0910G[North America Flying]Issue88 by fake

fake2009UID: 2631119

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

The speaker tends to assert that technologies are the determiner of social customs and ethics. Admittedly, technologies were and are influencing social customs and ethics. However, I would like to call technologies initiator rather than determiner. There exist many other factors that count.

Technologies do have influence the on social customs and ethics. Known as application of science, they are changing people's way of lives. While customs and ethics are the social conventions and value that embraced by certain group of people, or simply the attitude people adopted to lives, technologies take a initial effect in this sense. At times before the Industrial Revolution, men took up the stronger position in society for that strength is the most countable factor during working. Jobs at that time are most labor-favor one, thus women who are weaker in this respect are lower and not equally treated. The idea of the society is that men are the backbone of each family. However, due to the Industrial Revolution, machines appeared to take place of people and decreased the burden of human, which liberated people from labor. Human would push some buttons and supervise instead of conducting by themselves. Women were beginning to take these as profession and career, thus the social customs that women should be home and feed or raised the children, have changed. This is the case convincingly shows technologies influence the social customs and ethics.

Besides, examples that technologies influence our customs and ethics are innumerous. The prosperity of gene engineering makes people aware that it's harmful and dangerous for reproduction with close relatives. The wide spread of PCs and mobiles makes people more open and ready to access to information. The development of the astronomy observation technologies let people drive away the superstition once caused by astronomical phenomenon.

The question remains that whether the technologies are the determiner of social customs and ethics. As far as I am concerned, it's meaningless to judge whether one is the most decisive factor that leads to a social change or event. Once the issue is processed in a social context, it might be complicated, thus one factor cannot be the decisive one all the time. So is it the case when it comes to the issue that technologies determine social customs and ethics. Again, continue the women issue mentioned, it is not only wide use of machine that determine the social roles that women play, and factors like religion, education, etc. also count. It is hard to judge which one is decisive. Without proper knowledge acquisition, women cannot step into those technology-favored fields. Today, we can find those countries, where women are restricted to do a lot of work, even cover their hair or face from other people except their husband due to religious convention. In this situation, technologies do not tackle with the women liberation. In this sense, I would like to call technologies initiator rather than determiner.

In sum, it's safe to say that technologies are the initiator for the changes in social customs and ethics, for there exist other significant factors without which a social change might not happen. In addition, it is meaningless to distinguish anyone as a determiner.

东之海神UID: 2601480

:) 我觉得你写的很好呀！祝你成功！

haunteagleUID: 2609432

1.        开头点题，有影响
2.        科技进步对人们生活方式的影响
3.        科技进步对人们道德和伦理的影响
4.        科技并不能决定道德

文章第一个问题在于对生活方式和对习惯的论证的乏力，互联网的例子可以再深入展开一点，为什么能影响，如何影响，起到什么作用云云

文章最大的问题在于最后一段的论证，事实上这个论证并不是很有力，只是论证了科技并非唯一的影响因素，并没有论证这个决定与非决定的区别。最好应该是提出一个决定性的因素然后论证那个因素如何决定了。