Issue88

zyqingUID: 2605201

88."Technologies not only influence but actually determine social customs and ethics."

According to the speaker, our social customs and ethics are not only influenced by technologies but also determined by technologies. Although I agree with that technologies play a very significant role in modern life, customs and ethics will not be determined by technologies. On the contrary, the technologies are determined by social customs and ethics.

Admittedly, technologies changed our lives deeply. And sometimes technologies also change our customs and ethics. Let’s take a modern family for example. Before the development of transportation, family members tend to live nearby and not want to live too far away from each other. Because the poor transportation make they can hardly meet if they live too far away from each other. However with the development of the transportation, especially the aircraft industry, it’s ordinary to see modern family members live in different cities even in different countries. And the Internet enable family members to communicate at anytime they like even if they live in different countries. And the prevalence of mobile phones make people sending wish messages to each other on festival which become new customs. Technologies also facilitate the communication of all ethnic groups which make the intermarriages become more and more common.

However, we can hardly say the technologies have changed social customs and ethics. Technologies supply more choices to people which let people can enjoy their own unique festival. Nevertheless, whatever the form of the festival, the nature will not change. For example, one of the most important ceremonies of the Spring Festival is setting off firecrackers. Nowadays people living in cities tend to substitute electronic firecracker for real firecracker. The electronic firecracker can make sound and light like the real one does. And the most important nature of Spring Festival that family members’ getting together will always reserve whatever how technologies develop. So even if technologies changed many forms of our customs and ethics, the nature of our customs and ethnics will be maintained.

On the other hand, the technologies develop under the values of our social customs and ethics. Any technologies will not be advocated if they violate our social customs and ethics. For example, the human cloning is always banned for it arise many controversial problems about ethics. Another example is the unclear weapon. These technologies are tremendous breakthrough in science and engineering. However, it is their violating the values of our social customs and ethics make them being banned. So our social customs and ethics play an important role on the development of technologies.

In sum, I agree with the speaker insofar as technologies will influence the social customs and ethics. Nevertheless, the statement overstates the importance of technologies. Technologies are only one of the factors which affect our social customs and ethics in a very slow tempo and cannot determine our social customs and ethics alone.