【八九A2】I 88

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TOPIC: ISSUE88 - "Technologies not only influence but actually determine social customs and ethics.”

Technologies are influencing our social customs and ethics, as the speaker asserts. Yet, technology is not the determinant of social customs and ethics. Furthermore, the speaker overlooks other factors that have important roles in orientation of social customs and ethics.

Admittedly, influences of technologies are manifest. As to the ethics, take the effects on Christian believers as a case for this point. With the technology development, human-beings have successfully created lives in laboratory, as illustrated by the success of Dolly, the first cloned mammal. The basic premise of Christian's faith-the existence of personal God who create the world and lives and sustain it with his love- thus is proved false. The cherished ideas, the ethics rules that God imposed, therefore, are profoundly challenged. Many believers may no longer strictly abide by the ethics rules as an effect of technology development. As to the social customs, the phenomenon of changes in Chinese spring festival well demonstrates this point. In the past, Chinese have the custom that all family members got together and made dumplings. Thanks to the techniques of quick-frozen, many family now spare the efforts on wrapping dumplings by buying the frozen-dumplings from supermarkets. Replacement of this convention is watching Spring Festival Gala on TV or through internet, which are also fruitions of technology developments. In fine, technologies do influence social customs and ethics.

However, technology does not determine social customs or ethics. When we undergo a great progress in technology, some social customs are unchanged. The customs of Purdah, for instance, has not changed much with the technology development. Purdah is a custom in Islamic country, that woman should not be exposed to man's world. Still, today, many Islamic women cover their whole body with garment except the hands and eyes, and many of them are restricted in home, being abandoned to step outside. Technology has not changed such custom. Besides, technology does not necessarily determine ethics. In perspectives of some debated moral issues, although the difference of technology development levels is easily perceived, the difference of the issues is obscure. Think about the legislation of gay marriage. A recent event in Uganda, that David Kato, an outspoken gay rights advocate, was beaten to death, triggers my thoughts about the similar issue in different countries. No matter it's in Uganda or in USA, where technology is much advanced, problem that whether the gay marriage is moral and legitimate is similarly controversial. Great difference in technology cause little difference on this ethics issue.

Further, the speaker overlooks certain other factors attributed to social customs and ethics. For the cases of Purdah and gay marriage, the foremost factor may be religion. Women in Islamic area who conduct Purdah consider it sacred. Regarding it as an honor, the Moslem conserved this custom for centuries. On comparison, woman who do not believe in Islamic is not so care about whether the garments fully cover her body. Fashion may be her most concern about wearing.
Or consider the gay marriage issue. Major of the activists who oppose gay marriage are conservative Christian. Tenets in Bible tell them the proper end of marriage is bound up with procreation. Gay marriage, disobeys the end of marriage. Their oppositions, therefore, are quite reasonable. Religion plays its role to exert great influences on social customs and ethics. Similarly, other factors may also attribute to social customs and ethics.

To close, technologies do give rise to influence on social customs and ethics. However, they are not the determinants. What's more, there are other essential factors, such as religion, that the speaker neglects.