Article 10 --- 3/28/2010

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/definition-of-science-technology-and-society.html

Throughout the semester I have found articles and talked about science, technology and society without really knowing what it meant. So for this week, I am going to discuss what the definition of science, technology and society really is. This article is entitled Definition of Science Technology and Society written by Kir Figuereo. As Figuereo states in the opening lines of the article, “Science technology and society is the study of the impact that is made when science, technology and society combine. The combination of these fields has existed since the first inventions, such as the wheel, and continued throughout the years as the printing press and computers were created.” He then goes into defining science, technology and society separately. This was interesting because the three definitions that he gave all went together quite well. They also explained why we need each of these three things needed to work together when trying to do many things in everyday life. Speaking of everyday life, Figuereo then talks about something that is one of the biggest parts of our everyday life, the cell phone. He does this by stating, “Science and technology has impacted our society in such a large number of ways that its evidence is everywhere. Just think of the telephone, ever since it was invented society desired a more mobile way to communicate with people, hence the invention of the mobile phone.” This was interesting because the cell phone has become so many peoples in our country’s life. Everywhere you go someone is on the cell phone. But, this wouldn’t even have been possible without these three things together. This also can be said about e-mails. Nowadays, e-mail has taken over the source of mail for many Americans. It is quick and impersonal which is the way of much of our country now. No one really wants to deal face to face with someone else. This article was good because all through the semester, except for the book, what science technology and society is hasn’t really been discussed and it was interesting to see how much these three things really do work with each other.

-Adam

Article 9 --- 3/21/2010

http://scienceray.com/technology/applied-science/the-effects-and-influences-of-technology-on-society-and-human-kind/

This article is entitled The Effects and Influences of Technology on Society and Human Kind written by Roger Zhong. The article was about whether or not technology has been advantageous or disadvantageous to our society these days. Zhong started out by making a statement that sort of opened up the article in the direction his opinion supported, that technology has had negative affects on society. He started out by giving a definition of technology and its origins which is Greek that means " the practical application of knowledge especially in a particular area." He criticizes this definition because he thinks that "it lacks concrete meaning." His definition of technology is one that I agree with. This definition states that, "word used to collectively describe or portray the advancements, abilities, creations, undertakings, views, and knowledge of a singular group of persons: we as human kind." I agree with this definition because technology has obviously grew throughout the years, and that is because we as humans and a society have uncovered so many new things that has led to new and unimaginable lengths. One of the ways that Zhong says that technology has many disadvantageous affects on our society is that we have actually outdid ourselves with the technology; as in we depend on way too many things to work with the use of technology rather than human labor like years ago. For example, just a few years back, the internet did not exist and our country was very prosperous and we were hard working people. Zhong argues that the internet has actually made Americans more lazy and rely too much on things that we read and hear on the internet instead of real life situations. I really liked this article because it focused on many of the underlined problems we face now in our society that also goes hand in hand with what many solely rely on to get through the day, science and technology. I think we as a country sometimes need to really sit back and re-think some ways we approach new technological advances.

Discussion 8---3/7/2010

http://www.i-sis.org.uk/human.php

This is an article written by Angela Ryan entitled Being Human: Science, Ethics and Our Rights. This article is about certain issues that only science and technology can wholly contribute to and the ethics vs rights behind these issues. This is a big issue right now because there are many things in science we are trying to do that many think are morally and/or ethically wrong and some think these are things we need to be pursuing. The problem we face is the bias between what some people think is wrong and what some people think is right. Another problem we face is the difference in "old" science and "modern" science. Many scientists that are from earlier years of science have issues with some of the things that scientists now days think are right to pursue. Scientists Colin Tudge speaks about this at a conference by stating, "Scientists are also uneducated in the philosophy of science nowadays and this is a major shortcoming for our modern scientific world." One of the major issues Ryan discussed was that of human cloning. This is a very controversial issue between scientists today as well as the public. The problem that we face is no matter what may be right or wrong, our citizens are who really speaks out about these issues. Personally, I do not believe that we should try and clone humans. The problem I have with this is, if GOD wanted people to have clones, then he would have made us able to do this through regular births. I do not see the reason in cloning a human being and I, as most of our citizens, see it as morally and ethically wrong. I also have the same feelings about other things such as abortion. I do not believe in abortion and this also fits in that vice of whether or not it is right or wrong. This was an interesting article because it hit on many issues that we as a society need to bring to a head and resolve these issues.

-Adam Traywick