Technological progress is important and is linked to the growth of our economy. Throughout history, sociologists, anthropologists, and researchers have attempted to develop ways to measure technological progress. These important people who came up with brilliant theories are Gerhard Lenski, Leslie White and Alvin Toffler. Technological development keeps our economy moving, which has a vital impact on improving living standards around the world. These men theorize that information, energy control, and future shocks are the means by which technology advances our economy. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essayGerhard Lenski was born in 1924 and died in 2015; he lived to be 90 years old. He was a sociologist and spent most of his career as a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Lenski believed that the answer to human progress was information. Lenski's four stages of technological progress are: food security, horticulture, agriculture and production. Lenski's first stage is at the hunter-gatherer level, where humans strive to reduce food insecurity, and the next level is where humans collect food from growing plants. The third stage involves social orders due to a surplus of food. When agriculture is organized, society now has social classes, inequality, and a complex division of labor due to advances in arts and crafts, architecture, and engineering. The final stage of Lenski's technological perspective is where humans begin to see food-based economies being replaced by production, which in turn drives the industrial revolution with machines and factories. According to Lenski, the more humans understand the use of Earth's natural resources, the more they can advance in society. Leslie White was an anthropologist born in 1900 and died in 1975. White believed that energy control was the key to cultural purpose, while Lenski believed it was information. According to White, human progress has five phases, not four. The first phase states that human muscle power comes from energy, while the second phase states that humans acquire energy from domestic animals. For example, we use animals as livestock for food, hunting, transportation, and fighting. The next phase concerns the agricultural revolution, which is only an extension of the previous phase. The fourth phase includes energy and electricity from Earth's natural resources, such as coal, oil and natural gas. This phase is similar to Lenski's industrial revolution, mentioned in the fourth stage. White's final phase states that humans accumulate energy through nuclear power, while Lenski believed that nuclear power was too dangerous for humans. By the way, Leslie White is famous for his formula: P = E*T. “E” represents the energy consumed, “T” is the measurement of technical factors from the energy, and P is the final calculation. In summary, White believed that culture evolves as the measure of energy and work efficiency increases over time. Whites associated cultural progress with an equation of energy and efficiency and Lenski associated it with information and knowledge. The final theorist to compare is Alvin Toffler. He was born in 1928 and died in 2016; he was a journalist, social critic and.