According to Thomas P. McManus, “it is important for liberal studies students to understand the relationship and interaction between science, technology, and society, and the role human values play.”As technology develops and advances we hold the same conventional kinds of moral beliefs we've always held, but scientific advancements add a twist because different issues now apply to the equation in the choices we need to make. It ultimately comes down to a question of whether or not we should take the scientific direction simply because we can do it. The question of whether or not we should is the real question that makes one question; when scientific advancements make something an option does this mean we should actually do it? Is it morally correct to do it? Is it safe? What are the negative outcomes that could occur from this [scientific advancement]? Advancements do not mean we change our values completely, but it does mean that technology allows us to make choices we may or may not have previously made if the option wasn’t available.
Today’s society has become so reliant on technology because as McManus said, “it’s a source of power to make life easier and more productive.” We’re reliant to the point that we forget our actions have consequences. For example, if you call someone stupid to their face, you would expect for them to say something back or for a physical altercation to occur. To some degree, our expectation of this negative feedback confines our behavior and reminds one of their morals. Whereas on the internet and computer we don’t receive that feedback, we begin to forget that our words have real effects on others. Communication of the computer is just emotionless words and talking, you can’t see the person’s actions or really know how they felt. This gives us the courage to say whatever we please, because we aren’t say it to a real live person sitting next to us, but a computer screen.
