Notion Of Progress

Idea of progress

The notion I’m going to deal with is the notion of progress. To begin with I would like to define quickly the notion: progress is believing that the world could become better in term of arts/ technology, social , and quality of life. It implies a positive evolution but it may be controversial in some cases. I’m going to focus on sciences. However, the idea of progress is still debate between those who consider that it’s beneficial and those for whom it’s harmful. Now I propose we look at a question, should we fear progress?

1°) First of all, I think progress is essential to evolve. I mean, History is made of progress and evolution that have allowed the world to be what he is today. Science have a lot of positive aspects, in several fields. Make our life better by groundbreaking breakthrough. We can take the example of robots -> man machine. It can help us in our every day life, incredible breakthrough, like humanoid robots or intelligent machines. Indeed some machine can already outwit human intelligence, Watson does better than human jeopardy.

Thanks to advances in sciences medicine has become much more efficient an effective. Machine man

Some people can see their capacities enhanced thanks to sciences. We saw a text in class I cyborg, where kevin warwick can control distant objects thanks to a chip implanted in his arm. Professor hugh herr can walk and even climb again thanks to two artificial prostheses -> bionic man…

2°) In the other hand, progress can be dangerous if not controlled or used bad. In the film « Welcome to Gattaca », science and technology have led to a world without emotions, without values and whiteout freedom. Many debates arise about the progress of science as : « Should parents be able to choose their baby’s gender ? » from an article of the MailOnline. There may be some good reasons to accept, but an ethical problem arises and a larger question arises : Where are the limits of progress ?

It may be seen as an encroachment on god’s law. Some scientific advances are scary, for instance, we are heading towards a society in which babies are custom made. Though PGD can have positive aspect such as avoiding genetic diseases.

To conclude, In conclusion, I’d say progress is neither all good or all bad. Put into the hands of human beings, that knowledge can be used for medicine or great advances. It’s not scientific knowledge that is either good or evil, but the application of it. Science have to be under our control.

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