issue88 又拍比回

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Technologies not only influence but actually determine social customs and ethics


Whether technologies could exert significant impact on or even decide the orientation of social customs and ethics,as the speaker asserts?I share the idea with the speaker that technologies indeed have responsabilities for the transformation of traditional value and morality,even the advent of some new current of customs and value.But what we should not ignore either is the contol and guidance coming from social customs and ethics to the development of technology.What's more,both of them are coexclusive and interacting each other, especially during recent 100 years.

The 20th century witnessed an unprecedented progress of society ,which was the outcome of the break-neck speed of techonological development.And ,few would disagree that humanity is the promary beneficiary or victim of the countless technological innovations in all scentific fields -from telecommunication and medicine to computer and atomic power,whose byproduct is that our customs and ethics are experiencing a significant change even a revolution,regardless of desirable or untoward. For instance,the Industrial Revolution has significantly enhanced the status and role of women ,since they could share the oppoutunities of engaging in work,earning money and participating politics with men. In addition,the advent of Internet now enable us to work ,entertain,communicate with friends and  shopping at home instead of going out,so more and more people are accustomed to this new life style which is viewed as an vogue value among youngers.From this point,technologies partly could influence social customs and ethics and even give birth to new values or customs.

Nevertheless,what we should not ignore is that social customs and ethics also play a crucial role in the development of technology,especially to those cutting-edge fields closely relevant to human morality and culture.And one could go no further to see the truth than the bioscience whose break-throughs always are the cynosure of public and  controvercial issues at its very advent.To be specific,cloning technique ,as a advance medical technology, could greatly improve the yield of agriculture by way of modify the genetic structure of crops.However,when it was used to research the embryo transplanting on the body of human,it definitely suppasses the boundary of human morality and  the tolerance of public,hence will be at a dead end.Another remarkable example is the use of nuclear power which could either be invaluable source to sustain human development or the dire distructive weapon threating the very existence of human being.And the social ethics will regulate the exploring of atomic technology and prevent people from researching nuclear weapons.With respect to this aspect,social customs and ethics also give guidance and limitation to the development of technology.
In addition,technological innovations has created some new areas in which new institutions and deeds starve  the guidance and regulation of morality and customs.Take the Cyberworld as an example,cyber crime now is a crucial problem of cyberworld,which not only need the regulation of law ,but also demands the limitation of social customs and ethics.So the domain relevant to social ethics and customs are no longer confined to our normal life and becoming more extensive.
To sum up,as the foregoing discussions,techonologies have ineffaceable impact on the deveopment of social customs and ethics,which also give gudidance and limitation to technologies.And both of them are indispensable to each other.