Glazer Says That Technology Will Not Cure Social Problems

Technological progress will not solve the urban crises of the future, for a majority of the cities' problems are caused by social rather than technical conditions, Nathan Glazer, professor of Education and Social Structure, said yesterday.

Glazer was a member of a panel which previewed changes expected in urban life during the remainder of the 20th century before an audience of about 100 people in the Cambridge Public Library.

"The two major problems today, crime and race relations, lie in deep social circumstances that are not significantly affected by technology," he said.

"We tend to think of the future in only technical terms, for it is easy to do," he added. "But if we try to consider future social developments, we are at a loss to see what technology can do for us."

Advantages

Panel member Sanford Miller, professor at MIT, was more optimistic about the social benefits of technological advances. He cited as an example the production of artificial meat, which is cheaper, more nutritious, and occasionally better tasting than the meat of animals.

"The technology to solve many current problems is there," he said. "The trick is to introduce them to the people."

Thomas S. Marvel, a visiting professor at the Graduate School of Design, added that the attitudes of people are a barrier to the implementation of technological solutions. "It's hard to get people to give up a technology that's familiar to them," he said.

'Primitive'

Marvel said that this is especially true in the building industry, where conservatism has forced construction to become technologically "primitive," and unduly expensive.