Book Review: Anthropological Analysis of Technology's Impact

This report provides a comprehensive review of two books, "Into the Extreme" by Olson and "Robo Sapiens Japanicus" by Robertson, examining the impact of technology, specifically artificial intelligence and robotics, on societal structures and cultural dynamics. "Into the Extreme" explores the influence of outer space exploration on political, social, and natural environments, highlighting the US's drive for technological advancement. "Robo Sapiens Japanicus" focuses on Japan's embrace of robotics, analyzing the integration of robots into various aspects of life and the cultural shifts that have occurred. The review analyzes these books from theoretical perspectives, including structural functionalism, evolutionary theory, and conflict theory, to understand the broader implications of technological advancements on communities and international relations. The report concludes by emphasizing the role of anthropological theories in understanding these transformations and the impact of these texts on our understanding of the development of science in new ways.

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Book Review
1.0 Introduction
The purpose of the following essay is to provide the reviews for the two books on the
issue of embracing the technology in the lives of human beings. The scientific inventions of the
new era and its implementation in this society have been very crucial factors for the different
issues. The new inventions in science have shaped the different things like religion, culture and
politics and many other things. The two books that would be reviewed in this essay are Into the
Extreme by Olson and Robo Sapiens Japanicus Jennifer Robertson.
2.0 Summary of Into the Extreme
In this book, the author has discussed about the facts about how outer space has
effectively contributed to the different social and natural environments (Olson: 46). Several
spaceflight vehicles have been very effective enough to set new perspectives of looking into this
world in the contemporary times. The analysis of the culture has been analyzed in this book
because of the issues in the transitions of technology. The artificial intelligence has been a huge
matter for consideration in this segment. The politics, social and natural environments have felt a
huge impact in this scenario as well. This book has been written with the important

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incorporations of the several anthropological theories of the current times. In this book, the
author has discussed about the passion of the US scientists and astronauts to discover new things
about the explorations in the outer space (Olson: 67) According to the author, this entire book
focuses on the outer-space journeys and explores new things about the solar system. It is because
the solar system is the main energy giver for this world and other planets. The probable issues
that have been covered in this book are the explorations into the outer space technologies and the
ways it can sustain the lives of the human beings to accelerate the overall production amount of
the state (Olson: 39). This has surrounded the issues of technological issues and political factors
regarding United States as well.
3.0 Summary of Robo Sapiens Japanicus
In this post-industrial era, Japan is considered as the first nation that has happily taken up
the context of coexistence of human and robots. In the past few decades, various humanoid
robots have been made in the country and they have been used in the places like homes, offices,
hospitals, schools. The development of the technology and robotics in Japan has been a huge
progress. The invention of the artificial intelligence has been one of the most crucial factors for
creating robots (Robertson: 89). These robots have taken up the role of the humans in big time.
The issue that has been found out in this book is the factor that the role of robots has been used
hyperbolically in case of making marketing strategies, taking the orders from customers and
delivering services very fast. The companies buying these robots sometimes blackmail their
customers about their enhanced performance skills. In reality, it is found that the service quality
and performance level is less than it has been said. Many robots have been deployed in Japan for
military services as well (Robertson: 38). Robertson has also implied the factor that these robots

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can be gendered to provide some particular services. The issues of artificial intelligence have
been stressed in this factor.
4.0 Analysis of two readings from theoretical perspective
In the Robo Sapiens Japanicus, the overall structure of the culture has been addressed in
the book. One theory that can be very important in this discourse is that of the structural
functionalism. In the community of Japan, the robots are being treated as the member of the
human communities (Olson: 56). They contribute to the overall development of the Japanese
community. Another theory that can be used here regarding this book is Evolution theory. This
will show the evolution of robots in the Japanese society (Olson: 40). The technological
development and innovation is a huge contributor for the development of humanoids. The
cultural changes have been observed in this book.
On the contrary, the Conflict theory can be connected to the book Into the Extreme.It is
because United States will lead them to gain more political and economic power by overtaking
other states (Robertson: 20). In the book, it has been shown that United States has aimed to gain
the status of superpower through their outer space research. This would assist US to hold their
oveall dominance in the areas like politics, military powers and economy (Robertson: 49). The
theory of structural functionalism can also be helpful in this discourse because technological
experts will help US to attain their supremacy in the world.
5.0 Conclusion
In the concluding section, it can be said that the anthropological theory has been an
essential component in Robo Sapiens Japanicus because of the development of robotics science

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in Japan. This will improve the overall structure of the Japanese community. The robots have
given a new dimension in Japanese society. Many social theories have been underpinned
regarding this text. On the other hand, the second text has contributed to the discussion of rise of
power for US by means of outer space research. United States would be able to gain immense
international power in this scenario altogether. These texts have contributed to the development
of science in new ways.

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Reference List
Olson, Valerie. "Into The Extreme". University Of Minnesota Press, 2019,
https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/into-the-extreme.
Robertson, Jennifer. "Robo Sapiens Japanicus". University Of California Press, 2019,
https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520283206/robo-sapiens-japanicus.