hughes's thesis is a synthesis of two separate models for how technology and society interact. one, "technological determinism", claims that society itself is modified by the introduction of a new technology in an irreversible and irreparable way—for example, the introduction of the automobile has influenced the manner in which american cities are designed, a change that can clearly be seen when comparing the pre-automobile cities on the east coast to the post-automobile cities on the west coast. technology, under this model, self-propagates as well—there is no turning back once the adoption has taken place, and the very existence of the technology means that it will continue to exist in the future.