What Do You Think About Modernization??????

Pakistan
January 29, 2007 11:55am CST
Don't You people think that The modern sciences have destroyed our moral values and our cultures.I know that everything has its advantages and disadvantages.Ok Science has made our lives much more easuer than it was befor one or two hundred years and has provided us everything for our comfort and entertaintment and change the world into A Global village but hasn'it destroyed our moral values,our family systems,our cultures,our relations our, our uses, our needs,our joys,our ethics??????? Please Answer It Have A nice day
5 people like this
28 responses
• Australia
30 Jan 07
Yes, technology and science is progressing at an alarming rate. It is difficult for us oldies to keep up with all the change. Destroy our morals? No way!!! Morals, ethics, family values - these things go deeper than something on the surface. We are talking about essential values. Technology cannot change MY values or my morals. I'm not sure where your thoughts are and I'm trying to think of ways technology has changed values. I guess one area could be the matter of abortion. Technology (but mostly modern thinking) has made it possible to legally murder unborn babies. Technology in the future (but once again, really man's thinking) could make it possible to murder the elderly and call it euthanasia. No. I do not think technology has the power to destroy morals, ethics, family values etc. Mankind is doing a good enough job of that without the aid of technology. Let's put the blame where the blame lies: clearly on the heads of people with twisted minds.
• United States
31 Jan 07
I can't help but think that a nation's philosophy or world view is what shapes their society. (So education is extremely important). Nowadays, so many think that the theory of evolution has been proven, and this is reflected in much of life and media and movies, etc, as indisputable reality. But actually there is lots of science that strongly suggests otherwise. Look how we accept the millions, and billions of years idea (which is needed for evolution). When there are other ways of dating, which suggest mere thousands of years.. Most folks don't even know about these. Indeed, evolution, though only theory and thus belief, is pretty much a state enforced religion (in the U.S.) as a teacher can lose their job for raising any of the many questions, unresolved, concerning evolution. And society has changed because of this new belief and philosophy. The world focuses a lot on how the west seems to export modernization to other lands... not realizing that the west itself was hugely transformed first, and is still transforming, til the christian (and tradition) roots are largely ridiculed, believing the claim that evolution is ironclad fact, having been abundantly proven... when mathematicians alone, have said the odds of the first amino acids joining (forming life) randomly, is impossible. ANd, the second-most-held law of science itself, strongly suggests it cannot be true. This is the fact that all matter is not improving, but is moving toward falling apart. So some say, well, the sun, shining into the system is what made life, the improvement of matter, to life; but that is only true for something already living! Take a leaf, absorbs the sun, blossoms/improves and grows, utilizing the energy, as long as it's alive and connected to the tree. But disconnect it and what does the sun do for it? It heats it up. Which is the whole disintegrating process. Just like with a compost pile. The heat, and sun upon it, is a burning and a breakdown, not improvement and increased order. It's my belief this philosophy is the root of the societal changes of the last 50 years (and of the future).
• Pakistan
30 Jan 07
Yes It also depends on us that how we r using a thing. thanks for the post
• India
30 Jan 07
well. it depends on the way u look into it. say for example- u say that science made ur life easier. for many though, it isnt really easy. God gave u legs to walk and run. Science gives us Bikes and Cars, Planes, etc to travel. There r two ways to look into it. a) If my legs r supposed to take me around, by travelling in bike or car, the purpose of my leg is not solved. may b i am doing things against God's wish.. b) well we have made the world so dependable on transportation. wat ever v do, v need to travel. is this really our fault?? as u can see, it can be argued any way. all this apart, i still FIRMLY believe that- YES science has definitely Destroyed our Moral Values, Family systems.....
• Pakistan
30 Jan 07
Thank sfor ur reply yes there are many ways to look this matter and u have created another good point
1 person likes this
@nuffsed (1271)
30 Jan 07
The use of technology has a great many effects; these may be separated into intended effects and unintended effects. Unintended effects are usually also unanticipated, and often unknown before the arrival of a new technology. Nevertheless, they are often as important as the intended effect. The most subtle side effects of technology are often sociological. They are subtle because the side effects may go unnoticed unless carefully observed and studied. These may involve gradually occurring changes in the behavior of individuals, groups, institutions, and even entire societies. Values: The implementation of technology influences the values of a society by changing expectations and realities. The implementation of technology is also influenced by values. There are (at least) three major, interrelated values that inform, and are informed by, technological innovations: Mechanistic world view: Viewing the universe as a collection of parts, (like a machine), that can be individually analyzed and understood (McGinn). This is a form of reductionism that is rare nowadays. However, the "neo-mechanistic world view" holds that nothing in the universe cannot be understood by the human intellect. Also, while all things are greater than the sum of their parts (e.g., even if we consider nothing more than the information involved in their combination), in principle, even this excess must eventually be understood by human intelligence. That is, no divine or vital principle or essence is involved. Efficiency: A value, originally applied only to machines, but now applied to all aspects of society, so that each element is expected to attain a higher and higher percentage of its maximal possible performance, output, or ability. (McGinn) Social progress: The belief that there is such a thing as social progress, and that, in the main, it is beneficent. Before the Industrial Revolution, and the subsequent explosion of technology, almost all societies believed in a cyclical theory of social movement and, indeed, of all history and the universe. This was, obviously, based on the cyclicity of the seasons, and an agricultural economy's and society's strong ties to that cyclicity. Since much of the world (i.e., everyone but the hyperindustrialized West) is closer to their agricultural roots, they are still much more amenable to cyclicity than progress in history. This may be seen, for example, in Prabhat rainjan sarkar's modern social cycles theory.
• Philippines
29 Jan 07
Modernization is a concept in the sphere of social sciences that refers to process in which society goes through industrialization, urbanization and other social changes that completely transform the lives of individuals. The concept of modernization comes from a view of societies as having a standard evolutionary pattern, as described in the social evolutionism theories. According to this each society would evolve inexorably from barbarism to ever greater levels of development and civilization. The more modern states would be wealthier and more powerful, and their citizens freer and having a higher standard of living. This was the standard view in the social sciences for many decades with its foremost advocate being Talcott Parsons. This theory stressed the importance of societies being open to change and saw reactionary forces as restricting development. Maintaining tradition for tradition's sake was thought to be harmful to progress and development. This approach has been heavily criticized, mainly because it conflated modernization with Westernization. In this model, the modernization of a society required the destruction of the indigenous culture and its replacement by a more Westernized one. Technically modernity simply refers to the present, and any society still in existence is therefore modern. Proponents of modernization typically view only Western society as being truly modern arguing that others are primitive or unevolved by comparison. This view sees unmodernized societies as inferior even if they have the same standard of living as western societies. Opponents of this view argue that modernity is independent of culture and can be adapted to any society. Japan is cited as an example by both sides. Some see it as proof that a thoroughly modern way of life can exist in a non-western society. Others argue that Japan has become distinctly more western as a result of its modernization. In addition, this view is accused of being Eurocentric, as modernization began in Europe and has long been regarded as reaching its most advanced stage in Europe (by Europeans), and in Europe overseas (USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand etc). According to the Social theorist Peter Wagner (Social theorist), modernization can be seen as processes, and as offensives. The former view is commonly projected by politicians and the media, and suggests that it is developments, such as new data technology or dated laws, which make modernization necessary or preferable. This view makes critique of modernization difficult, since it implies that it is these developments which control the limits of human interaction, and not vice versa. The latter view of modernization as offensives argues that both the developments and the altered opportunities made available by these developments, are shaped and controlled by human agents. The view of modernization as offensives therefore sees it as a product of human planning and action, an active process capable of being both changed and criticized.
2 people like this
@tomoe_spy (260)
• Philippines
30 Jan 07
modernization really made our living easier since the fast development in technology, but the disadvantage of being modernized is where suffering the consequences it brings us specially to our environment before our air was clean and no trace of airborne diseases can be found no ailments like cancer,hiv and any other radiation related sicknesses, before we could predict the weather and climate but not because of global warming which is one of the effects of modernization we can't predict now the exact weather and climate that would happen tomorrow,next week or even next month as you could see today it really is hard to predict the weather there are times that its very hot in the morning but in the afternoon suddenly a rain will pour down so heavily...
@mrscinxav (118)
• United States
30 Jan 07
i dont think so. in the stone age humans behaved like animals. they never had any culture. after the invention of fire,( the first scientific invention),then came all knowledge.knowledge is power and modernization is upgrading knowledge,its good only. we r living on microwave cooking and automatic washing machines.can u say they have spoiled our moral?
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
30 Jan 07
Modernisation has certainly not affected my moral values, in fact the so called Global village creates an opportunity to understand our neighbours better. Nevertheless, I will agree with the loss of cultural heritage that has taken place as a result over the past century or so. I am all in favour of scientific advancement, but it is sad to see the gradual disappearance of individual customs.
1 person likes this
• India
30 Jan 07
Well a real nice and interesting discussion. Yes u are right tat in all that we consider to be modernity, its everything that has caused gr8 damages to earth, other living beings. Though we create everything that we feel is beautiful,creative etc but most of these like big buildings,tons of plastics etc. are nonbiodegradable pollutants nothing else.
1 person likes this
@subha12 (18441)
• India
30 Jan 07
i think science has improved our life a lot. it has brought unbound chages in our live. moral value comes from education and grooming. i don't believe it can be destroyed by science.
1 person likes this
@Tetchie (2932)
• Australia
30 Jan 07
Science has already moulded our thoughts.
1 person likes this
@banta78 (4326)
• India
30 Jan 07
Yeah i agree with subha science has definately improved our lives. As with all modern inventions & discoveries be TV
1 person likes this
@anex84 (465)
• Bulgaria
30 Jan 07
And yes, modernization 'DOES' effect cultures and traditions yet it is necessary if the country desires to be included in the economic development and advancements that are occuring around us called globalization (or modernization). Many Asian countries are becoming more westernized and yet still continue ancient traditions (such as Japan or some areas of China) but there are many American and European influences merged into their society. You can go to almost any country in the world and go to McDonalds which is purely American. Modernization simply means that the technology , economy, health, education and connections between these nations will increase. This is simply a way for others to understand, aknowlege, study and experience other cultures, increase innovation, improve health and decrease war. It is believed that when there are business connection or a dependency between two countries then these two countries do not wage war among one another. So with time and 'globalization' maybe we can move toward a peaceful world.
@IMHO_Dan (174)
• India
30 Jan 07
modernisation is gud but not at the cost of our values n the environment.
1 person likes this
• United States
30 Jan 07
I don't think our morals were destroyed due to modernization. I do think that the convenience that technology has brought also came with a price. We are not as close as we used to be to others. Rather than seeing a friend or calling them, we e-mail them. We put so much distance between ourselves and our loved ones because it is easy.
1 person likes this
@lowey01 (223)
• Philippines
30 Jan 07
I don't see your point in how it can destroy our moral values and cultures. But if you are talking about how we are becoming too dependent on the modern things that surround us then I agree with you.
1 person likes this
• China
30 Jan 07
I can give you an example to show how modern things destroy our moral value. for instance. with the development of the science and technology, more and more young people are busy dealing with their daily work. their daily work gives them too much pressure. they are too busy to tke care of their parents. they send the old people to nursing homes and think they are good enough to them. it is so horrible. they do not care about these old people's feeling. they think one phone call is enough to express their love to their parents. we may draw the conclusion that the more advanced the science and tech is , the less feeling there is among family members.
1 person likes this
• Pakistan
30 Jan 07
yes shenzhouplaza has a point. HAsn't it destroyed our family system. any way thanks for ur views
1 person likes this
31 Jan 07
I agree with you that science has made our lives easier but has certainly destroyed our family lives and our moral values. We are now too money orientated.
1 person likes this
@flowerchilde (12529)
• United States
31 Jan 07
Yes! I live in the U.S. and so many of us are so concerned and saddened that our traditional faith and family oriented society is not only to such a large extent overturned, but it seems as tho it will surely become outlawed!! And now so many children lack the protecting presence and influence of their father, and the most heinous crimes are carried out against women, children and even (young) men. But you know what? God is perfect, and the end result of all this ('free-will'/human history) can only be the best possible end result!
• United States
31 Jan 07
...all this, and the new faith, evolution, is so far from 'proven' yet it is taught and thought by the world as being concrete! When all it is, is another belief. A religion! It destroys all society and cultures.
@sureshmoe (974)
• India
30 Jan 07
All are advantages if u are in within the limit otherwise it becomes disadvantages...and also it is in the your hands about the acceptibity of modernization...
1 person likes this
@sureshmoe (974)
• India
30 Jan 07
All are advantages if u are in within the limit otherwise it becomes disadvantages...and also it is your hands about the acceptibity of modernization...
1 person likes this
• Nepal
30 Jan 07
Modernization is never bad for it had done many things which man could have never discovered without its help. Generally, it depends upon how we take them. Certainly Modernization should not be taken as bad.
@Tetchie (2932)
• Australia
30 Jan 07
Science is wonderful, it's given us so many things to make our lives easier. But it has a major downer. Materialism. Not so much in the sense of modernisation, but the problem that so many people only see the material world, not a spiritual world that was so common place. Because science is unable to measure and proove the realms of spiritual experience then people are now in a state where they no longer believe and have to have scientific proof. If we don't keep sight of our essence as human beings, beware, we will be so wrapped up in this material sense of existence that you will have no way of turning back. Already Virtual Reality is changing your existence so you lose sight of your physical existence. Everything will be seen through the eyes of your computer screen, and you will be conditioned (generations to come definitely) to only know your reality by what you think you see!
• Pakistan
7 Feb 07
Science is the need to continue our lives If there was no scince we would still be rubbing stones to make fire and there was no lighter or match stick hahaha kidding,I think we can see the benefits of science every where and I also think that modernization is necessary
• Pakistan
7 Feb 07
Yes I know THat Science has brought revolutionary changes in our socities. It has now become th ereligion of the modern World. But don't you think we are using it negatively. We are neglecting its abuses. It has destryoed our moral values. Man has now become slave of machines.