This paper is dealing with our obligation in a technological society. An obligation in simple terms refers to what somebody is supposed to. It may also mean the requirements that one has to fulfill in relation to something. An obligation can be legal or moral based. When an obligation is legal based, it means that one is required to do something according to the law or set rules and regulations. An obligation that is moral based has to do with things that society requires to do. It does not go against set rules and standards in the society. Moral values have to do with desirable and undesirable, right and wrong things in the society.
Moral vales and obligations are normally set by society. Ethical values on the other hand have to do with good and evil. Obligations in a technological society may be legal, moral or ethical based. Technology applies to various areas of life. It could be in terms of tourism, politics, advertising, transportation and every day life. There have been instances when technology has tried to be humanized like-user friendly. One must concur that technology is for use and when you have access to it, you simply use it. (Albert, 1949) There have been arguments that technology is replacing very many human values.
Face to face communication has been replaced by emails and internet chatting. This can also be termed as face to machine communication which may not show how the person is feeling unless one is told so. The argument here is that technology is taking away our human values in the society. These values could be moral based or even ethical. There are arguments that fast foods save people a lot of time that they would have other wise wasted cooking a whole meal. However substantives argue that these fast foods have really coarsened tastes. Many people argue that humanities have suffered a great deal in the name of technology.
There are studies that clearly show that humanistic values have slipped further behind since the onset of technological advancement. This has brought in the question of what is our responsibility in a technological society. We need to ensure that ethical values are upheld in the society despite technological advancement. This is our obligation in this case. This is because studies show that there are so many technological advancements that are against the society’s ethical values. For instance there is much technological advancement in sex technopoly.
This is whereby there is making of test tube babies and the like. For instance the female ova can be taken and be fertilized with the male sperms. The result of these mutations is the formation of very many embryos. In this case one finds that only one embryo is needed. So what is done to the rest? They are simply discarded. This is not ethical at all because it does not respect human life. Our obligation in this case is to ensure that people who are involved in such practices are brought to book. Our obligation in this case is also not to embrace this technological advancement.
We have to way the ethical implications of this technological advancement before we use it. In this case, it is against creation values and greatly undermines human life. This is because embryos are also human beings. Our obligation in a technological society is to protect people who may be negatively affected by technological advancement. Examples of people who may be affected include children below eighteen years of age. There has been technological advancement of internet pornography. (Anita, 1999) According to research, children are accessing pornographic cites both at home and in schools.
In this case it is our responsibility to ensure censoring of internet pornography in schools and at home. This is our obligation because it is going against the moral values in the society. This is because this technological advancement is causing great moral decay among school going children. In fact children are easily contacting sexually transmitted diseases and getting pregnant. For this reason, it is our responsibility as teachers and parents to ensure censoring of internet pornography both in schools and at home. It is our obligation to limit the use of technology in the society.
This is because some of the technological advancement is limiting humanistic values. For instance it is our obligation to limit ourselves in the use of internet services. This is especially in the area of information technology. This is because these technologies like phones and email services have replaced important human values like a hand shake. We no longer see the essence of visiting relatives and friends we rather call or email them. It is our obligation to limit ourselves in the use of such technological advancement and simply visit relatives and friends. This is because face to face communication is very important.
Talking to a friend on face to face basis is more refreshing than emailing and calling. That is why it is our obligation to limit how we use technological advancement so that humanistic values are promoted. (Sigmund, 1989) As earlier on highlighted in this paper, technological advancement is in various sectors if not all areas of life. There is so much technological advancement in the food industry. This has made very many people to eat foods that are highly processed. In other words the foods are not in their natural form. These foods lose so many essential nutrients min the process of being processed.
Continuous use of such genetically modified goods leads to increase in diseases like cancer that are costly to treat while others have no cure. Now in this case it is our obligation to shun away from genetically modified products because they make us susceptible to various diseases. We need to simply say no to this technological advancement. There are technological advancements in the society in forms of advertisements that we watch in our television screens. One finds that television programs are featuring movies that negatively affect our morals in the society. There are advertisements that promote immorality a great deal.
This is going against our society’s set standards. There have been instances when this technological advancement has really led, to societal moral decay. It is our obligation as viewers to choose what we watch because such programs and up destroying our morals. It is also our obligation to communicate to the television stations on the right time that they should feature such advertisements. For instance they can feature them past 10p. m, when children are asleep. The same applies to advertisements that feature alcoholic drinks which can negatively affect children below the age of eighteen years.
(Katz, 2005) We need to put a balance to incorporation of technology at the work place. Most technological advancements are limiting the work that could otherwise be done by human beings. For instance if technological advancement will make all of us lack jobs because machines are doing what we would have done, and then this is not right. That is why it is our obligation as managers and employers not to incorporate technological advancement in all areas of the organization such that employees lack anything to do. This could just be so inhuman for people to lack jobs in the name of technology.
We as a government need to put in place policies that will inhibit technological advancement that will have adverse effects on humanity. This is our obligation as government and authorities. As scientists come up with technological advancements day after day, it is our responsibility as the government to ensure that these advancements are evaluated before they are endorsed. This will help in curbing of technological advancements like human cloning that are against human values. On the other hand it is our obligation as scientists and doctors to invent technological advancement that enhances human life.
For instance oxygen support machines that are used in the intensive care unit help to protect human life and should be promoted. That is why it is the scientists and doctors to invent technological advancements that can for instance ease pain inpatients. (Sigmund, 1989) Obligations as the public and the society in general are to weigh the implications of our embracing technology. We need to consider its moral or ethical effects of using the technological advancement. Our obligation as farmers is to shun away from technological advancement of growing genetically modified foods.
While this can lead to more farm products, it leads to consumers of the products being susceptible to various diseases. Natural manure can be used instead of artificial manure that has severe effects to soil’s acidity or alkalinity and in the long run affect the farm products that are consumed by human beings.
Conclusion
Technological advancement occurs in various sectors of the society. This includes agriculture, information, education and even the food industry among other areas. Research shows that technological society has got many implications on human values.
It is our obligation as individuals, parents, teachers and the government to put in place several measures. For instance parents and teachers need to ensure censoring of internet pornography in schools and at home it decays moral values among children. If these obligations are implanted by the various stakeholders, then technology will not decay humanistic values in the society.
References
Albert, C. (1949): The Plague; New York; Vintage books Anita, D. (1999): Fasting, Feasting; New York; Macmillan Press Katz, J. (2005): Geeks; Bentam Dell Pub; Villard Sigmund, F. (1989): Civilization and its discontents; Norton and Company; Reissue Edition