TOPIC: ISSUE129 - "Technology is a necessary but not always a positive force in modern life."
WORDS: 338 TIME: 00:45:00 DATE: 07/23/2007 2:25:29
To discuss the question of whether technology is a positive force in modern life, we must first define "positive". Unfortunately, this term is rather relative than absolute. A nuclear bomb used for bring an end of the WWII is obviously a positive force; however we could hardly find another positive use for nuclear weapons. Although not as extreme, most technologies do have the potential to be both positive or negative, sometimes even destructive. So my point is: technology is neutral, it could positive or negative depend on how it's used. Of course, it's inevitable sometimes it gets used improperly, and that's why it's not always a positive force in our modern life.
I'm not trying to say that technology is evil or something. Technology is merely a tool, a tool created by modern science, a tool at our dispose. A tool could solve problems, or create problems, but the tool won't be a problem itself. In fact, the tool of technology has solved many major problems for us, and provided us great convenience. It's easy to imagine that no one would be able to live without modern technologies.
However, we should notice that it's constantly being questioned whether technology is good or bad, and lots of people do consider technology as something bad, evil, or at least dangerous. Why this? The answer is technology is the most powerful tool human ever created. It makes human more capable of anything, which, unfortunately but certainly, includes destructive ones. So should we abandon technology just to avoid the danger? My answer is no. In opposite, it's exactly the reason we should rely on technology and continue to develop it: it's the most capable tool we have. And statistically, technology is obviously more beneficial than destructive. The fact that it can't always be a positive force doesn't make it a bad thing.
So to sum up, my point is technology is just a neutral tool, sometimes it can be bad, but overall, it surely is a positive force in our modern life.