Evolution of Technologies with Multi-Mode Interactions : New Perspectives for Technology Analyses

Dominant approaches for the study of the evolution of technologies are based on processes of competitive substitution of a new technology for the old one. However, new perspectives based on a multi-mode interaction between technologies in a complex system provide a much richer theoretical framework for technology analysis. A main theoretical framework in this new research stream is the theory of technological parasitism to explain the evolution of technology in society, considering the parasite-host relationship between technologies that generates the coevolution of overall complex system of technology. The theoretical background of this theory is based on a “Generalized Darwinism” for framing a broad analogy between technologies and evolutionary ecology of parasites that provides a logical structure of scientific inquiry. This approach is illustrated with realistic examples using empirical data of product and process technologies (farm tractor, freight locomotive, aircraft and bicycle technology). Overall, then, the proposed theory of technological parasitism here can be useful for bringing a new perspective to explain and generalize the evolution of technology and predict which innovations are likely to evolve rapidly in society