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The ideas of technological determinism and the autonomy of technology are long-standing and widespread. This article explores why the use of certain technologies is perceived to be obligatory, thus fueling the fatalism of technological determinism and undermining our sense of freedom vis-à-vis the use of technologies. Three main mechanisms that might explain "obligatory technologies" (technologies that must be adopted) are explored. First, competition between individuals or groups drives the adoption of technologies that enhance or extend human capacities. Second, individuals and groups may become dependent on technologies. Third, technologies induce changes in social norms and values that may come to be enforced through various social mechanisms, including the law. The widespread ideology of the beneficence and inevitability of technological progress in our culture helps this process along.

This short note considers the relationships between human autonomy, both individual and collective, and technology. At the collective level, numerous writers have observed the profound effects on society of technological discoveries — leading to the suggestion that societal mechanisms through which we might seek to make deliberate choices about technologies are ineffective. One such mechanism is the law, and I suggest through various examples that legal doctrines and judicial processes may indeed be limited in their ability to regulate technology. At the individual level, technologies have profound effects on human autonomy, both making certain choices possible but also changing the material and cultural environment in ways that make the adoption of technologies inescapable in a way that appears to erode human autonomy.

This article draws on the suggestion that modern technology is "autonomous" in that our social control mechanisms are unable to control technology and instead merely adapt society to integrate new technologies. In this article, I suggest that common law judges tend systematically to support the integration of novel technologies into society. For example, courts sometimes require parties seeking compensation for serious injuries to submit to medical technologies to which the parties object for genuine reasons of fear or moral objection. Where a novel technology alters the environment in some way, courts sometimes legitimize that alteration by refusing to recognize harm and instead characterizing avoidance of the technology as self-imposed harm. The examples selected in this article were chosen to support the hypothesis in one way or another, and future work will aim to look for counter examples and to conduct a more complete assessment of the hypothesis.

Intro -- Contents -- Introduction -- Chapter 1: Innovation from a Networked, Ecosystems Perspective -- What Is Innovation? -- What Are Value Propositions and Why Are They Important? -- Time and Innovation -- Thinking Service Ecosystems -- Scholarly Takeaway -- Managerial Takeaway -- References -- Chapter 2: Plasticity: Toward a Better Understanding of Innovation -- Plasticity -- Recursivity -- Temporality -- Complementarity -- Continuity -- Synergetics -- Systemic Principle of Value Creation 1: Critical Distance -- Systemic Principle of Value Creation 2: Stability -- Systemic Principle of Value Creation 3: Amplification -- Systemic Principle of Value Creation 4: Internal Determination -- Systemic Principle of Value Creation 5: Nonlinearity and Feedback Loops -- Systemic Principle of Value Creation 6: Phase Transitions -- Systemic Principle of Value Creation 7: Symmetry Breaking -- Systemic Principle of Value Creation 8: Limited Predictability -- Systemic Principle of Value Creation 9: Historical Dependence -- The Influence of Big Data, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence -- Scholarly Takeaway -- Managerial and Practical Takeaways -- References -- Chapter 3: The Micro and the Individual Innovator -- Trust, Advice, and Innovation -- Shared Language and Innovation -- Plasticity at the Micro Level -- Rise of the "T" Professional -- Scholarly and Managerial Takeaway -- References -- Chapter 4: Innovation and Diffusion at the Meso Level -- The Importance of Value Propositions -- Value Propositions and Plasticity -- Managerial Aspects of Value Propositions -- Multisided Platforms as a Context -- Multisided Platforms as Contexts within Service Ecosystems -- Data as a Context that Brings Actors Together -- Managerial Takeaways -- References -- Chapter 5: Macro: Innovation as Renovated Connections -- Practices and Engagement -- References.

ABSTRACTThis article outlines how decision sciences instructors, by pairing Liberal Learning (LL) philosophy with Social Constructivist Pedagogy (SCP), can lead the way in transforming business education. It outlines how these educators can cultivate more critical thinking and creativity in their classrooms in order to prepare students for the 'real problems' they will face in today's complex and global world. Instructors can accomplish this when they adjust 'how' they teach (rather than 'what' they teach) so that students become active learners rather than passive listeners. The purpose of the article is to outline the outcomes advocated by the LL philosophy (Colby, Ehrlich, Sullivan, & Dolle, 2011), and describe how SCP, a pedagogical process, can help decision sciences instructors achieve these outcomes (Vygotsky, 1978). Instructors essentially become facilitators of discussion and dialogue rather than the sole distributor of knowledge in the classroom. Two sample implementations of SCP and LL are also discussed.