David noble social history of automation
(A) It displaced fewer skilled workers than R/P automation did. The passage suggests which of the following about N/C automation in the machine-tool industry? (E) It suggests two possible solutions to a problem presented in the first paragraph. (D) It presents a generalization about examples given in the first paragraph. (C) It gives examples of a phenomenon mentioned in the first paragraph. (B) It provides evidence to refute a claim presented in the first paragraph. y (it goes on to describe the two different ways of autmating introduced in first passage) (A) It develops a topic introduced in the first paragraph. Which of the following best characterizes the function of the second paragraph of the passage? (E) exclusion of skilled workers from participation in the development of automated technology - n (again mentioned later but there is no mention of exclusion though)ģ. (D) process by which skilled machinists “teach” machines to perform certain tasks - n (that is mentioned later in the passage not for this) (C) labor theory that automation is technologically comparable to skilled labor - n (no mention of labor theory)
(B) substitution of mechanized processes for labor formerly performed by skilled workers - y (clearly mentioned after the dash in line no 7) (A) loss of skills to industry when skilled workers are replaced by unskilled laborers - n (E) chronicling the history of an industry and criticizing its development - n (no history is chronicled)Ģ.Ěccording to information in the passage, the term “de-skilling” refers to the david noble might be warning about its dangers but the author is not) (D) explaining a trend in automation and warning about its dangers - n (there is no trend shown. (C) analyzing a scholarly study and pointing out a central weakness - y (study is of the book written by a marxist scholar and the weakness is the conspiracy theory propogated without any substatntial evidence) also there is no defense stated in the passage for its necessity) (B) examining a management decision and defending its necessity - n (this is just one point mentioned in the passage. (A) reexamining a political position and defending its validity - n (though marxism is mentioned but that is not the theme of passage.) The author of the passage is primarily concerned with The author criticizes Nobel's work, but the work itself does not "point out the weakness of a particular interpretation of an industrial phenomenon."įrom a Marxist perspective, Noble "examines the transformation of the machine-tool industry as the industry moved from reliance on skilled artisans to automation." In other words, "from an ideological point of view" (Marxist perspective), Forces of Production describes "a history of a particular industry" (the machine-tool industry). (E) An attempt to relate an industrial phenomenon in one industry to a similar phenomenon in another industryįorces of Production is a work by David Noble.
(D) A history of a particular industry from an ideological point of view (C) A study that points out the weakness of a particular interpretation of an industrial phenomenon (B) An examination of the origin of a particular concept in industrial economics (A) A comparison of two interpretations of how a particular industry evolved Which of the following best characterizes Forces of Production as it is described in the passage? From this he concludes that automation is undertaken not because efficiency demands it or scientific advances allow it, but because it is a tool in the ceaseless war of capitalists against labor.ħ.
However, Noble’s only evidence of conspiracy is that, although the two approaches were roughly equal in technical merit, management chose N/C. In automating, the industry moved to computer-based, digitized “numerical-control” (N/C) technology, rather than to artisan-generated “record-playback” (R/P) technology.Īlthough both systems reduced reliance on skilled labor, Noble clearly prefers R/P, with its inherent acknowledgment of workers’ skills: unlike N/C, its programs were produced not by engineers at their computers, but by skilled machinists, who recorded their own movements to “teach” machines to duplicate those movements. Noble fails to substantiate this claim, although his argument is impressive when he applies the Marxist concept of “de-skilling”-the use of technology to replace skilled labor-to the automation of the machine-tool industry. Noble writes from a Marxist perspective, and his central argument is that management, in its decisions to automate, conspired against labor: the power that the skilled machinists wielded in the industry was intolerable to management. In Forces of Production, David Noble examines the transformation of the machine-tool industry as the industry moved from reliance on skilled artisans to automation.