Abstract
Alarmed by Three Mile Island, Love Canal, and other disastrous deployments of new technologies, the public is demanding more voice in the decision-making on technology. To make this possible, it is proposed that metatechnology be evolved that will provide a practical technology for the safe, effective, and economical use of technology. A case history of a specific metatechnology is presented. Here the metatechnology enabled a realistic balancing of the benefits of mass screening of women by mammography against the hazards from the X-rays. By showing that the screening of women under 50 was counterproductive, this metatechnology helped to ban such screening in a program involving a quarter of a million women. The strategic mistake in setting up this and other technological programs was that the decisions were made by the technologists. They benefited the technologists but were not beneficial to the women. One of the potentials of metatechnology is that in its fully computerized versions it could be used directly by the public for decision-making on the deployment of technologies.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bailar, III, J. C.: 1975, ‘Mammography a contrary view’,Proc. Am. Assoc. Cancer Res. 16, 90.
Blumenson, L. E., and Bross, I. D. J.: 1969, ‘A mathematical analysis of the growth and spread of breast cancer’,Journal of Chronic Diseases,21, 95–109.
Bross, I. D. J.: 1972, ‘Scientific strategies in human affairs: Use of deep mathematical models’,Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences 34, 187–199.
Bross, I. D. J.: 1980a,Scientific Strategies To Save Your Life, Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York.
Bross, I. D. J.: 1980b, ‘Letter to the Editor’,Canadian Medical Association Journal 123, 94–97.
Bross, I. D. J., and Blumenson, L. E.: 1968a, ‘Statistical testing of a deep mathematical model for human breast cancer’,Journal of Chronic Diseases 21, 493–506.
Bross, I. D. J., and Blumenson, L. E.: 1971, ‘Predictive design of experiments using deep mathematical models’,Cancer 28, 1637–1646.
Bross, I. D. J., and Blumenson, L. E.: 1976, ‘Screening random asymptomatic women under 50 by annual mammographies: Does it make sense?’,Journal of Surgical Oncology 8, 437–445.
Bross, I. D. J., Blumenson, L. E., Slack, N. H., and Priore, R. L.: 1968b, ‘A two-disease model for breast cancer’, in A. P. M. Forrest and P. B. Kunkler (eds.),Prognostic Factors in Breast Cancer, (Proceedings of First Tenovus Symposium, Cardiff 12th–14th April 1967), E. S. Livingstone Ltd., Edinburgh and London, pp. 288–300.
Slack, N. H., Bross, I. D. J., and Blumenson, L. E.: 1969, ‘Therapeutic implications from a mathematical model characterizing the course of breast cancer’,Cancer 24, 960–971.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bross, I.D.J. Metatechnology: A technollogy for the safe, effective, and economical use of technology. Metamedicine 2, 145–153 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00884419
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00884419