ISSUE88 - "Technologies not only influence but actually determine social customs and ethics."
Ranging from the primative ancient periods to nowadays globalized and modernized societies, technologies play an indispensable,and more importantly,dominant role throughout the ages.
Only at a glance can we find the fact that technologies assurely identify the specific part of any dynasty in any nation. Buried earthenware jars, uncovered in China at the beginning of 2004, were confidently assumed by archaeologists that these should be neolithic craftwork since the pattern and the material, which represent the technology of the pottery, disclose the truth. As time elapse, new techs spring out and replace the old ones, which unconsciously change the society as a whole. Nations with more advanced military equipments, say warships,firearms,etc. swept others around spread their technologies there, which, to some extent you may say, also reap the benifit from aggression!
In the field of culture, technologies all fundamentally develop the patterning as a whole. People used rocks and sticks to record time and simple events in antient times, where chances are slim that sophisticated issues can be well-organized and fully developed. Hence unavailable for the descendants to obtain a thorough understanding from head to toe. This situation was improved by the invention of paper and pen with which individuals can convey their own thought while share that of others in written records and pass on from generations to generations. Another major effect paper and pen brings would be books. Considered a tool for exchanging minds, book is also a way to entertain, to observe, to refer to and to criticize. People would never seek to use rocks to keep records since technologies exert such an overwhelming influence on their culture, on the way they behave, that no one would experiment the former method,nor are they inclined to do so. Who would abandon the advanced technology for the fall-behind one?
But even as a strong advocater of the topic, I must admit that, due to various reasons, circumstances do exist that social customs and ethics fail to follow the pace of technology. A vivid example is the existence of astrology, which serves as a perfect illustration of this. Derived from Middle East and Europe, Astrology associates celestial placements with human beings and try to make an explanation of past and present and predict the future. This was proved unreasonable by scientic methods and is now generally considered as superstition or pseudoscience. In some community and rural area, however, this abandoned tradition thrives because of the doubt towards the science whether the modern medical treatment is able to cure diseases and because of the despair in the society which an autocracy is governing.
In short, regarding technology as a tool to refine our social structure, strenghthen relationships, better convey minds, preserve ethics and essence of the old, it can't work out without our effort to strike a balance between taking full advantage of new techs and controlling the whole appliance process meticulusly in case it do harms to the entire world. Business enterprises, corporations, executive administrations as well as citizens should be encouraged to use the new techs to fulfill their needs. Meanwhile, stricter regulations must be made and enacted to constrain the abuse of techs, such as the human cloning experiments.
(2008-6-10 11:00:30)
