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Technology

Technology has made our lives busier, not better. HFDYA with this statement?

A.

1. Acknowledge that improvements in technology have led to increases in efficiencyand productivity, thus making our lives better.

Eg. Through advances in the areas of communications and transportation, the world has

become smaller and is connected in new ways. Globalization would be impossible without

the technology we have today.

2. Paradoxically, it is exactly because technology has allowed for greater efficiency thatwe have become better.

Eg. Iron rusts with disuse, stagnant water loses its purity even so does inaction sap the

vigor of the mind.- Leonardo Da Vinci. Mankinds inability to remain idle means that wenow would want to accomplish more in the same amount of time, making life busier. Multi-

taking.

3. Elevated expectations as a result of advancement in medical technology results in usbecoming busier to meet those expectations.

Eg. In hospitals, medical technology, medical staff are busier (???)

4. Technology fails, creating more problems when glitches occur. This is especially badif we are over reliant on technology.

Conclusion: Technology in itself should serve to aid us in our work and in doing so, free up

our time for leisure or other purposes though this is not always the case.

From the other essay

+ Communications sector

- Eg. Smart phones to enable one to stay contactable 24/7 extends ones workinghours to an almost infinite extent.

- Indeed, the mobile communications device owned by a large majority in developednations, enables all of us to stay connected constantly, a function which would

ostensibly be a boon especially to businessmen and others whose jobs require themto be constantly be in touch with those they work with.

- Decline in work life balance.+ Efficiencies to allow for a much faster pace of life.

- Areas of robotics and computer programming- Results in us squeezing more tasks into our schedules

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- Fast paced world of instant gratification, loss of time to smell the rosesHumanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons. (R. Buckminster

Fuller) How far is this true?

Thesis: While I agree that some technological achievements have been attained as a result of

less-than-altruistic motivations, it is surely unfair to apply a blanket label to all technology

and claim that all of it has been obtained for the wrong reasons, for there are numerous

instances in which technology has been inspired by a genuine urge to improve Mans quality

of life; in many of these cases, in fact, humanity has been left better off.

+ In support of the statement, the pursuit of warfare demonstrates the gaining of new

technology for wrong reasons

- Some of the most major technological breakthroughs have resulted from countriesquests to attain military might

- Eg. 1940s WWII and the Atomic Bomb- Destructive effects of the Atomic Bomb, shows that the reasons for acquiring such

technology was to exert the threat of utter destruction on other nations

- This can be construed as a wrong reason- Despite the fact that nuclear technology would be useful in solving mankinds

energy woes since its a form of non-polluting clean energy.

+ Commercial interests behind many technological can also be considered as a wrong

reason

- Commercial sponsorship is responsible for a lot of technological research anddevelopment

- Eg. Pharmaceutical companies often stake their money on a single patented drug tofully exploit its commercial advantages, like Pfizer and its Viagra

- Eg. Microsoft develop its technology to monopolize the market by eliminating thecompetitors. The American government took up an anti0trust suit against them for

this very reason.

- Because the technology acquired is not for the good of humanity as a whole butprimarily for the private financial benefit of a few smart entrepreneurs, some might

argue that technology has been developed for the wrong reasons.

+ Despite the fact that many technological advances have been motivated by wrong

reasons, they may not be necessarily bad.

- It is perhaps unfair to expect every researcher to be altruistic- Even in the areas of military technology, it is understandable that countries take up

arms to protect their own people.

- Theory of Mutually Assured Destruction tells us that as more nations startdefending themselves, we may still get some measure of security through mutually

deterrent effects.

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+ There are many other right reasons

- Economic growth, standards of living for the general good for mankind- Efficient industrial processes to raise total output while cutting costs- Technology also helps to provide for peoples basic needs.-

Eg. Newater, GM food- Eg. Smallpox vaccine- Eg. Stem cell research to treat the debilitating and degenerative ailments such as

cancer, brain tumors and Parkinsons disease. the society.

- Eg. The internets developer Sir Tim Berners- Lee chose not to patent his discover sothat this useful tool could be made readily available to

+ Technology in response to external threats is no doubt a good reason

- Eg. In areas like combating infectious diseases, the eradication of smallpox via itsvaccine, equipments to predict occurrence of natural disasters

+ Technological breakthroughs to overcome natural obstacles.

- Invention of the aeroplane and WWW to overcome geographical boundaries.+ Case where technology developed for the right reasons ended up being used for unethical

purposes. But this is due to selfish exploiters; the technology had morally right motivations.

Argue that overall, technology was attained in response to human problems, or to overcome

human limitations.

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B.

Thesis: While man is indeed in the midst of acquiring more new and innovative

technologies to aid him in his endeavors, some aim to serve a good purpose whereas others

seek to cause many problems. That, after all, is the very nature of technology a double

edged sword that man can use for good or malicious intent.

1. Establish yardstick for comparing right technology and not-so-right ones.- right is a very subjective notion- right in this essay is defined as having intended purpose of good and being

beneficial

2. Mankind has misused beneficial technology.- Issue of Atomic Bombs, it was excessive, Japan was losing the war already, a more

defensive position could have been adopted by US instead

- The Atomic Bomb is inhumane, costing hundreds of thousands of lives in that singleinstant of impact, one which can still be felt today in terms of radiation sickness andhorrendous genetic mutation of survivors.

- This shows man seeking to dominate his fellow man using weaponry derived fromtechnology technology that was meant to protect and not destroy

- Technological advances in the past decades have indeed been misused, resulting ingreater magnitudes of destruction.

3. However positive effects of technology must also be recognized, especially in thefrontiers of medicine.

- DNA recombination. With the workings of organisms at a microscopic level subjectto human manipulation, man has been able to solve several medical problems.

- Eg. Growing and cultivation of human insulin in E. Coli bacteria allowed men to massproduce the hormone. This has led to diabetics becoming much better off.

- Eg. Stem-cell technology can help diseases like Alzheimers disease.

4. Advances in technology in their application in the life sciences form the basis forbiotechnology today.

- One of the pressing problems of this century was the shortage of food supplies. UNstudy in 2003 showed that approximately 30 million peoples die in a year due to

famine, and the situation is unlikely to change in the near future.- GM food to increase yield and health value (Golden Rice)

Conclusion: It can be seen that while humanity has acquired all the right technology for

good reasons and manipulated the right technology to his advantage, presence of

individuals who exploit technology for their self-interest has made the right technology

work for the wrong purposes, resulting in many of the problems we see today.

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Is the pursuit of nuclear technology desirable in todays world?

A.

Thesis: Nuclear technology, though highly useful to humankind, is steadily losing its

relevance and desirability in todays world.

+ Advantage of nuclear technology in its application to the energy industry.

- Depletion of oil, and the rise in oil and gase prices showed that we need to seekalternative energy sources.

- Nuclear technology is useful, and has been able to solve many developed countriesenergy woes.

- More efficient and expedient methods of producing enriched uranium wouldcertainly be a desirable outcome of nuclear technological research as the demand

for nuclear energy increases.

+ Furthermore, uranium is still not a renewable resources, nuclear waste remains aproblem

- It would be a groundbreaking and beneficial development ifmethods of de-enriching uranium was created to help make nuclear power a truly green energy

source.

+ The pursuit of nuclear technology remains highly dangerous

- Eg. Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, Japan- Nuclear energy has potentially destructive effects- Association with the Atomic Bomb would also see that it is of little appeal, and wedesire to replace it as soon as possible.

+ Nuclear technology has indeed been eclipsed by recent breakthroughs in the energy

industry

- Eg. Wind, water and solar power are not viable alternatives- Eg. Germanys decision to take all nuclear reactors offline by 2025 and replace them

with a new type of highly efficient, reduced pollution coal fired plant shows that

ultimately the safety of population centres must take precedence even in the pursuit

of reducing pollution.

- Environmentalism and technological advancement in other areas have made thepursuit of nuclear technology obsolete and much less desirable today.+ Nuclear weaponisation is severely detrimental to global stability and is highly undesirable

given the ethical concerns and political risks involved.

- Arms race then Arms reduction , and non-proliferation treaties

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- Pyongyangs 2007 nuclear test and Tehrans insistence on pursuing peacefulnuclear research have resulted in embargoes.

- Evidently. The pursuit of nuclear technology has lost its desirability in the worldtoday.

+ In areas of weaponry, nuclear weapons are also losing their relevance.

- Biological and chemical agents are being developed as new WMD.- Eg. 2001 Anthrax attack on Capitol Hill and the preceding Sarin gas attack on Japans

subway system are indicators that biological and chemical research has been much

more open to such abuse.

- Focus shifts to countering those weapons instead of nuclear weapons.Conclusion: Nuclear technology is losing its relevance due to the changing times, and it

would largely undesirable to pursue it any further today.

B.

Thesis: From a secular and environmental perspective, the answer would be yes provided

there is support from political institutions to regulate such technology so that human

health would not be at risk.

+ The pursuit of nuclear technology remains highly dangerous

- Eg. Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, Japan- Nuclear energy has potentially destructive effects- Association with the Atomic Bomb would also see that it is of little appeal, and we

desire to replace it as soon as possible.

- But these are isolated incidents from the past, we must not forget the innumerablebenefits that nuclear technology has brought us in the fields of medicine and energy

production

+ With the knowledge that radiation from nuclear technology is highly dangerous, all

workers exposed are not required by law to be adequately protected.

+ Nuclear technology remains as one of the most highly regulated fields of research

- Eg. Only one in fifteen proposals of nuclear research are approved by the USdepartment of energy and nuclear physics compared to one in fifteen proposals in

the field of genetic engineering.- Given the number of safety nets imposed in the field, pursuit of nuclear technology

might not be as dangerous but more desirable

+ Nuclear power to solve energy woes

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- Nuclear energy is able to reap efficiency levels as high as 80% compared to windand microalgae production which are only able to provide energy at efficiency levels

of 20% and 40% respectively.