Issue88【六人行小组8.4】by odie

odiehereUID: 2502172

TOPIC: ISSUE88 - "Technologies not only influence but actually determine social customs and ethics."
WORDS: 522
TIME: 00:50:00
DATE: 2010/8/4 17:40:38

No single one of us will deny that technologies have greatly influenced our daily life in multi-facets, but to what extent have our social customs and ethics been affected, or even determined by technologies? Are social customs and ethics obedient subordinates of technology advancement, or are they in turn exerting limits on the development of technology? I personally believe that the effect of technology on society, though great indeed, shall not be exaggerated, as in the statement.

Changes brought about by technology in our society are so clear-cut that examples are easy to found. Our social custom of communication, for instance, is greatly altered by the progress made in communication technologies. Our offspring may find great difficulty to understand, e.g. why a distance from Los Angeles to New York would have been a fundamental obstacle in the life of their grandparents half a century ago. They wouldn't know how frustrating it was to wait for a "nail" mail, and how expensive it was to even make a thirty-second phone call, for they would already be accustomed to checking their email box early in the morning and chatting with close friends via IM software late into the night. Similarly, we will never know why the study of stars was so important for our ancestors without being aware of the fact that they were not equipped with GPS tools. These, and many other instances, have shown that our way of life has been greatly shaped by technological inventions, to the extent that we have already taken the change as granted.

Similarly but to a less extent, technologies have helped to influence our ethnics. The maturation of mass media in the last century has made it much easier to shape the ethnic beliefs of people. While in the past, it might take years for a story to travel to a place hundreds of miles away, the process is shortened to within a day at present. Events like September 11th, the Gulf War, or the Water Gate Scandal have changed common people's minds towards life and the world. However, what has to be pointed out is that it was not technology in itself that has directly changed our ethnics-- rather, it was the messaged transmitted with the help of the technology. In other words, technologies influenced us in that it alters the manner in which, and the rate with which our ethnics are changed. In this sense, I draw a clear distinction between ethnics and customs, because ethnics refer to our thinking, while customs is the way that we live in.

Furthermore, rather than agreeing that technologies determine our ethnics, on the contrary, I believe our social ethnics have greatly shaped the development of technology. Human cloning studies, for example, have been forbidden or tightly constrained in most nations just because our social ethnics do not accept the vision that one child would be hand-made by us. Similarly, we condemn any attempt to use living human body to do clinical experiments simply because of our respect for the basic human rights of living on the world.

In conclusion, while the great social influence materialized by technologies shall be acknowledged, at the same time, we have to, and are actually happy to bear in mind the fact that our social ethnics are constantly administrating technological studies and guiding the direction of their development.

echo23loveUID: 2802443

TOPIC: ISSUE88 - "Technologies not only influence but actually determine social customs and ethics."
WORDS: 522
TIME: 00:50:00
DATE: 2010/8/4 17:40:38

No single one of us will deny that technologies have greatly influenced our daily life in multi-facets, but to what extent have our social customs and ethics been affected, or even determined by technologies? Are social customs and ethics obedient subordinates of technology advancement, or are they in turn exerting limits on the development of technology? I personally believe that the effect of technology on society, though great indeed, shall not be exaggerated, as in the statement.开头方式很好，直接切题。

Changes brought about by technology in our society are so clear-cut that examples are easy to found. Our social custom of communication, for instance, is greatly altered by the progress made in communication technologies. Our offspring may find great difficulty to understand, e.g. why a distance from Los Angeles to New York would have been a fundamental obstacle in the life of their grandparents half a century ago. They wouldn't know how frustrating it was to wait for a "nail" mail, and how expensive it was to even make a thirty-second phone call, for they would already be accustomed to checking their email box early in the morning and chatting with close friends via IM software late into the night. Similarly, we will never know why the study of stars was so important for our ancestors without being aware of the fact that they were not equipped with GPS tools. These, and many other instances, have shown that our way of life has been greatly shaped by technological inventions, to the extent that we have already taken the change as granted.这段的例子很生活化很好，有部分有chiEnglish倾向，其他大部分不错

Similarly but to a less extent, technologies have helped to influence our ethnics. The maturation of mass media in the last century has made it much easier to shape the ethnic beliefs of people. While in the past, it might take years for a story to travel to a place hundreds of miles away, the process is shortened to within a day at present. Events like September 11th, the Gulf War, or the Water Gate Scandal have changed common people's minds towards life and the world. However, what has to be pointed out is that it was not technology in itself that has directly changed our ethnics-- rather, it was the messagedmessage transmitted with the help of the technology. In other words, technologies influenced us in that it alters the manner in which, and the rate with which our ethnics are changed. In this sense, I draw a clear distinction between ethnics and customs, because ethnics refer to our thinking, while customs is the way that we live inthe way we live就可以吧，custom定义是不是有点太小了？. 这段的例子挺好，但是感觉意犹未尽，因为例子没有具体的说明部分，比如在伦理道德方面给我们什么样的影响。

Furthermore, rather than agreeing that technologies determine our ethnics, on the contrary, I believe our social ethnics have greatly shaped the development of technology. Human cloning studies, for example, have been forbidden or tightly constrained in most nations just because our social ethnics do not accept the vision that one child would be hand-made by us. Similarly, we condemn any attempt to use living human body to do clinical experiments simply because of our respect for the basic human rights of living on the world.这部分并不能说明伦理对技术的阻碍，克隆技术已经很发达了，并没有因为没有克隆人而使科技受到阻碍，可以把例子更细化点，写人体克隆技术。这段的理论和例子结合度不是很好

In conclusion, while the great social influence materialized by technologies shall be acknowledged, at the same time, we have to, and are actually happy to bear in mind the fact that our social ethnics are constantly administrating technological studies and guiding the direction of their development.最后的总结并没有在原文中有所体现，guiding？不见得吧，就像伦理上不允许堕胎，但是技术上还是有很多实例，这一方面本来就是仁者见仁智者见智的。本人观点，欢迎讨论。感觉遣词造句很好，向你学习！

odiehereUID: 2502172

谢谢echo的回复呀 我会好好想想怎么改进的 最后两段确实是因为没有时间才写的很仓促 刚才看了韦小宝的作文大讲堂 发现提纲跟我的例子也差不多 所以估计例子也要换 不然考官都要看到吐了