Question: In 1867, S. Colum Gilfillan, a sociologist traced the evolution of ships from the dugout canoe to the modern steamship of the day.
Many theories propose the existence of a technology in many forms. From these variations, some perform better and are selected for further use and development.
Till date the people who have thought hardest about the general questions of technology have only been social scientists. They have viewed technology from the outside as stand-alone objects without studying earlier technologies.
Some technologies, for example, the laser, the jet engine, the radar, the quick sort algorithm and the locomotive just appear, or at least they seem to just appear unlike novel biological species which are versions of earlier objects.Radar descends from radio but you can vary 1930s radio circuits as radically you like but you will never get radar. Radar requires a different principle.
The question that the author asks pertains to the various forms of technology and the effectiveness of the same.
III is present in every option. IV is incomplete. It talks about technologies appearing ‘unlike novel biological species..’ which has not been defined or stated. V says ‘radar requires a different principle’ but fails to mention what it is.
Hence, the correct answer is option 5.