Introduction

Positive impact:
[1] Today, science has a profound effect on the way we live, largely through
technologythe use of scientific knowledge for practical purposes. The first
automobile, dating from the 1880s, made use of many advances in physics and
engineering, including reliable ways of generating high-voltage sparks, while the
first computers emerged in the 1940s from simultaneous advances in electronics
and mathematics.
[2] Alongside these achievements, science has also brought about technology
that helps save human life. The kidney dialysis machine enables many people to
survive kidney diseases that would once have proved fatal, and artificial valves
allow sufferers of coronary heart disease to return to active living. Biochemical
research is responsible for the antibiotics and vaccinations that protect us from
infectious diseases, and for a wide range of other drugs used to combat specific
health problems. As a result, the majority of people on the planet now live longer
and healthier lives than ever before.

[3] Indeed, technological research and development continue to introduce new

products and services to society. Many of these innovations come about as a
response to societys changing needs, providing solutions to the problems faced
in modern society, improving our standard of living and increasing our efficiency.

Negative impact:
[4] However, scientific discoveries can also have a negative impact in human
affairs. Over the last hundred years, some of the technological advances that
make life easier or more enjoyable have proved to have unwanted and often
unexpected long-term effects.
[5] Industrial and agricultural chemicals pollute the global environment, even in
places as remote as Antarctica, and city air is contaminated by toxic gases from
vehicle exhausts. The increasing pace of innovation means that products become
rapidly obsolete, adding to a rising tide of waste. Most significantly of all, the
burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas releases into the
atmosphere carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases. These gases have altered the
composition of the entire atmosphere, producing global warming and the
prospect of major climate change in years to come.

[6] Science has also been used to develop technology that raises complex ethical
questions. This is particularly true in the fields of biology and medicine. Research
involving genetic engineering, cloning, and in vitro fertilization gives scientists
the unprecedented power to bring about new life, or to devise new forms of
living things. At the other extreme, science can also generate technology that is
deliberately designed to harm or to kill. The fruits of this research include
chemical and biological warfare, and also nuclear weapons, by far the most
destructive weapons that the world has ever known.

[7] Now, more than ever, technology a product of science has become an
important part of peoples lives. Not only does technology have a direct impact
on our physical lives but it also affects our social relationships and values.

(1)Social Impacts & Implications

a. Effect on Work & Employments
i. Creation of new jobs
The advance of science and technology has led to the creation of new jobs in the
pharmaceutical, medical, research and biotechnological fields.
Singapore:
In 2000, Singapore declared biotechnology as the fourth pillar of its economy.
Due to increased international competition, Singapore has gradually moved its
emphasis from manufacturing technology to the biomedical sciences. In an effort
to become an integrated biotechnology hub, Singapore has pumped in $2.3
billion in investments, grants and incentives.
The government is also trying to create domestic talent. The Agency for Science,
Technology and Research is offering $286 million in scholarships for students to
pursue Ph.D.'s in biomedical sciences at home and abroad, in exchange for their
promise to work in Singapore for up to eight years.
Adapted from (Singapore Goes Biotech, New York Times, 2003)
ii. Displacement of jobs
At work, certain jobs, especially low skilled jobs have become obsolete. Even jobs
that require training and skill have been displaced. For example, shorthand,
typewriting, and draughtsmanship have been replaced by word-processing,
voice-recognition and computer-aided design and manufacturing systems.
Large companies which used to be structured in a multi-layered hierarchical way
in order to facilitate control and reporting are stripping away layers of middle
management. The company in the IT age adopts a flatter structure, decentralises
and gives more autonomy to its operating units. The company becomes more
efficient, but middle managers need to redefine or retrain themselves in order to
remain relevant to the job market.
iii.Telecommuting
Science & technology allows an interconnected working arena that spans across
continents. Employees can work in the comfort of their own homes as they are
able to access the necessary information that they require. The virtual office
connects companies to customers and fellow workers to each other.
However, working from home would mean they will miss out on social
interactions available in the office. Another drawback of working from home is
that the lines between work and home are blurred.

Question:
(a)When the lines between home and work are blurred, what are the implications
on the employee?
The employee may be expected to be on call/ working 24 hours a day
regardless of where he may be.
Difficult to have work-life balance because there is no such distinction.
This may increase stress on the family, as the parent brings work-related stress
back home.
b. Effect on Relationships
i. Social Glue
Gone are the days of snail mail and expensive trunk calls. With Information
Communication Technology (ICT), communication between individuals within a
family, company, or country can be made with ease. When the Internet was first
introduced, it was used to disseminate information within a company and
between companies.
Background:
Prior to the global communications network we understand the internet to be
today, it is theorized that the internet started out with military computers in the
Pentagon called Arpanet in 1969. The Arpanet gave birth to the internet
protocols in the 1970s.
Today, the Internet has become a common form of communication capable of
disseminating information across time and space. Where a country has the skills
and access to ICT, society will be able to find, foster and develop relationships
through online social networks like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace.
The rapid adoption of such social network sites by members of a society reveal
how ICT has transformed from once a private space between
companies/organisations to a public space between members from various
societies.
In the past, it has been suggested that the Internet and e-mail could diminish
real relationships.
But the report, entitled The Strength of Internet Ties done by the US-based Pew
Internet think-tank, found that e-mail supplements rather than replaces offline
communications.
ICT has created a new basis for community. Instead of relying on a single
community for social support, individuals often actively seek out a variety of
appropriate people and resources across continents for different situations. This
has resulted in the rise of networked individualism where users of modern
technology are less tied to local groups and increasingly part of more
geographically scattered networks.
Adapted from Internet serves as social glue
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4644666.stm)

Question
(a) Does the emphasis on online communication necessarily lead to social
isolation?
c. Social problems and cyber crimes
i. Piracy
Music theft can take various forms: individuals who illegally upload or download
music online, online companies who build businesses based on theft and
encourage users to break the law, or criminals manufacturing mass numbers of
counterfeit CDs for sale on street corners, in flea markets or at retail stores.
Across the board, this theft has hurt the music community, with thousands of
layoffs, songwriters out of work and new artists having a harder time getting
signed and breaking into the business.
One credible analysis by the Institute for Policy Innovation concludes that global
music piracy causes $12.5 billion of economic losses every year, 71,060 U.S. jobs
lost, a loss of $2.7 billion in workers' earnings, and a loss of $422 million in tax
revenues, $291 million in personal income tax and $131 million in lost corporate
income and production taxes.
Taken from RIAA--Piracy (http://www.riaa.com/physicalpiracy.php)
However recently, after years of futile efforts to stop digital pirates from copying
its music, the music business has started to copy the pirates.
Online and mobile services offering listeners unlimited, "free" access to millions
of songs are proliferating.
Taken from the Intl Herald Tribune
(http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/18/technology/midem.4-410564.php)
ii. Private or Public Opinion
Online blogs or diaries, similar to online social networks, can be created to
provide a private space for individuals on the public spaces of the Internet. While
such blogs may function as a private diary, the readership is not limited to the
author.
Under Section 298 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224, anyone with deliberate
intention of wounding the religious or racial feelings of any person, causes any
matter however represented to be seen or heard by that person, can be jailed up
to three years, or fine, or both, if convicted.
Deputy Commander of Central Police Div HQ, Superintendent Lee Ping Yue, said
that the police take a serious view of irresponsible blog postings in a multi-racial
society like Singapore and 'will expend all efforts in tracking the perpetrators'.
Taken from ST Online (http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest
%2BNews/Singapore/STIStory_239545.html)
iii.Internet Addiction (Social Isolation)
Youth internet addiction has become a serious social problem. To curb and
alleviate this problem, the Chinese authorities have called for tighter

enforcement of the rules banning under-18s from internet cafes and for a rating
system for games.
Adapted from Chinas clinic for its Internet junkies
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1545382/Chinas-clinic-for-itsinternet-junkies.html)
The potential to be absorbed by the wonders/capabilities of ICT is real and
continues to pervade societies. In extreme cases, individuals who do not exercise
discipline or control when dealing with ICT may become socially isolated from the
physical world, from reality.
iv. Predators
The goal of a predator is to get a child to consent to sexual activities. Predators
contact teens (online and offline) to start a conversation. Just as most teens
know to say no to strange men who approach them on the street, most know to
ignore strange men who approach them online. When teenagers receive
solicitations from adults on MySpace, most report deleting them without
question. The media often reference a Crimes Against Children Report
(http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/jvq/CV38.pdf) that states one in five children
receive a sexual solicitation online.
Although the media has covered the potential risk extensively, few actual cases
have emerged. While youth are at minimal risk, predators are regularly being
lured out by law enforcement patrolling the site. The fear of predators has
regularly been touted as a reason to restrict youth from both physical and digital
publics.
Taken from Danah Boyds Discussion Forum
(http://www.danah.org/papers/MySpaceDOPA.html)
v. Identity Theft
Having more than one e-mail address can be useful in the battle against online
fraud and spam. It is also a good way to keep personal and professional lives
separate.
Adapted from Web users keeping multiple emails
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7374540.stm)
Identity theft is costing the UK economy over 1.7bn a year, according to figures
"calculated by the Home Office Identity Fraud Steering Committee (IFSC) in cooperation with both public and private sector organisations".
Adapted from Guardian
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2006/feb/02/identityfraud)
Question
(a) What is your opinion on the blame placed on ICT in the creation of social
problems? Is it appropriate/fair?
d. Effect on Identity
i. Multiple Identities

Individuals can create a private space within the public space of the Internet. In
creating that private space, they may reveal their personalities and express their
opinions without any qualms (subjective to whether their private space remains
private or is open to public viewing).
According to Sally M. Cohen, author of Email, IM, And Social Network Strategists:
Help Teens Manage Multiple IDs While Preserving Privacy, multiple identities
allow teens to create boundaries in online social networks. However, are such
boundaries created to express themselves freely or free themselves from the
watchful eyes of parents?
ii. The Invisible Cloak
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Scalia said The very purpose of anonymity is to
facilitate wrong by eliminating accountability (quoted in [Framkin 1995]).
Under the cloak of an online identity, which is easily created, edited and deleted,
individuals may feel protected being anonymous. However there is an obvious
risk of misuse of anonymity. To eliminate such a risk, a United Nations agency is
quietly drafting technical standards, proposed by the Chinese government, to
define methods of tracing the original source of Internet communications and
potentially curbing the ability of users to remain anonymous. Adapted from CNET
News (http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10040152-38.html)
Question
(a) How different is having multiple personalities from having multiple online
identities?
e. Education
i. Accessibility of Information
With the help of new media, information is now easily available. The teacher no
longer holds absolute authority over knowledge. Both the teachers and students
can take part in knowledge acquisition and creation.
Question
(a)With increasing access to information, how has the role of teachers changed?
(b)Are teachers redundant?
(linked to how we define education? Also the need for a teacher to help teach
skills to process the abundant information)
In addition, new media has provided the platform for distance learning which has
transformed the global education landscape.
Technology "will allow you to control the information you want, and to get it
where you want it and when you want it" - Randy Bennett (responsible for
electronic-media initiatives at the Newspaper Association of America)
ii.Digital Divide
ICTs are expected to improve efficiency and increase access to knowledge and
expertise. Thus it would appear that an inclusive information society will

strengthen democracy, increase social participation, remove barriers to

modernization, and empower populations who might have been left out of the
development process. Thus ICT brings us one step closer to eradicating poverty.
Where a country has high levels of ICT skills and expertise, society will be better
placed to combat social exclusion and the information divide, as well as to
identify opportunities for economic growth. From the individual standpoint,
access to certain forms of ICTs may increase the choices available to individuals.
With increased access to information, individuals are able to make more
informed decisions. This is the very essence of empowerment.
Example:
In 1995, more than 2.2 million people in developing countries educated
themselves through on-line courses. At the same time, initiatives, such as the
Health Internetwork, open up communication lines and provide physicians and
patients with up-to-the-minute medical information and access to resources.
While some countries and people have benefitted from information
communications technology (ICT), more than 95% of the world still do not have
electronic access. This gap between information-haves and information-have
nots, that exists both between countries and between communities within
countries, is known as the "digital divide" or "information poverty."
Evidence of the digital divide:
A computer costs one month's salary for the average American, compared with
eight years' income for the average Bangladeshi.
A quarter of the worlds countries still do not have one telephone per 100
people.
The United States has more computers than the rest of the world combined,
and Thailand has more cellular phones than the whole of Africa.
Adapted from ICTs and Education indicators (Communication Statistics unit,
UNESCO Institute for Statistics)
http://www.itu.int/ITUD/ict/partnership/material/ICT_Education_Paper_Nov_2006.pdf
and
UN cyberschoolbus
(http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/briefing/technology/index.htm)
f. Healthcare
i. Playing God
Scientists have now successfully cloned several kinds of animals and Craig
Venter is well on the way to creating the first functional artificial life form,
Synthia: so-called synthetic biology. These advances place the power of God in
sciences hands. The prospect of radical biological modification of life on this
planet is real. This raises the profoundest ethical issues.

The potential to improve the human condition using this kind of technology is an
irresistible fruit. But with it comes the dark side of supertechnology: the
possibility of annihilation of life on this planet. Synthetic biology and creating
novel life forms by creating new DNA sequences could be used to create
organisms never before encountered on earth.

This kind of science will not and should not be stopped. The potential benefits
are too great. But with it, we require the most profound and overarching
programme of radical moral enhancement of human beings, using not just
traditional methods of education but looking at how we can alter our own biology
to ensure that we become the kinds of beings fit to develop and use
supertechnology.

If we develop supertechnologies that will profoundly change the nature of life on

this planet, we need to become the gods fit to wield this power.

Craig Venter:
J. Craig Venter is an American biologist and businessman. He founded the
Institute of Genome Research and was instrumental in mapping the human
genome.
Adapted from Changing the Building Blocks of Life: Playing God and Being gods
http://www.practicalethicsnews.com/practicalethics/2008/02/changing-thebu.html
Question
(a)What is your opinion on the use of science to alter our biology so as to make
us morally upright?
(b)Are there differences in our understanding of morality across cultures and
time? If so, who decides which morality to abide to?
ii. Producing Designer Children
Some people view the deliberate intervention in the natural process of
procreation as an unethical interference with the process of nature.
Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD)
Preimplantation genetic testing is a technique used to identify genetic defects in
embryos created through in vitro fertilization (IVF) before pregnancy.
Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) refers specifically to when one or both
genetic parents have a known genetic abnormality and testing is performed on
an embryo to see if it also carries a genetic abnormality.
Because only unaffected embryos are transferred to the uterus for implantation,
preimplantation genetic testing provides an alternative to current postconception

diagnostic procedures, which are frequently followed by the difficult decision of

pregnancy termination if results are unfavorable.
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/273415-overview
As with all medical interventions associated with human reproduction, PGD gives
rise to strong and often conflicting views about the social acceptability of the
procedure. For example, in Germany the use of PGD is prohibited by law. In the
UK, PGD is permitted in law but its operation is controlled by the state.
Reasons against PGD
Diagnosis of late-onset diseases and predisposition syndromes
A more recent application of PGD is to diagnose late-onset diseases and (cancer)
predisposition syndromes. It can be argued that PGD for late-onset diseases is
unethical since the individuals remain healthy until the onset of the disease,
usually in the fourth decade of life. On the other hand, the high probability or
certainty of developing some disorders, and their incurable nature, can lead to a
stressful life, waiting for the first symptoms to occur and to an early death. In the
case of predisposition syndromes, such as BRCA1 mutations predisposing to
breast cancer, it can be argued that there is no certainty of getting the disease
and that the disease can usually be treated.
PGD used for sex selection for non-medical reasons.
g. Blurring the boundaries between man and machine
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the area of computer science focusing on creating
machines that can engage on behaviors that humans consider intelligent. The
ability to create intelligent machines has intrigued humans since ancient times,
and today with the advent of the computer and 50 years of research into AI
programming techniques, the dream of smart machines is becoming a reality.
Researchers are creating systems which can mimic human thought, understand
speech, beat the best human chessplayer, and countless other feats never
before possible.
h. Environment
Industrialization, deforestation, agricultural intensification, overfishing etc. have
brought about many environmental problems.
i.Impact on the rich and the poor
The environmental damage caused by rich nations disproportionately impacts
poor nations and costs them more than their combined foreign debt, according to
a first-ever global accounting of the dollar costs of countries' ecological
footprints. (Science Daily, Jan 23, 2008)
The study makes clear, for example, that while deforestation and agricultural
intensification primarily impact the host country, the impacts from climate
change and ozone depletion are spread widely over all nations.

"Low-income countries will bear significant burdens from climate change and
ozone depletion. But these environmental problems have been overwhelmingly
driven by emission of greenhouse gases and ozone-depleting chemicals by the
rest of the world," Srinivasan said.

Climate change is expected to increase the severity of storms and extreme

weather, including prolonged droughts and flooding, with an increase in
infectious diseases. Ozone depletion mostly impacts health, with increases
expected in cancer rates, cataracts and blindness All of these will affect
vulnerable low-income countries disproportionately.

In addition to climate change and ozone depletion, overfishing and conversion of

mangrove swamps to shrimp farming are areas in which rich nations burden poor
countries.

"Seafood derived from depleted fish stocks in low-income country waters

ultimately ends up on the plates of consumers in middle-income and rich
countries," Srinivasan said. "The situation is similar for farmed shrimp. For such a
small, rare habitat, mangroves, when cut down, exact a surprisingly large cost
borne primarily by the poor- and middle-income countries."

The primary cost is loss of storm protection, which some say was a major factor
in the huge loss of life from 2005's tsunami in Southeast Asia.

Deforestation, on the other hand, can exacerbate flooding and soil erosion, affect
the water cycle and offshore fisheries and lead to the loss of recreation and of
non-timber products such as latex and food sources. Agricultural intensification
can lead to drinking water contamination by pesticides and fertilizers, pollution
of streams, salinization of croplands and biodiversity loss, among other impacts.

When all these impacts are added up, the portion of the footprint of high-income
nations that is falling on the low-income countries is greater than the financial
debt recognized for low income countries, which has a net present value of 1.8
trillion in 2005 international dollars, Srinivasan said. (International dollars are
U.S. dollars adjusted to account for the different purchasing power of different
currencies.) "The ecological debt could more than offset the financial debt of lowincome nations," she said.

Adapted from
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080121181408.htm
(2)Political Impact

i. A Surveillance Society
=> Cameras everywhere
=> Tracking on the use of the internet
This results in increased power/ authority by the state over its people and it can
potentially create fear and paranoia amongst the masses. We can draw parallels
with the panopticon.
The Panopticon is a type of prison building designed by English philosopher and
social theorist Jeremy Bentham in 1785. The concept of the design is to allow an
observer to observe prisoners without the prisoners being able to tell whether
they are being watched, thereby conveying what one architect has called the
"sentiment of an invisible omniscience."

Bentham himself described the Panopticon as "a new mode of obtaining power of
mind over mind, in a quantity hitherto without example."

Parallel with the Novel: 1984 by George Orwell

Big Brother is a fictional character in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four,

the enigmatic dictator of Oceania, a totalitarian state taken to its utmost logical
consequence - where the ruling elite ('the Party') wield total power for its own
sake over the inhabitants.

In the society that Orwell describes, everyone is under complete surveillance by

the authorities, mainly by telescreens. The people are constantly reminded of
this by the phrase "Big Brother is watching you", which is the core "truth" of the
propaganda system in this state.

Question:
(a)How does the use of technology for surveillance infringe on our privacy? Does
it matter?
ii. People Power
Technology has allowed the lateralization of communication systems, as
mentioned in Friedmans The World is Flat.
Governments seem powerless to stop the propagation of ideas: you can ban
someone from the country but you cant ban them from the internet. People are
empowered by the new media.
Blogosphere
E.g 1.

Vietnamese dissidents opposed to the one-party rule have been communicating

through Skype and recruiting via test message and voice-over-Internet chat
rooms. Exiled Vietnamese advocacy groups have been sending bulk email
messages to accounts with Vietnamese sounding names. These emails typically
decry government corruption and urge ordinary citizens to rise up and demand
multi-party elections.
The country is increasingly wired. Like China, Vietnam uses a firewall to block
access to pornography and political websites and is talking about censoring blogs
although that is more difficult because most are posted on foreign-based
websites.
(A Vietnamese War in the Blogosphere, TIME, 17 Aug, 2007)
E.g 2
Wikileaks is a website for whistle-blowers to post allegations of corporate or
government misconduct, while attempting to preserve the anonymity of its
contributors. Within one year of its December 2006 launch, its database had
grown to more than 1.2 million documents.
Notable leaks:
An ex-employee at a Zurich-based bank, Julius Baer posted materials detailing
money laundering and tax evasion at the Julius Baers Cayman Islands branch.
A copy of Standard Operating Procedures for Camp Delta the protocol of the
U.S. Army at the Guantnamo Bay detention camp dated March 2003 was
released on the Wikileaks website on 7 November 2007. Its release revealed
some of the restrictions placed over detainees at the camp, including the
designation of some prisoners as off-limits to the International Committee of the
Red Cross, something that the U.S. military had in the past repeatedly denied.
Website: http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Wikileaks
iii.Misuse of the Internet
E.g
Omar Mohammed Bakri founder of infamous al-Muhajiroun group fled Britain
in 2006 and was barred from returning. In September 2008, he was addressing a
meeting of around 100 young Muslims in Lea Bridge Road, Leyton, via live
webcam link to his home in Lebanon. (Guardian, 29 Oct, 2008)
(3)Economic
Technology has changed the face of retail, manufacturing and services
Shift to e-services
- Within 1 year of the creation of Expedia, the internet travel-agency, 13% of
traditional travel agency locations in the US closed down.
- eBAY and Amazons success are built on the deaths of numerous traditional
antique stores and book shops.
Benefits:

- Convenience for consumers

- The internet serves as another platform for the industries to innovate and make
profits
Disadvantages:
- Traditional stores close down
- Jobs are displaced
- Decreased interaction and socialization amongst people
(4)Science and Science fiction
Science fiction is a broad genre of fiction that often involves speculations based
on current or future science or technology. Science fiction is found in books, art,
television, films, games, theatre, and other media.
While science fiction provides criticism of developing and future technology, it
also produces innovation and new technology. Science fiction can be said to fire
the technological imagination.
According to Michio Kaku, one of the worlds most prominent physicists and cofounder of string field theory, many people dont realize that science fiction has
been an inspiration for the worlds leading scientists.
Criticism of future technology
E.g: Gattaca
The tale of a repressive nation which genetically-engineers its ruling classes,
Gattaca makes it seem that the logical outcome of genetic tampering is fascism.
In reality, history has shown that fascism can exist in the absence of modern
science, and that genetic engineering is merely a tool that can be put to good or
bad uses. And yet the myth of genetic engineering existing on a slippery slope
toward social breakdown is a difficult one for experimental biologists to
overcome.
E.g Frankenstein
Mary Shelley's classic novel of biomedical horror and scientists "playing God,"
this novel has probably done more to scare people away from biotech than
almost any other science fiction story. This novel suggests that monstrosity and
murder are the only possible outcome of science aimed at enhancing humans, or
reusing human parts to create new kinds of life.
E.g Terminator
The field of robotics became popular when people started obsessing over the
well-known and ever-expanding set of Terminator tales about an evil A.I. named
Skynet who destroys humanity with nukes and an army of nasty cyborg soldiers.
In Terminator, it seems inevitable that A.I. will lead to human destruction
except in the few, rare cases when the cyborgs are forcibly reprogrammed
Inspiration for future technology
E.g Look to Windward

One of Ian M. Banks novels about a post-human Culture where enhanced humans
live alongside A.I.s in an anarchic, trans-galactic society, Look to Windward
explores the way humans can maintain their basic identities and ethical values
no matter how much they tamper with their genes or modify their morphology.
For Banks, synthetic biology is simply a logical way that humans extend their
capabilities, but it does not turn them into monsters or make them authoritarian
overlords.
E.g Michaelmas
A novel published by Algis Budrys in 1977 described a worldwide web of
telecommunications and computer data, not unlike what we see today.
More information about the novel:
The eponymous protagonist, Laurent Michaelmas, is an ex-hacker who had early
in the computer era left "back doors" in many key pieces of software which run
vital government and commercial computers. As a result, by the turn of the
millennium, he has become one of the most powerful men on earth, because of
his ability to spy and influence through the worldwide computer network.
By the time of the novel, Laurent Michaelmas has successfully used his power to
create and sustain a powerful version of the United Nations to ensure world
peace. He stays in the background, however, as a journalist, albeit a highly
influential and respected one whose words and opinions can still influence public
opinion. However, as the novel progresses, Michaelmas slowly learns that a
possible extraterrestrial presence may be interfering with the new world he has
worked so hard to create.

The novel is remarkable for its prescience, because it appeared less than a
decade into the Internet era, long before its current prominence and ubiquity.

Adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michaelmas_(novel)

E.g Star Wars

Most prominent areas of research inspired by the film are hyper-drive and
robotics research inspired by Luke Skywalkers ever reliable R2D2 and C3PO.
Question:
(a) Can you think of any other works of science fiction which criticize or
inspire future technology?

The nuances of these words are

important!
ANGER

accusatory
belligerent
bitter
disappointed
disgusted
furious
grouchy
incredulous
indignant
inflammatory
insulting
irritated
outraged
petulant
querulous
savage

Humor (Satire)
belittling
caustic
comical
cynical
facetious
flippant
haughty
insulting
ironic
irreverent
malicious
mock-heroic
mocking
obsequious
ribald
ridiculing
sarcastic

SADNESS/FEAR

TRANQUILITY

apprehensive

calm

concerned

hopeful

despairing

meditative

elegiac

nostalgic

foreboding

optimistic

gloomy

peaceful

hopeless

relaxed

melancholy

reminiscent

morose

sentimental

mournful

serene

pessimistic

soothing

regretful

spiritual

serious

staid

sober
solemn
somber

ROMANCE

affectionate
amorous

sullen

scornful

threatening

taunting

tragic

compassionate
erotic

wrathful

fanciful
ideal

HAPPINESS

ARROGANCE

NEUTRAL

amiable

authoritative

Apathetic

amused

boastful

Authoritative

cheery

bold

Candid

contented

condescending

Cautionary

ecstatic

contemptuous

Ceremonial

elated

critical

Clinical

enthusiastic

disdainful

Detached

exuberant

haughty

Didactic

hopeful

insolent

Distant

LOGIC

jovial

judgmental

Erudite

argumentative

joyful

mordant

Factual

didactic

jubilant

patronizing

Forman

doubtful

lighthearted

pompous

Forthright

explanatory

optimistic

pretentious

Informative

informative

positive

supercilious

Instructive

persuasive

Matter-of-fact

rational

Objective

thoughtful

sanguine

Restrained

intimate
loving
lustful
lyurical
reflective
sensual
tender
whimsical

ii. Words Associated with Tone

POSITIVE

NEGATIVE

NEUTRAL

admiring/ laudatory

arrogant

aloof

amused

bitter/ angry/ resentful/

hostile

ambivalent

approving

cautionary
brusque

compassionate

concerned/ worried
callous

joyful

defensive
world-weary

judicious

detached
condescending

modest/ unassuming/
humble

confused/ befuddled

didactic

optimistic

critical

thoughtful

disparaging

disbelieving
dispassionate
ironic
philosophical/ reflective

cynical
joking

respectful

skeptical
nostalgic

earnest

pessimistic
pensive

sincere

disapproving
remorseful

factual

disdainful
evasive

frank/ honest/ candid

disheartened
grudging

forgiving

dejected
indifferent

humorous

sarcastic
impassioned

informative

lamenting/ sorrowful

impartial

malicious

indignant

supportive

mocking

sentimental

tolerant

nave

serious/ grave/ grim

witty/ humorous/ ironic

nasty/ abusive

shocked

pessimistic

solemn/ dignified

resentful

sympathetic

sarcastic

unemotional

satirical

urgent

flippant

whimsical

hypocritical
insulting
intolerant
irrelevant
scorning/ biting/caustic
self-pitying
whining/ aggrieved/
complaining