Taking a holistic view, do you see the overall progress of science
as a positive or negative force of our world?
☆Let’s think
Relate the following key words
in the professor’s comment:
・new frontiers of understanding and capability
・ethical, social, and environmental implications to consider
For example, the
automobile has made us capable of traveling a much longer distance for a
certain period of time than before. This has accelerated industrialization
(social implication), but it has also caused global warming (an environmental
implication). It might also have made drivers have a false sense of omnipotence
(an ethical implication).
Note: Not all
the three implications have to be named.
☆Hints for points
Key ideas of “new
frontiers of understanding and capability”
・Science
gives us safety, convenience, speed, or precision.
・It makes
what was impossible before possible.
・It gives
us new perspectives of the world and humanities.
Examples of ethical,
social, and environmental implications to consider
-
Weapons of
mass destruction like nuclear weapons multiplies deaths tolls.
-
CO2
emissions from cars and factories have caused global warming, which has caused
climate crisis, which is causing mass extinction.
-
Manufacturing
process and products causes slavery and contaminates rivers and oceans.
-
Privacy is
lost through the Internet.
-
Advancement
of transportation and communication makes people work more than before.
-
Computer
technology makes us sedentary. It also makes us forget some skills like
spelling and think less as we can Google the answer before we try to remember
or think.
-
Machines
raises unemployment rates.
-
Anonymity
in social media brings out the worst in humanity.
Useful expressions
On the one hand, ～. On
the other hand, …
While it is true that ～, …
☆Sample Responses
A
I think
science is a fundamentally positive force. It protects us from elements and
helps us recover from diseases and disasters. It allows us build strong and
comfortable shelters and supply ourselves with food and water. Disaster relief
is quickly done with heavy machinery. As a result, modern men live a longer and
healthier lives than cave men. Science technology also makes our lives richer.
Especially, computers and the Internet allows us to increase our knowledge,
expand relationships, and have fun. While negative effects of science
technology, climate crisis and nuclear threat are now overwhelming our lives,
the root cause of these issues are corporate greed and our inertia. Science
itself provides us with chances to improve our lives. (120 words)
B
Admitting
that we all benefit from scientific discoveries and inventions, I am still
skeptical of goodness of scientific progress. Yuval Noah Harari says that
irrigation technology has deprived us of freedom by making us give up hunting
and gathering and start agricultures. In exchange for food security, we lost
the life of fun and leisure time and confined ourselves to the care of crops,
which is tough and time-consuming. The industrial revolution started confining
us to factories and offices and has deprived us of even nature. Enjoying nature
has become luxury of the rich. I think today’s stressed-out lives of ours is
the extreme result of the advancement of science technology. Now the rhythm of
life that machines create like shorter travel time and quicker transactions are
often too fast for many humans to keep up with. Those who can adapt themselves
to the speed develop mental disorders. Ethically alarming comments which
indicate pathetically poor spiritual life that are often heard on today’s media
could also be the result of highly technological lifestyle. The power of
science technology seems to be driving us to destruction. (186 words)
Write your response in 10 minutes. Show each other your responses.
Write down questions or suggestions to each other’s response.
DRAFT
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