HUMANITY

Developments and changes in technology tend to shift philosophical focuses towards ethics. Technology has given us the ability to do things that were once considered wrong, but nobody worried about them because they were impossible. For instance, a short while ago if man should play God by creating life through cloning was only an academic philosophical discussion; now technology forces us to face it. Technology forces us to question "IF" we should do something not "CAN" we do it. Some people believe that these types of issues mean that we are losing our humanity through technology, and these people are often older individuals who vow not to participate in the technological revolution.

Bill Gates explains why many people vow not to participate in the technological revolution:

• • People commonly make this vow when some new technology threatens to change what they're familiar and comfortable with. At first, the bicycle was a silly contraption; the automobile, a noisy intruder; the pocket calculator, a threat to the study of mathematics; and the radio, the end of literacy. (Gates 7)

These machines, however, have found a place in our every day lives because they offer convenience and inspire us to new creative heights. A new generation grew up with these technologies thereby humanizing them (Gates 7). Perhaps technology is just another way to give an operational definition to the generation gap because it exploits its differences.

Technological Generation Gap