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发表于 2009-11-2 16:35:37
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TOPIC: ISSUE88——Technologies not only influence but actually determine social customs and ethics.
WORDS: 717
Nowadays there is a tendency of people’s growing attention on the effect of technology on social customs and ethics, for it is one of the most vital elements for the development of the world and also related to our daily lives. Technology actually has challenged and even altered social customs as well as ethics to some extent, while it is also restricted by them on the other hand so that it could scarcely determine them. Being aware of this,we could treat technology fairly and make good use of it.
From the ancient time to nowadays, technology does challenge and even inflect some social customs through making a change in people's lives. The
development of technology, which is motivated by people's desire to serve themselves and make life more convenient with efficient tools, has seen people's exploration of nature as well as various discoveries and inventions. And consequently all these production has made a great contribution to renewing people's life style and thereby affected social customs as time passes by. For instance, the Industrial Revolution, which results from the rapid growth of science and technology, raises women’s rights to a hot subject and even changes women’s destiny. From then on, women are allowed and even encouraged to work out of home and get salaries. Actually, it is the fast growing technology that promotes the development of economy which leads to thousands of working opportunities for people and especially for women, such as sewing and manufacturing. Actually, technology has altered the tradition that women should stay at home and never work outside.
On the other hand, technology tries to modify and complement the ethical system, thus makes it more consummate as a whole. The development of technology does symbolize the presence of new founding and inventions. However, the new is not always the right and it does not always benefit human beings. Only if there is a debate between these new things and ethics, people turns to think rationally whether these new things should be permitted or prohibited, and if they are acceptable, is it possible to abuse them in the foreseeable future? It is technology that calls for one's attention to such thing related to human rights and privacy, which contributes to a complete ethical system. Consider several years ago, the totally new concept of cloning, which has never been pointed out in the ethical system before, has driven a hot debate about whether it is against ethics and human rights. This debate was ended with a ban of cloning human beings throughout the world so that a myriad of following problems has been avoided and the ethical system turns to be more perfect.
Although technology affects social customs and ethics under some circumstances, it could hardly determine them and sometimes it is restricted by them. Social customs and ethics come into being after a long period, which is determined by ideology, historical and temporary conditions and some other complicated elements. Hence, technology could hardly shake their root, let alone determine them. Specially, when it comes to ethics, which acts as criterion for people's behavior, it would remain stable to some extent even when technology develops a lot. If technology determines ethics, those developed countries where the most outstanding scientists congregated would domineer if they hold the belief that they could do anything only if technology allows. Consider that nowadays, some countries have already held the ability of manufacturing nuclear weapons as well as putting them into use when they feel necessary. However, their application of nuclear has been constrained by UN, considering the catastrophe brought by the abuse of it,which does great harm to people’s lives, thus the world would fall into masses and endless wars. Granted that the manufacture of nuclear weapons has come true, it could not challenge ethics that human’s rights must be protected or the tendency of the harmonious development of the world. By this token, technology can never determine ethics and customs, and sometimes it must comply with them.
To sum up, technology actually works on social customs and modifies ethics to a great extent. Despite that there is a strong relationship between them, technology was restricted by these two elements, let alone determines them. Indeed, technology is a tool to serve humans and it must apply to the tendency of the world’s development.
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