〓DIES IN FLAMS〓 Issue88 By tracywlz

tracywlzUID: 2522388

88"Technologies not only influence but actually determine social customs and ethics."

Social customs and ethics are not stationary materials; they can be influenced or determined somewhat. As a dramatic burgeon of technology, more and more social customs and ethics are being changed, and meanwhile, some new items have been created.

Admittedly, some traditional and core things can not be affected with the technology fashion. Since many of them can not be replaced by advanced technology or they are actually derived from the original virtue of our human beings. Taking the virtue of honesty for instance, though technology can bring an elaborate machine to us in order to value whether a person is telling a truth or not, we are still regard cordiality as a vital essence a person should have. Meanwhile, when email can help us do what traditional mail did, the post office is still full of people since they are eager to send a written mail.

Howbeit, technology is changing some traditional social customs and ethics through achieving what we cannot gain in the past. In essence, the formation of these customs and ethics are based on some past localization and limitation. Therefore at the moment technology broke the limitation, the past customs and ethics is evitable collapsed. Just like before twenty century, the customs or ethics about women’s responsibility is staying at home and doing housework. Working women or educated women were regarded as heretics because of the possibility of may not do well in the house. Nevertheless, when the Industrial Involution‘s production begin to apply in daily life’s affairs, the housework are required less time and women are emancipated. Thus, the tradition about women should at home are changed, and more freedom and equality‘s customs are coming into being. At contemporary society, heretics in the past time-professional women and educated women-are treated as idols with capabilities and knowledge. Another example also can enforce this viewpoint. Communication in the past could only be carried out in the way of face to face or write on paper, while a simple Internet net leads to various ways to communicate at present. All the examples above can strongly prove that technology can influence a large number of social customs and ethics.

Moreover, technology creates new ways of living to determine new customs and ethics which can not be formed or even not existed in the past. In this way, customs and ethics are with no doubt determining by technology. One apt illustration of this point involves “stem cell”, the ethics of which is arguing fiercely now, while one hundred year ago the word “stem cell’ did not exist；another example also about the Internet can prove this argument at the same time, as the Internet chat become an increasing number of important in our daily life, the chat rules have been settled to restrict people’s demeanor. This regulation includes what you can type to the world, what you ought to say after others’ words and so forth. Obviously, these new regulations were just seen in science fictions before Internet being used. In short, for some areas based on new made technology, the customs and ethics of them were definitely determined by technology.

In sum, the speaker’s assertion is partial with reason. To some external virtue and ethics concept, technology can not determine new pattern of them or even influence ratherish；to some customs and ethics which can be ameliorated by technology, it obviously would be influenced by technology in turn; to some that relied on technology, technology is a part of them, thus they are surely determined by technology in return.