The idea of progress

The idea of progress

        My notion is « The idea of progress » and my issue is « Should we fear progress ? ». The deffinition of progress is the positive evolution of the world in therms of science, technology. It's the evolution of civilization to an  ideal goal.

        So, I'm going to deal with the positive aspect of progress first and after, I'm going to talk about that the progress can be dangerous.

        On the one hand, I'm going to explain that the progress is essential to evolve. For example, we studied a press article from Time magazine. The document is « My body, my laboratory » and the story take place in a hospital in Oxford. It was about a professor of cybernatics, Kevin Warwick, who decided to have a test on his body. He had a silicon chip implanted in his nervous system and with this experiment, he was able to control an electric chair and move a distant robot arm just by his thoughts. This document show a positive aspect of progress because  this experiment can be useful for the handicaped people who lost the control of their limbs. History his made of progress and evolution that have allowed the world to be what it's today. Another example was a recording of a lecture at the M.I.T in Boston.The professor testifie of his own experience as a victim of a mountain climbing where he had frostbites on his legs because of bizzard and snow. He wasx amputated and equipetedwith protheses. The point of view of the professor is optimistic and enthusiastic about this new technology. With the progress of medicine, he can walk and climb again. It is a very positive document about the possibilities offered by tehnology and progress.

        Moreover, we studied two texts : Designer baby and Saviour sibling. These texts explain what are designer babies. They are both conceived to save their elder brother or sister. In Designer baby, Anna refuse to give a kidney to her elder sister Kate. She wants to lives for herself, not for anyone else. Anna is also selfish because she does not want give a kidnez to her sister while she needs it. In Saviour sibling, Jamie saved his elder brother's life because his brother suffering from a severe genetic disease. For his mother, jamie is a « saviour sibling ». The progress can help us to save people and it is a positive aspect of the progress of medicine.

        On the other hand, progress can be dangerous for humans. For example, we studied an extract of « Gattaca ». It was about Antonio and Maria who decided to use science for their second child and science will transform their future baby in order to have a perfect baby. The geneticist allows them to choose the sex of their baby. The the film director had anticipated that sex selection would become possible in the near future. Because of this choise, the « genetic discrimination » will dominated the society.