issue88--trive小组第四次作业

舒子baxiaUID: 2401739

TOPIC: ISSUE88 - "Technologies not only influence but actually determine social customs and ethics."
WORDS: 497          TIME: 00:59:33          DATE: 2008-2-12 21:26:44

Does technology influence social customs and ethics? Does technology determine social customs and ethics as the speaker asserts? I concede that technology has significant impact on social custom, however, social custom and ethics are mot determined by social custom.

Admittedly, the development of technology has changed social custom greatly. For example, people in eighteenth-century communicated through letters, while with the development of computer and internet, most communication between people are completed through e-mail now. Another example, when people intended to travel or go on errands in last century, they had to choose train or bus, but today there are so many vehicles from which people can choose, such as plane, magnetic levitation train, cars, etc. As a result of the convenient vehicles, more and more people prefer spending their holiday on traveling to staying at home as most people did before. In short, the great role which technology plays in the transformation of social custom is beyond doubt.

Nevertheless, despite of the foregoing concession, I do not agree that technology determine social custom or ethics. On the one hand, social custom, a result of long-term interaction between people and the environment, is not merely determined by technology. Most customs remain the same though technology has gone through tremendous improvement. The Thanksgiving Day serves as an apt illustration. When the first settlers landed on the America, they went through a devastating winter. It was the Indians who gave support to them at the crucial time and help them survive in the following year. Not only did the Indian offer the necessary to them, but also teach them how to cultivate on this land. Admiring the support that the Indian have given to them, the American celebrated with the Indian and the celebration lasted three days. The pattern of thanksgiving celebration was never changed through the years and it becomes a national holiday in United States. Though the technology has reformed, many festivals and other similar customs remain the same.

On the other hand, ethics can hardly be changed by technology. Being a set of moral principles and values, ethics have been accepted by a majority of people. Rather than being influenced by technology, ethics have profound impact on the application of technology. Cloning is a case in point. As the cytology and biologic technology have improved greatly, cloning technology has developed to a new-height. Contravening ethics, cloning technology is not well spread recently. An increasing concern has been put on the issue and most people reject the new technology as the ethics do not allow. As a result, cloning technology, though beneficial to people and society in some respects, is not fully applied. That is to say, technology is supposed to develop and apply under the restriction of ethics.

To summarize, social custom is influenced by cultural, history, people, technology and other factors. None the single factor can determine social custom. When it comes to ethics, far from being affected by technology, it determines the application of technology.