the guiding force in our evolution but would maintain that we have a chance to make decisions regarding the outcomes of a situation.
A slightly different variant of soft determinism is the 1922 technology-driven theory of social change proposed by William Fielding Ogburn, in which society must adjust to the consequences of major inventions, but often does so only after a period of cultural lag.
SCOT research, such as that of Mackenzie and Wajcman (1997) argues that the path of innovation and its social consequences are strongly, if not entirely shaped by society itself through the influence of culture, politics, economic arrangements, regulatory mechanisms and the like.
This confirms one of the major problems with "technological determinism and the resulting denial of human responsibility for change.
However, it requires society to adopt Ralph Schroeder's claim that, "users don't just passively consume technology, but actively transform it".
He asserts that this particular development is attributable to the use of new technologies of literacy (particularly print and writing,) to communicate thoughts which could previously only be verbalized.
Furthermore, the rather stagnant technology of literacy distinctly limits the usage and influence of knowledge, it unquestionably effects the evolution of society.
In this sense, like Dr. Frankenstein's monster, technology itself appears to be alive, or at least capable of shaping human behavior.