16. Although many people think that the luxuries and conveniences of contemporary life are entirely harmless, in fact, they actually prevent people from developing into truly strong and independent individuals.
开头：现代技术为我们提供的luxuries和convenniences使我们社会变得复杂。因此关于它到底prevent people from or enhance the development of independence and strength也是中说纷纭。下面的文章将从物质和精神两个方面来分析。
物质上：当然，比起原始人，我们体力可能有所减弱，而且依赖性也更加增强。比如说一顿饭，原始人一个人打猎，就可以搞定一顿饭，而现在人，因为有太多的luxuries，比如一瓶味精，都得经过复杂的生产线，餐桌上的一顿饭要依赖社会众多的职能部门。但是，更详尽的社会分工，使生活变得便捷、高效，一个现代人所做的不仅仅是一顿饭，people are equipped by these luxuries which extend their capability and make them more strong；而且，技术带来的分工使人们能在自己感兴趣的领域发展，使得他们的思想更加独立，从而拥有更多的luxuries，于是在经济上也变得独立。
精神上：convenience和luxuries的普及，确实使人们产生了依赖心理，即使是物质上的luxuries，也成了人们精神上的necessities；还有一个现象是internet，在向人们提供海量信息的同时，也会让人们产生依赖，不去独立思考（遇到问题的时候习惯性地向wiki和Google求救）。当然，作为一种tool，导致这中现象产生的根本原因不是internet，而是背后利用这种工具的人的动机。而not independent在另一方面也恰恰说明了人与人之间，人与现代技术联系更紧密。
总的来说，conveniences和luxuries的产生并不是单一的prevent from 或者enhance人们的independence和strength。复杂的效应。
When modern technology has brought about large mount of luxuries and conveniences, our lives become more complicated. Since the feelings of having been influenced by numerous products are various, the saying that luxuries and convenience have prevent people from developing into truly strong and independent individuals is merely one of them.
Compare with primitive men, we are indeed by no means inferior in muscle strength. Modern individuals are impossible to hunter for half day in order to prepare for a meal. On the contrary, a meal cooked by a modern individual is involved in complex social division of labor. Not mention the advanced electric apparatus such as microwave oven and refrigerator, only a bottle of gourmet powder, for instance, could be regarded as luxuries for that none of them were seen in primitives’ meals, requires an intact production line. Before arriving at individual’s house, it has been passed by hundreds of people, includes producers, supervisors and sellers. In this aspect, every individual’s activities are relevant with and depend on thousands of people, which substantially prove that modern individuals are less independent than ever before due to their requirement of luxuries and conveniences. Once one depended only on his/her family and tribe, now one may be closely linked with people who are on the other side of the earth.
However, as an accepted fact, the facilities brought by modern technology have greatly improved our life quality and promoted efficiency. What a modern individual can do is not merely a meal, people are equipped by these luxuries which extend their capability and make them much stronger. As a survey, the productivity has been improved by hundred-time in last century. Compare with the primitive men, which worked hardly all day just for surviving,we now can do more things and have more spare time for entertainment by luxuries and convenience produced by technology, we can see atoms in nano, observe galaxy in few light-years away, fly by wings of aircrafts, change the life by genetic engineering. We are stronger than ever before. What is more, as the technology advancement emancipate people from back-breaking work, it introduced diversity into our society with providing individual more specific and various fields to develop their flairs. Distinct fields generate independent ideas, which are the resource of the social wealth. The wealth is eventually distributed to individuals and indicates individual’s independence on economy.
As far as luxuries and convenience are defined as materials which are not necessary for existence, we could almost say that instead of pursuing of existence, our modern life is a desire for endless luxuries and conveniences. In this sense, luxuries are more like necessities in people’s psychological need. Since the world is operating on such products, people have to possess them in order to keep pace with others. Since luxuries and conveniences are symbolizing wealth and social status, people take them as life goals. Mentally, people are led to dependency; they are no longer like their ancestors who fear nothing by handling branches. Another illustration comes with Internet. People even regard computer as part of their brain, when encounter the problem, no matter easy or difficult, they have developed the habit to ask Wikipedia and Google for help, as a result, fewer and fewer people would like to think independently and profoundly. Nevertheless, conveniences and luxuries just connive, not directly leads to dependence, the major reason of the problem is the motive behind using them.
In sum, development is a complicated process which cannot be explained by single phenomenon. So the large mount of luxuries and conveniences have influenced greatly and complexly both on mental and material realm. On the one hand, people has to depend on others as a result in more specific social division of labour, which at the same time makes the individual more efficient and strong. On the other hand, people have depended more and more on such luxuries and conveniences, even have tendency to turn these luxuries into necessities.
发表于 2010-6-18 21:18:48
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