每日一题跟帖I88

依虚兮UID: 2703843

题目：ISSUE88 - "Technologies not only influence but actually determine social customs and ethics."

The author claims that technologies can both determine the social customs and ethics. Whether the claim is overall should base on our real-life experiences. And according to my observation, I contend that technologies can actually act as a decisive role in custom, but can hardly influence our ethics. In fact, in some cases, it is our ethical standards that determine the orientation of technology development.

As technology changed our working patterns, living habits and communication tools, it influences our ideology, and in fact, should be responsible for the changes in social customs. For example, we can find celebrations of traditional festivals, like the Spring Festival, are not the same with the past. Sacrificing ceremonies gradually disappear, because technology brings us more objective cognition about the world, then less people believe the supernatural now and choose other ways to show respect for ancestors. People also no longer offer blessings by a visit, but by messages or just a call. Meanwhile, consider the improvement of women's economic level, because of technology, intellectual rather than manual labor is required, which allowed women to be able to compete for many works. There is a quiet revolution in rich countries now, especially in America, where women will replace men to be the majority of the work force. This would also bring the change in family role; more men are responsible for children and housework while more women work outside. Thus, technology not only influences our customs but also determine it.

As to the ethics in people's mind, the impact on our ethics from technology is undeniable. More debatable researches appear and so are the ethics problems. It is more complex to settle down the morality dilemma in modern people now. Take the first veto of Mr. Bush in 2006 as an example, though a considerable Americans support embryonic stem-cell research, which is of a potential life-saving use, Mr. Bush denied it because this research also means killing many human embryos. In fact, this ethical snag still exists in other gene engineering like cloning.

However, does the impact brought by modern technology mean its determinable role in ethics? Absolutely not, the ethics, which is deeply embedded in our mind, is influenced by many other factors. For individuals, personal ethical standards are determined by one’s education, or family background. This can explain what makes the huge gap in ideology between the ideology of our children and the older generation, since many traditional ideas are disappeared in teaching materials, text books and parents' words.

As for the society, it is the traditional cultures or its regional beliefs that influence their ethics most. To illustrate this, still taking the improvement of women's status as an example, though their work empowerment are widely acknowledged, but there still exist some countries, notably the Arab states, which is more willing to burden the losses of wasted talents than to accept women to stand in same class with men. For Arabians, to change the opinion in this would even need the change in their religion creed. Moreover, some basic moral outlooks like the love for one’s family and nation, the respect for one’s ancestors are more impossible to be altered by technology. From the above analysis, technology is far from effective in influencing the long-established ethics.


Moreover, for these ethic snags from the scientific research, it is our traditional morality standards that will finally remove them, though which may be pretty strenuous. Our respect for life, pursuit for equality and peace, will not so easily into turmoil because of some gene research, which can be called as a 'murder' to some significance, or unclear weapon study. In fact, we need use ethics to limit them, and direct them. Thus, I contend that the orientation of technology, development sometimes is determined by human's ethics rather the contrary.

To sum up, the author over generalizes the relationships between technology and the ethics. Though the impact of the technology is the key to the change in social customs,  this impact is not so deep into people’s mind and can not change ethics.

colin8741UID: 2835824

1# 依虚兮
灰色是改掉的，红色是我加上的，蓝色是有问题的
The author claims that technologies can both determine both the social customs and ethics. Whether the claim is overall,it should base on our real-life experiences. And according to my observation（这句话……）, I contend（换个词吧，believe什么的） that technologies can actually act as a decisive role in custom, but can hardly influence our ethics. In fact, in some cases, it is our ethical standards that determine the orientation of technology development.

As technology changed our working patterns, living habits and communication tools, it influences our ideology, and in fact, should be responsible for the changes in social customs. For example, we can find celebrations of traditional festivals, like the Spring Festival, are not the same with the as past. Sacrificing ceremonies gradually disappear, because technology brings us more objective cognition about the world, then less people believe the supernatural now and choose other ways to show respect for ancestors. People also no longer offer blessings by a visit, but by messages or just a call. Meanwhile, consider the improvement of women's economic level (经济水平？）, because of technology, intellectual rather than manual labor is required, which allowed women to be able to compete for many works. There is a quiet revolution in rich countries now, especially in America, where women will replace men to be the majority of the work force. This would also bring the change in family role; more men are responsible for children and housework while more women work outside. Thus, technology not only influences our customs but also determine it.

As to the ethics in people's mind, the impact on our ethics from technology is undeniable. More debatable researches appear and so are the ethics problems. It is more complex to settle down the morality dilemma in modern people now. Take the first veto of Mr. Bush in 2006 as an example, though a considerable Americans support embryonic stem-cell research, which is of a potential life-saving use, Mr. Bush denied it because this research also means killing many human embryos. In fact, this ethical snag still exists in other gene engineering like cloning.

However, does the impact brought by modern technology mean its determinable role in ethics? Absolutely not, the ethics, which is deeply embedded in our mind, is influenced by many other factors. For individuals, personal ethical standards are determined by one’s education, or family background. This can explain what makes the huge gap in ideology between the ideology of our children and the older generation, since many traditional ideas are disappeared in teaching materials, text books and parents' words.

As for the society, it is the traditional cultures or its regional beliefs that influence their ethics most. To illustrate this, still taking the improvement of women's status as an example, though their work empowerment are widely acknowledged, but there still exist some countries, notably the Arab states, which is more willing to burden the losses of wasted talents than to accept women to stand in same class with men. For Arabians, to change the opinion in this would even need the change in their religion creed. Moreover, some basic moral outlooks like the love for one’s family and nation, the respect for one’s ancestors are more impossible to be altered by technology. From the above analysis, technology is far from effective in influencing the long-established ethics.（为了证明科技不能影响ethic，但是之前提到的veto是一项对ethic领域的提案，虽然被否决，但是也是大家对ethic的认识越来越不局限的表现吧）

Moreover, for these ethic snags from the scientific research, it is our traditional morality standards that will finally remove them, though which may be pretty strenuous. Our respect for life, pursuit for equality and peace, will not so easily into turmoil because of some gene research, which can be called as a 'murder' to some significance, or unclear weapon study. In fact, we need use ethics to limit them, and direct them. Thus, I contend that the orientation of technology, development sometimes is determined by human's ethics rather the contrary.

To sum up, the author over generalizes the relationships between technology and the ethics. Though the impact of the technology is the key to the change in social customs,  this impact is not so deep into people’s mind and can not change ethics.

呃……发现我不会改issue,还是找个argu 改改好了，例子很多，但是总觉得论证不够说服力，我先面壁思过去……