Place of Science in the Future Speech

Journal 2.2 – Eloise Gibbs
Goodmorning/ Afternoon fellow classmates and teacher, today I shall be addressing an important issue that faces us, generation Y, as a whole. That issue is the role of science in our future lives. The way it will affect our successes and our failures are thoughts up for contemplation today as we delve into the frightening, yet exciting world that science has in store for us not too far away from our present day. Today I would like to discuss three major points regarding the topic of future worlds and scientific discoveries which are as follows:
Should we embrace the future world of science?
Is there really any other option?
And lastly, will those who embrace the concept of a scientific future be the only ones to succeed?
With no further ado I shall dive right into the first topic.
Should we as human beings growing up in an ever changing society embrace and accept the future world of science? Even now in 2012 we use science and technology on an everyday basis. We go on Facebook, we text our friends, we watch TV. Now, why do we do all this? Because it’s fun? So we can communicate with our friends? Whilst these are both true I think the main reason, is simply so we can fit in with our peers. It is common knowledge that the outcast never succeeds and how could they? If you’re going for a job interview and the interviewer asks for your phone number and you tell them you don’t own a phone. What are they going to think? Would they hire you over someone else with the same qualifications who does own a phone? What I’m trying to say is, if one doesn’t embrace technology in this day and age, they are putting themselves at a disadvantage to the billions of other people out there who use all that science has to offer on a daily basis. An example of this can be seen in the film ‘Gattaca’ where a young man named Vincent takes on the persona of a genetically blessed man so as to achieve his goals in life. In some ways Vincent embraced the future idealisms of genetic engineering and the alteration of one’s DNA because he knew he would not be able to succeed otherwise, which brings me to my second point.
Do we really have any other option than to accept a future world of science? Now, I know all of you in this room have iPads, and I’m assuming the majority of you have mobile phones. But I’ll bet if you asked your parents about their mobile phone when they were kids they’d tell you all about the time they got their first black and white TV set. Which brings me to the point, as new generations are born the need for technology is becoming greater and greater and is occurring at younger and younger ages. What with advertisements for the latest gadget being screamed in our ears from radios, tvs, billboards, magazines and the like, even children as young as three and four are begging their parents for the latest and greatest. Whilst this advertisement scheme is not limited to technology, it is one of their biggest campaigns. In a world where toddlers are running around with iPhone 4’s and you can contact someone on the other side of the world in just a few seconds how could one choose any other option? Referring back to the film ‘Gattaca’, one of my main vexes with the characters was how they seemed to be perfectly okay with living in a completely impersonal world where science dictated their every move, and then I realised that it is not too far off from what we have today, I know from personal experience that when my internet is down I tend to go a little crazy. For example the other week when our internet was down, I began thinking about what I had planned for the next day and considered ‘googling’ it to find out. I of course then realised how ridiculous it was to think that but the point remains valid, we are moving into a world where we rely solely on science, bringing me to my last point.
Will those who embrace the concept of a scientific future be the only ones to succeed? Well if we refer back to my last two points stating that: ‘to embrace science is to fit in with the community around you’ and ‘it is becoming more and more difficult to reject the idea of a technological future’ then we can only assume that to be successful one must welcome the world of science and use it to fulfill their personal needs and achieve their fullest potential. In fact how might one succeed in a world where they are completely separate from their peers in such a vital part of life astechnology? I shall, once again, refer to ‘Gattaca’ where we see altered human beings doing fantastic things such as space missions and performing pieces on the piano impossible to those without twelve fingers whilst, on the other hand, we see the genetically cursed in-valids given employment as cleaners and other menial positions just because they were unfortunate enough to be left behind in a scientific world.
In conclusion, I would like to state that it necessary to embrace the future of science, though we have little choice in the matter, if we want to succeed. I encourage you all to have a strong think about the meaning of this development before leaving here today.
Thankyou for listening.