The reading for today is on reserve in the library and should be available through ERes. You should look just at the introduction to the book. Because some people find Ellul difficult to read, here are some background notes which may help. Ellul is a French scholar who comes to technology through a particular philosophical and theological perspective. He began writing about technology in the early 1950's with his book, The Technological Society.
Technique refers to any complex of standardized means for attaining a predetermined result.
Thus it converts spontaneous and unreflective behavior into behavior that is deliberate and rationalized. You can imagine how this will lead to certain courses in politics or in business or in economics or in science. Please don't let that put you off. Instead the technical system has become an end in itself. Second, he notes that even the way we speak has changed.