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21
22
True: Always Improves False:Does not Always Improve
Debate Score:43
Arguments:20
Total Votes:61
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 True: Always Improves (11)
 
 False:Does not Always Improve (9)

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Modern Technology Always improves the Quality of People's Lives 13A02

Essay Writing practice for 13A02, Tampines JC

Please leave it to our students to practise this debate, thanks!

True: Always Improves

Side Score: 21
VS.

False:Does not Always Improve

Side Score: 22
3 points

Scientists believe that Modern Technology such as Green Technology always improves the quality of people's lives without complicating them. In the past, burning coal was a common practice used by people to generate energy. It was a popular method because it was cheap and efficient. However, it led to air pollution which had adverse effects on the people's health, such as causing breathing difficulties, thus decreasing the quality of their lives. With the introduction of Green Technology, alternative methods to generate energy replaced the burning of coal. These include solar energy, hydro energy, geothermal energy and wind energy. They are accepted by environmentalists because they do not cause any form of pollution and help to reduce the risk of people's health being harmed by pollutants in the air. This improves the quality of their lives.

Side: True: Always Improves
bryoneatsyou Disputed
1 point

Hydro energy actually causes flooding, destruction of wildlife and flooding of habitats in the region behind the water dam that allows hydro technology. Wind energy also requires a lot of space and is not relevant in many major cities who require the energy the most. How is my life improved when I have to move houses or risk it being flooded in the case of hydro technology?

Side: False:Does not Always Improve
3 points

The improvement made in modern technology over the years have indeed improved the quality of our lives significantly.For example, the creation of medical devices and facilities have aided in the treatment and support of more people in need.The development of the dialysis machine have greatly saved many people suffering from kidney failure as it is the only way they are able to cleanse their blood regularly to ensure the proper functioning of their body.Therefore,the technology invented to create this machine have improved the quality of patients' lives as they will be able to do normal daily activities as long as they undergo dialysis.Otherwise,they would get weaker causing them to suffer more and may eventually lead to death if their situation deteriorates.Therefore,the invention of medical devices like this and some other like the X-Ray machine.MRI scans and Chemotherapy machines have greatly improved patients' lives as their problems can be better detected and salvaged or improved.

Side: True: Always Improves
2 points

Modern technology always improves the quality of people's lives, as it facilitates the access that they have to education. Most people would agree that modern technology has increased the quality and quantity of facilities that are available to people, especially in poor countries. For example, computers provide users with access to the Internet, and hence, videos which support interactive learning. Students, or even poor villagers, who are unable to go to school, still have access to information, through online learning portals, like Khan Academy or TED Talks. These sites provide free videos, which can be accessed at any time or place. It engages students and promotes interactivity, through animations, and hence enhances the learning experience. Poorer people who have better access to education will be able to better support themselves in the future as they will be able to secure more intellectual jobs, earning themselves larger incomes to support their families, thus eliminating the poverty cycle that may exist. Hence, with education, more people will be able to live life with a better standard of living. Modern technology does improve the quality of people's lives.

Side: True: Always Improves
1 point

The issue that people have with technology is that innovations have to be made in order to solve problems in the future and not the present . This also implies that innovations in modern technology will initially cause problems as that is the nature of venturing into the unknown,causing more problems, but overall in the long run, as long as effort is taken to control and solve the problem, generally modern technology will always improve the quality of people's lives in one way or another

Side: True: Always Improves
1 point

Depends. The outcome of some modern technology solely depends on the usage of the user. For example, the smartphone is used in order to have ease of communication with people from anywhere around the world. Applications on the smartphone can also be used to facilitate work and studies, eg. Dictionaries or online encyclopedias. With the use of such resources, the user is able to gain access to the large deposit of information available on the internet. However, wrong usage of smartphones will lead to dire consequences. Addiction to games on the smartphone will often cause one to overlook his priorities, wasting and spending his time on his phone. Distractions by the smartphone causes the user to deviate away from his more important work, leading to productivity lose and future consequences. Social problems also arises as people tend to focus on their smartphones instead of trying to interact with each other in social events.

Hence, modern technology does not always improves the quality of people's lives as the outcome depends on the usage of the user. In order to reap the most benefits from modern technology such as smartphones, important control measures such as government campaigns should be introduced to warn smartphone users the consequences of overdependence on smartphones. With a better understanding and control of modern technology, it will surely benefit the lives of everyone.

Side: True: Always Improves
1 point

Good conditional factors raised in answer to this question. Keep it up, Zibin!

Side: True: Always Improves
1 point

Modern Technology always improves the quality of people's lives, one example would be the advent of Genetically Modified (GM) food. Firstly, GM food has helped to solve the problem of malnutrition in many countries. From South Africa to India and Thailand, with intensive research throughout the years, scientists gave came up with the idea of GM food which involves cross-breeding the genes of plants to achieve a desirable species. An example of which would be Super Rice, which is rich in beta-carotene. As a result, it provides people living in these poor areas with more nutrition in their diet and hence, combating the problems of malnutrition which invariably leads to an improvement in the people's quality of lives.

Secondly, GM food also help improve the quality of lives of everyone as a whole- from the producers to the consumers. GM food crops can be altered to become more pest resistant. an example would be the Bt corn. Engineered to produce the bacterial toxin, Bt, "Bt corn" resists attack by corn rootworm, a pest that feeds on roots and can cause annual losses of up to $1 billion. Besides merely protecting against these losses, the Bt trait has also boosted corn yields. This has resulted in more crops for farmers and sustaining their livelihood. As a result, people in the area would also have much more food throughout the year and hence, improving the lives of the people as a whole.

Side: True: Always Improves
1 point

Depends:

The improvement of modern technology improves the quality of life depending on the type of healthcare being provided.Rapidly changing medical technology and the availability of high technology medical equipment has revolutionized the way healthcare is being delivered in the current world such that, without doubt, it improves the quality of life and also causes implications in one's life. However, it solely depends on the context of healthcare one is looking into. Cocaine was previously used as an anesthetic while people underwent operations as it eases the pain when an individual is going through an operation. However, nowadays, drug addicts pay large sum of money to buy cocaine for the 'high' feeling they can get from the use of such drugs. This has severely affected many teenagers worldwide as they have resorted to taking drugs such as cocaine. However, there are also widespread benefits as minimally invasive surgeries, especially cardiovascular and thoracic surgery, have also become more common in recent years which improves people's quality of life as they are able to go through this surgeries and cure health implications. Plastic surgery on the other case scenario has improved the lives of people where acid attack victims in countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan can have a face surgery to get back their original look and this helps to avoid depression, low self-esteem and social isolation they may face with an acid attack where their face is disfigured and they prefer not to face the society due to the discrimination they may face. However, there are also cosmetic surgeries which affects life as the upcoming generations of the person who has gone through plastic surgery may suffer the after-effects. Hence, the fact that modern technology improves the quality of lives is highly dependent on the context of healthcare in which it is identified. :)

Side: True: Always Improves
1 point

sorry wrong page. yi qian from 13s27 sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry

Side: True: Always Improves
0 points

Scientists and environmentalists would like to argue that new technology and technological advancements have resulted in greater environmental efficiency and preservation. In the past, crude methods have been employed in our thirst for energy that were highly inefficient and pollutive. It has resulted in a boost in the quality of people's livelihood as there are lesser amounts of pollutive and harmful chemicals and particles that are emitted which resulted in cleaner air. Consequently, it reduces the smog in the air and a lowering of medical conditions and complications such as asthma and lung disease. For example, in the past, coal has been burned to generate energy by turning heat into energy by turning generator turbines. The burning of such fossil fuels releases large amounts of carbon and soot which would irritate people's breathing and lungs. With the advent of new technology, green technology such as wind turbines and solar panels has been discovered. Solar panels harness the sun's energy and converts it at a rate of roughly 70% into energy. It a emission-free method to generate energy to satiate our uncontrollable thirst for it without causing any carbon footprint. Ultimately, the quality of people's lives will improve,to a certain extent, through the reduced dependency on the burning of soot-producing fossil fuels and relying more on emission-free methods such as solar panels.

Side: True: Always Improves
5 points

Some people may think that while modern technology improves the quality of people's lives medically, it's side effects could cause adverse effects. While many modern medical marvels like keyhole surgery, gamma knife, defibrillator,immunization and anesthesia can lessen pain, provide protection and serves as a more non-invasive measure. However, modern technology such as chemotherapy can cause more harm to people's lives than benefit it. While chemotherapy aims to destroy the cancer cells that plague the body, it can eliminate the beneficial cells as well. This would in turn cause the person's immune system to weaken, causing him to be more susceptible to other diseases. Another example would be steroids that are prescribed to help cure internal bleeding. However, it's side effects worsen the patient's condition even further by causing the other organs to be damaged and eventually shut down. Hence, some modern technology can cause more harm then intended, leaving the quality of the person's live even worse than before.

Side: False:Does not Always Improve
1 point

Nice attempt to address key words in the question. Good job!

Side: False:Does not Always Improve
3 points

Modern Technology such as the newest communications technologies and internet advances in mobile devices, laptops and television may cause an antisocial attitude to develop in people who excessively use such technology. When people overuse such technology and social networks may result in people confusing it with the real world and thus replaces physical interaction with other human beings by putting up an online persona to boost ones morale and inhibits one from making physical friends. This can be seen in recent years as many people live as 'shut ins' and resort to their online presence as a way of coping with their lack of social physical interaction in the real world.

Hence, it results in many people being reliant on the internet, messaging and social networks as a form of communication as the real world is no longer sufficient for their personal needs.

Side: False:Does not Always Improve
Chasumin(6) Disputed
1 point

I totally admit your point that modern technology to some extent affected us in a negative way in terms of voicing out one's opinion under the name of anonymity. You should, however, consider how greatly it contributed to this busy world as well. Those who could not have a minute to express their thoughts now are able to access to society in a much more convenient way. Since it allowed more people to participate in social fields, it absolutely improved and is improving our lives.

Side: True: Always Improves
3 points

Despite enhancing the lives of people modern technology does not always improve the lives of others. Improvements in modern technology may not always be beneficial because improvements in technology only further makes people complacent and lazy. They become highly dependent on technology and fail to take responsibility for their own actions. People become lazy and always seek to technology to solve their problems instead of taking initiative for themselves.

Side: False:Does not Always Improve
2 points

Technology and its prevalence, while providing us, as people, with convenience, also brings with it a slew of issues, one of the most prominent of which is information security, or rather a lack thereof. As a result of the rise in popularity of online functions such as internet banking or other sensitive activities, netizens are more vulnerable to new forms of crime, such as identity theft. With the increasing dependence of people on technology, a new type of criminal has arisen, that of the hacker. The hacker is smart, and skilled to say the least, and has the ability to steal virtually anything stored online from the comfort of his own home, be it money, credit or a person's identity. Technology has become a crutch on which people rely, and it is because of this dependence that the hacker's job becomes easier. And while authorities may be trying their earnest best to police online activities, the continued existence of organisations like Anonymous demonstrates how ineffectual any sort of regulation really is. Technology has helped to create the new wild west, and people are lining up to put themselves at risk, all for convenience.

Side: False:Does not Always Improve
2 points

Modern technology need not necessarily improve the quality of people's lives. With the improvement in means of communication through the use of various mobile applications and social network sites, relaying a message to a person is made easier. As people are more connected, their social lives outside of work or school are destroyed. For example, meetings could be scheduled through Skype and can be conducted from their own home - this forces commitment to their jobs. Furthermore, in one incident,

a teenager, Kimberley Swann was underwhelmed by the menial tasks she was given in her new job and made a remark regarding it on her Facebook. Three weeks later, the status haunted her as her boss discovered it and sacked her. In conclusion, the improvements in modern technology merged a person's personal lives with their jobs thus ruining it.

Side: False:Does not Always Improve
2 points

While some believe that Modern technology always improves the quality of people's lives, others believe that modern technology does not always improve the quality of people's lives. Modern technology have enabled the invention of Genetically modified food (GM food), though it is able to solve some of our problems regarding starvation, it has brought about even more problems. For example, health problems that stems from the consumption of GM food and the harm it brings to our biodiversity. GM food is often criticized due to the health risks. Hence, we see that countries such as Zambia have rejected the use of GM food due to the health risks involved, despite the country facing shortages of food. Since the food itself is not natural, we do not know what kind of health problems it may cause by altering the genes of the food. It is hence "dangerous" to consume GM food. GM food have also done significant damage to our biodiversity. Such is the example of Bt corn which led to the near extinction of the Monarch butterfly. Therefore, we see that Modern technology not always improve the quality of people's lives due to the health risks involved and with the loss of biodiversity.

Side: False:Does not Always Improve
1 point

However, new technology may worsen people's live quality of lives under the aspect of health. The introduction of technologies have made surgeries, transplants, treatment for once terminal illnesses and supplements to boost the immune system possible, however the hoped outcome of improvement to health and quality of the peoples' lives has many harmful side effects physically and psychologically on the people instead. With an opposite outcome of harmful side effects on the people physically and psychologically sometimes endangering the peoples lives. Harmful side effects include, discrimination and unhappiness due to religions, morales and societal norms that are challenged by such modern technologies attempts to improve health. Diseases, rejection of tissue and even death are also some alarming effects due to this attempt to improve health with biotechnology and engineering of other equipment. With poor health, people are unable to perform daily tasks and work, hindering the luxury of watching television, indulging in unhealthy fast food and more. This loss of health hence causes the loss of quality of life of people and all due to the harmful side effects caused by such new technology. An example of this is the qualms about transplants that include organ transplant like hearts and even faeces. The pumps for the heart and other technology making this heart transplant was seen to be ethically wrong as is perceived to be an attempt to play god. This has caused much unhappiness and a break in the social fabric and cohesion of today's society. Other ...

Side: False:Does not Always Improve