Prologue

Imagine a stick, lying on the ground, fallen from a tree in a forest. Like this one, say.

I came across this stick when walking near my house one day. There is nothing at all special about it. Is this stick a technology? It seems to be hard to think of it as such. If it is, then pretty much everything around us is a technology, and the term has no use or value. This is just a stick, lying on the ground, like billions of others to which we will never pay any attention.

Now imagine the same stick being used to

• scratch a back;
• hold up a tent;
• point to something;
• rap someone’s knuckles;
• pry the lid from a can of paint;
• support someone with walking difficulties;
• scrawl an image in the sand;
• tap a tree to produce a rhythmic drumbeat;
• play Pooh Sticks;
• entertain a dog;
• support an iPad;
• measure a window; or
• fend off an attacking wild animal.

Is the stick a technology now? If so, then it seems to be an odd definition of technology since the stick remains precisely the same as when it was lying in the park near my home, minding its own business, not being a technology at all. Yet, in (I think) all cases, a technology of some kind is being described. Many of these technologies could be named: a prop, a weapon, a beater, a pointer, a scribe, a back scratcher, a toy, a ruler, a walking stick. But the technology is not the stick. The stick, though, is very much a part of each technology.

And some of these technologies might help us to learn.