This was my final essay project for the course, English for Academic Purposes (BEL311):
Look around and
see the numbers of technology inventions surround you. This past century have
seen extraordinary discoveries and inventions that have transformed society to
what it is today. From air travelling to space travel, genetic science,
nanotechnology and the Internet, are among others that have made Man a
technological giant. With all these
technologies swarming in to fill the corners of our world, the society finally
noticed the changes and one of them is having their job replaced with machines.
They start to ponder upon the discussion, “Technologically Man is a Giant,
Morally a Pygmy” which is becoming a concern as each decade passes. “We
cannot deny that technology has improved the quality of our lives immeasurably”
(Wong, 2006, para. 2). But understand the phrase, “Technologically Man is a
Giant”, implies on how technology have served mankind by bringing a sense
of control and comfort as we live. It may differ from each individual’s perspective
on how they see the meaning of ‘control’. For instance, someone with a hunger
for political power would go through lengths in getting their hands on the
latest technology if it could provide them with vital information the second it
appears. However, that is where conflicts are bound to happen. The true
argument lies on the phrase, “Morally a Pygmy”, meaning with enhanced
technology being developed day-by-day, proud humans become empowered with
desire to want more. It is possible they could come to a point of disregarding
the importance of ethics. Such technology that holds the chance to deviate
mankind from being a civilized society are weapon engineering, artificial
intelligence and Internet technology.
Weapon
engineering is the design, development, testing and life-cycle management of
military weapons and systems. Since weapons engineering holds priority for
military purposes, it eventually became an inseparable issue in technology
developments. With enhanced weaponry, it propels and serves a huge advantage
for one’s country. According to the latest study by the Stockholm International
Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), The United States of America remains the
largest exporter of weapons in the world. Before long, acquiring weapons that
reach above their technological advancements becomes a fierce rivalry between
countries. Each country competes for development of new warfare techniques and
equipment. Albeit, there is side-effect of paying too much attention in obtaining
these firearms, and the burden is on the citizens of the country. For famine
government that spends away a lot of money on evolving weapon industry, the price
of it is never cheap. In fact, the arms trade is a major cause of human rights
abuse to the citizens of country. “Governments
spend more on military expenditure than on community development,
communications infrastructure and health combined” (Shah, 2013, para.1). It is
undeniable every nation has the right and the need to ensure its security, but
in these changing times, weaponry requirements and procurements may need to
change too; for the sake of its people not living in horrible condition.
Next possible
cause would be the artificial intelligence (AI), which is a branch of computer
science concerning the creations of machines that hold intelligence and the
ability to simulate human behaviors. Machines with artificial intelligence such
as computers are designed for the ability to learn, to plan, solving problems
and speech recognition. Areas that AI
machines are widely known for are game-playing, expert systems, natural
languages, neural networks and robotics. In terms of game-playing, a
programming computer is designed to play games against human opponents. Expert
systems exist for computers to make decision in real-life situations, for
instance, helping doctors diagnose diseases of patients. Also, there are
programming computers that understand natural human languages. As for neural
network, it is a system that processes information pattern that is inspired by
the way biological nervous systems in human brain does. Robotic programming
computers are made to react to sensory stimuli such as seeing and hearing.
Presently there
are no computers that are able to display artificial intelligence completely,
however there are those that came close enough. In May 1997, an IBM super-computer named Deep
Blue have claimed its first win against the world chess champion Gary Kasparov
in a chess match. The intelligence involved in playing chess require a deep
logical analysis of the possible moves that can be made next in the game and
its logical consequences of the game. Scientists at IBM programmed a computer
named Watson to compete against the best human race has to offer in America's
general knowledge game show: Jeopardy! and had won. The way for Watson to win at Jeopardy! is all about understanding the question written in natural language and accessing quickly a huge database to select the most likely answer in as fast a time as possible (Sautoy, 2012). Next, there is robotics which include practical robots that offer potential for enhancing the quality of life for humans everywhere, but it all comes down to how it is applied. For instance, the world most advanced in robotics is Japan, which has invested profoundly in social robots, robots that interact with people and this type of approach brings no serious harm to mankind. However, in The United States, the opposite purpose is formed for robots, which
primarily focuses on robots instructed to kill people. Majority of robotics research in the U.S. is supported by military interests and that includes The Pentagon, who wants to develop a Terminator; a combat-zone robotic soldier that can accomplish political or military goals. The robotic technology can both be constructive and destructive, it depends wholly on the intent of its creators.
Hardly a month
ever goes by without the announcement of a new A.I. product coming out and
there is a possibility that machines would be far smarter than us before the
end of century. Indeed humans have yet to produce machines with common sense,
vision, natural language processing, or the ability to create other machines;
but when we do, that is when mankind is being put to test. The signs would
start small from mathematics and engineering to science and medicine, and
onwards on studying the acts of human behavior. The computers eventually
program themselves to absorb a large amount of new information and reasons in a
way we cannot predict anymore. It is true that there might still a few jobs
left for entertainers, writers and other creative types that humans could be
part of. But know this, according to Marcus (2013),
computers are able to continue on learning various information any time
and no matter how long, without needing sleep nor coffee breaks; unlike human
beings.
Another
prominent technological revolution that well represents our humanity today is
the Internet technology. “The Internet is the worldwide, publicly accessible
network of interconnected computer networks that transmit data between
themselves” (Rajendra, n.d., Internet Technology
section, para. 1). More often than not, the Internet had been heavily
misused by its users, especially in the case of cyberbullying. “Cyberbullying
is using the Internet, cell phones, video game systems, or other technology to
send or post text or images intended to hurt or embarrass another person. It is
also defined as acts of aggression through computers, cell phones, and other
electronic devices” (Jackson & Cohen, 2012). Cyberbullying can occur
through mediums like Online Social Networks such as Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, Youtube and various other networks, Instant Messaging (IMs) and text
messaging, Email, Chat rooms/forums/blogs, Online Games.
Cyberbullying
takes in many forms such as, sending mean messages or threats to a person's
email account or online social network and even spreading rumors regarding the
person through the Internet. The users in the Internet can post hateful or
prejudice comments so easily without the concern of other people’s feeling
being hurt because they do not have to have face-to-face conversation with the
person. They do not have to know the person they are giving hateful comments
to, they do not have to watch the person’s change of expression as they say the
words. Things could turn even uglier when the bully have the skills to steal a
person's account information to break into their account and send damaging
messages. Having all the personal information that were once private, the bully
could expose the information any time.
Extreme cyberbullying
can affect a victim’s state of mind on a daily-basis. Due to cyberbullying
itself, victims may inclined to depression, social anxiety, panic attacks and
suicidal thoughts. A traumatic cyberbullying victim can turn to be defensive,
reclusive, aggressive, unwilling to take part in other wise enjoyable
experiences of normal life. As a result of extreme cyberbullying, a teenager
may resort to self-harm, self-mutilation, spree drinking, over-eating and other
distressing effects all coming from cyberbullying.
For most parts,
it can be said that similar to any other aspect of development, the
technological development is akin to a double edged sword which one side can be
fatal to one’s life and the other side can lead to one’s protection. However, the decision is in the hands of
mankind, they may choose to use it for the greater good or lead them down to
immorality. As the topic of this essay ensues that Man is a tech giant, but it
is possible that he can degenerate to be a moral pygmy. The historian and
moralist known as Lord Acton once said, "Power tends to corrupt, and
absolute power corrupts absolutely”. If the technological advancement such
as weapon engineering, artificial intelligence and Internet technology are put
in the best uses, it may encourage the growth of the development in related and
non-related areas but at the same time its negative use can create chaos in the
world eventually. However, if Man is making effort to find his sense of
civility and humanity, then all hope is not yet lost. The present generation
must heed the warnings that has come to our attention, we must find a way to
not allow such unruly events from ever happening again. Hopefully we can
continue on our technological advancements as we move on to the future,
together with the efforts of ensuring these advances benefit humanity as a
whole.
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Bibliography:
Adams, M. (2005). Emerging Technologies.
Retrieved from bibliotecapleyades.net:
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/ciencia_emergingtechnologies.htm
Hauser, L. (n.d.). Artificial Intelligence. Retrieved
from Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy:
http://www.iep.utm.edu/art-inte/#SSH3b.iii
Marcus, G. (2013, October 24). Why We Should Think About
the Threat of Artificial Intelligence. Retrieved from newyorker.com:
http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/why-we-should-think-about-the-threat-of-artificial-intelligence
Rajendra, P. (n.d.). Technological Advancements and Its
Impact on Humanity. Retrieved from academia.edu:
https://www.academia.edu/346486/Technological_Advancements_and_Its_Impact_on_Humanity
Sautoy, M. d. (2012, April 1). AI Robot: How Machine
Intelligence is Evolving. Retrieved from The Guardian:
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/apr/01/ai-artificial-intelligence-robots-sautoy
Shah, A. (2013, June 30). Arms Trade—A Major Cause of
Suffering. Retrieved from Global Issues:
http://www.globalissues.org/issue/73/arms-trade-a-major-cause-of-suffering
Wong, A. (2006, October 13). Technologically Man is a
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http://ezinearticles.com/?Technologically-Man-is-a-Giant,-Morally-a-Pygmy&id=327073
