Oral anglais Idea of Progress

Idea of Progress

The idea of progress is the idea that advances in technology, science and social organization can bring about a positive change to our society. These advances help to improve our daily lives and give us a better quality of life. Social progress, scientific progress and economic development are usually considered as having a positive effect on our society however there are some cases where this change can have a negative effect too. We may wonder whether progress is always positive?

There are many kinds of progress and they can be divided in diverse areas:

There are the technological ones that have totally changed the world we know today. If we take the example of the arrival of internet and access to computers and smartphones it is easy to see to what extent our lives and our relationships with others have been completely transformed and how life changing it is.

But on the negative side many people have become addicted to social media and it can create problems such as depression, isolation, bullying, or even cybercriminality.

As for the scientific progress, it has had a direct impact on the improvement of human life. Thanks to advances in medicine we can cure illnesses that could never have been cured in the past. Vaccinations protect millions of children from disease, as for the antibiotics, painkillers and other medical treatments they’ve helped to improve our general state of health and survival rates. Scientific progress allowed baby designer, it’s a baby whose genes have been chosen by it’s parents and doctors so that it has particular characteristics. It allows doctor to prevent children from being born with genetic defects, on the other hand parents can choose his gender, and aesthetics selection, which could result in a generation of clones if certain physical aspects become popular.

To conclude, progress is neither positive or negative. It is important to live in better conditions but it shouldn’t be used for anything otherwise it can be dangerous.

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