Monday, January 16, 2012

Blog 17 1/16/12

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Let's get deep this week.

I want to talk about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his thoughts on technology.

In 1964 Dr. King delivered a lecture the day after winning the Nobel Peace Prize in which he told his audience at the University of Oslo that "material advancement was meaningless without an accompanying moral structure." In other words, the growing abundance of technology is undermining the human spirit. My favorite quote from the article is: "The richer we have become materially, the poorer we become morally and spiritually," he said. "We have learned to fly in the air like birds and swim in the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers."

Do NOT post until Thursday. Doing so will earn you a zero.


This week I'm asking you to think, REALLY THINK about Dr. King's words. I want his words to work on you a little bit.

He is telling us that technology advancement needs to go hand in hand with spiritual advancement, or it's all for nothing. THINK. Do you agree or disagree with Dr. King? WHY? You will answer both of those questions to receive credit this week.

Talk to me . . .

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/12/dayintech_1211

81 comments:

Anonymous said...

i think mlk is right. people are becoming desensitied to everything under the sun morals have been thrown out the window and people jus dont care anymore he predicted that technology was no good with out the moral structure to go behind it and was completely correct most people dont even regard the stuff they see on tv or internet every day and the kids and generations after are the ones to suffer for it if we had listened to mlk jr. we might be at a place wher we were closer to world peace instead of as far away from it as possible.
~Miara 1st

Anonymous said...

I do agree with Dr. King, because the technology that could be used to better the world is reliant on people using it to better the world. Without the moral structure, the technology can't be used to its full potential.

-Tobin, 1st

Anonymous said...

I agree because i think that we still have problems with others but we came so far with technology.
$d'jarius-1st$

Anonymous said...

I agree with what Dr.King says because its true that we get sucked into our technology and end up not caring about anythying but that. We put focus on our material posessions too much. Technology seems to be the reason why we often forget our morals and standards. Me personally, I'm bad about this too because I do get caught in my phone and my computer sometimes, but I do know how to control and step away when I need to.

Amanda-1st

Anonymous said...

I agree with Dr. King, because without good morals and spiritual advancement, it would be hard to make the world a better place because it would be all materialistic, and not thinking about what would actually be best. WE get so caught up in material things and we need to be thinking of our morals.
-Ellen 1st

Anonymous said...

I agree with Dr. King. I feel that his theory that the advantage of becoming materially rich would deplete the spirituality and morality of people.
His theory, although a drastic conclusion, seems to prove true.
I say that because, in the time it has taken people to realize that technology solves many problems, more and more people invest in that instead of solving those problems for themselves. That reduces the things people learn in order to support themselves. I feel like material things that are offered today are what weaken people. The world may have been better off without so much...?
Brittany Diaz 1st period

Anonymous said...

Yes, I do agree because if people would work together the way that technology does I think that people would look at life different..
K~Mac, 1st

Anonymous said...

i agree to the martin lecture or speech. People this days are just crazy. They are becoming more morals witht the technologie surrounded by them. Maybe thats one of the reasons of why we arent in peace around the world?
1st period HM

Anonymous said...

Dr.Mlk words are correct to me also.The technology that he predicted could help the world is not what people use it for now.Its like he took time out of his busy day to explain his thoughts on the technology but the generations now just look completly past it like it was no importance in the world to what was being spoke then. The morals now days are just all messed up and he tried his best to steer away from that. TUTT-1ST

Anonymous said...

I agree with what MLK is saying, because he forseen that everything that has something to do with technology today would not go so well..I think he believed that if we put as much work into coming together as one as we do in technology, then we would not have to be so bias against each other.
*Takarya-1st*

Anonymous said...

I agree with Dr.King's speech, and what he means by the richer in materials we become, the poorer we become in morals. I think this is really true. Sometimes we forgot that just because we are taking huge leaps in technology, we sometimes forgot that we are still people. We should use technology to further peace, and not use it to harm one another

Michael 1st period

Anonymous said...

I completely agree with Dr. King because it's true. We cant even live together as one peaceful nation. Instead we choose to have wars with other countries and also have small revolts inside our own country. I hate to say this but I do think the U.S. is going to fall apart like Russia did. What I am saying is that the U.S. is going to fall apart from the inside out. I mean our goverment says that we are thriving and we all know that they are flat out lieing in our faces, but we are just people and we choose not to do anything about it. Some people may call me a total idiot for what Im saying but go right ahead and call me whatever you like because now they just bounce off of me. Before I had a turn insults just sunk me, they affected me morally, physically, and emotionally.

Justin-1st

Anonymous said...

I what MLK is trying to say that when technology comes out then the people's knowlegde about things begins to decrease because everyone will rely on technology to do things for them. I like the quote,"We have learned to fly in the air like birds and swim in the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers."
I think because of the technology some people have helps them accomplish things others can't.

Nhi #1

Anonymous said...

I personaly believe that King is right, technology should be used for our spritulalty purposes. I understand that there is technology that we could say has nothing to do with moral advancemnt, but has anybody really thought about it and tried to use that technology for this advancement?
- Victor 1st

Anonymous said...

well i think that he is right in what he is saying because we are all up for the technology but not to make a change or how we react to things or even how we act.
yoana lopez 4th

Anonymous said...

I do agree with MLK. I think that with all the new technologies and matrial things have become so important that everyone's morals are being lost. We cant improve on rules or regulations without our morals.
Ellen Ash-5th

Anonymous said...

MLK's statement is almnost scary accurate. We have grown technologoically to the point that all is needed is a push of a button to destroy the human race. I often question whether or not we have grown enough as a civilization to avoid this catastrophe.

-Blake

Anonymous said...

I agree, the things we have and use today are great,but yet some are still used in a bad way.

Gavin 4th

Anonymous said...

I think that mlk was rigth in what he said as technology advances we seeem to distance ourselves from others an not care as much. as people and our technology advance i agree that we need to advance in morality as well because without our morality and care for other human beings we also lose our humanity. We become too self absorbed and too focused on our selves and our technology. -emily 4th

Anonymous said...

I agree with Dr.King's speech because this is true what he says about it. Because if dont work together we will no susceed and acomplished the goal of building something in live and to not forget the reality from the fiction.
Marsilo 4th period

Anonymous said...

i agree, because the more advanced we get without evolving our iner selfs. we will compleet lose the think that gives use the skills to porform in real life social situations.

Luis M.-4th

Anonymous said...

Our society i believe could take some great usage in what MLK voices. Downhill is all our society is going right now and with all the technology being invented and produced, it gives us more of an incentive to stop communication with our world and get more focused on a 16' screen and not enough focus on the actual things that matter. I completely agree with what he is saying because of this.

Anonymous said...

I believe in what MLK was saying that we are losing our way morally. We have the tech to see the world form are sceens and and fly anywhere we want but we cant sit down and solve our problems with nonviloence. WE dont have the ablility to have world peace but we have new guns thats sad.
Zach-4

Anonymous said...

i think MLK is so right, technology could and can get far. we use technology but at the end we dont realy apreciate it or care about it.

-Paz 4th

Anonymous said...

Our society i believe could take some great usage in what MLK voices. Downhill is all our society is going right now and with all the technology being invented and produced, it gives us more of an incentive to stop communication with our world and get more focused on a 16' screen and not enough focus on the actual things that matter. I completely agree with what he is saying because of this.

Meagan McG-4th

Birdie said...

I dont agree because I see everybody see that he said something about spiritual meaning so that automatically means he is correct. It is alot of things used to better the world. It's some that destroys it also. So it's 50/50..
D'Ante Riggins -4th

Anonymous said...

I agree with MLK. Because technology is messed up enough and needs to be more defined unlike it is now.

-Jacques4th

Anonymous said...

I dont agree with what Dr. King said because not everything thats good that happens to do with technology has to be good spiritually

Jeron G. 4th Pd.

Anonymous said...

I agree because as the years go buy more technolgy will be availabele to the world. Technology that is dangerous now might be easier accesable in the future. And without resposible consiousnes, the world might end up destroying itself. Its amazing how much the world has advanced technologically in just a few years. So imagine what more we could achieve if we had spiritual advancement as well.

Bonifilio Soto 4th

Anonymous said...

i think mlk is right and wrong. the reason i think he is right because i am religious and i think that would be good and his statement was somewhat correct. i also think he is wrong though because i dont think it would be fair for those people that arent religious because they shouldnt be forced to have to use technology that is religious and them not being religious it would be wrong to make those people do that.
Curly 4th

Anonymous said...

It's true. Technology (and materialism in general) distracts from spiritual and moral advancement. People spend unbelievable amounts of time with our tech and in working to get more. It's the Everyman/American/World dream: have boatloads of stuff. And more and more people are willing to go to great lengths to get it.
College (for job) -> Fancy job (for money/success) -> Stealing money from the Company (for that thing you don't quite have enough $ for) -> Promoted to CEO (for success/power) -> Steal More Money (for more stuff!) -> Forget how to be a decent human being.
As an oversimplified/exaggerated example.

-Brittany Wells, 4th

Anonymous said...

I agree with Dr. King because technology is a waste if we aren't learning anything from it. We have to improve ourselves mentally as we make progress in technology.

Jameika-5th

Anonymous said...

I agree with MLK. The people of this world today are depending on technology more than they are depending on anything else.

Darian 5th

Anonymous said...

i agree with Dr. King. i think that people are becoming so dependent on technology. i think it should be used for spirtually purposes because it would make things peaceful. now, that really isnt happening, everyone just wants material things. it is causing us to lose morals

Caroline Kingham 5

Anonymous said...

I agree with Dr.King. He states that "The richer we have become materially, the poorer we become morally and spiritually" this statement is true because we have become so focused on the the technology that we forget everything else around us such as our morals and beliefs. We focus so much on trying to develop new things thats could help better the world but skip the most obvious way to help out and improve our life which is by changing ourselves for the better by not foregtting what we believe in.
-Ivette F. 5th P

Anonymous said...

I agree with Dr. King. These days people are so into their technologies that they are forgetting what is really important in life. I think the more we discover with technology the more we will loose oursleves as people. I still think we need technology, but if we make that the most important thing in our lives it can start to affect us as people.
-Meleah 5th

Anonymous said...

i agree with what MLK says. what we have now is amazing. but people now almost most use technology in a bad way.

Osman 5th

Anonymous said...

i dont agree because not every belives in spirtual.

-david b. 5th

Anonymous said...

yes, i agree. Us has people need to come closer with technology, especially in the teenager generation. but we really need to think about coming closer with our sisters and brothers spiritually and make peace with one another.
-ambria curl

Anonymous said...

I agree with Dr. King. It seems as though the more advance we become in the technology world we lose some of our morals. We cannot use technology to its full potenial when our egoisitc and materialistic minds obscure the purpose of technological advancements.

Elizabeth Turner
5th Period

Anonymous said...

I believe in what Dr. King is saying about technology. We are losing our values the more we advance in technology. We are losing pieces of ourselves and our independence when we rely more on technology.

Anonymous said...

I believe in what Dr. King is saying about technology. We are losing our values the more we advance in technology. We are losing pieces of ourselves and our independence when we rely more on technology.

Rhiannon-5th

Anonymous said...

yes, I do support Dr. King's opinion on technology advancement needing to go in hand with spiritual advancement.
I agree cause doesn't matter how extreme technology can be, theres no technology to bring people together as brothers/sisters.

-The Boss; David Radnitzer
-5th

Anonymous said...

Dr king is right! thats why he got a Nobel Peace Prize :]
technology is going all kids of crazy its true...having so much technology can be a good thing but also a bad one
sometimes we do forget our morals like having dinner with the familly because were to busy tweeting or on fb (thats just an example)
-Norma

Anonymous said...

I agree because people always talk trash on the internet about somebody and they dont even know you like that. When you could get to know somebody and become friends and help each other out.

DRE 5 PERIOD

Anonymous said...

I agree with Dr. King. If people don't further their own spiritual being then their ability to use the technology that's being created will be very limited. Because instead, of using the technology to do wonderful things it's being used to steal and cheat, among other things. People do not currently have the spiritual level to turn around and use this technology to create good, rather than bad.

-Rye

Anonymous said...

I agree with MLK. Instead of using technology to better ourselves and come together we use it for pleasure and negativity towards others.

Shaq - 7th

Anonymous said...

I agree with King. Moral and technological growth shoud go hand in hand (if anything morals should be a priority over technology but never the opposite). With the power that technology brings you need to have moral restraint. Where do you stop? Think about nuclear warfare. We have all of these massively destructive weapons, but what if we didn't have the self control to prevent armagedon

Gage Green-7

Anonymous said...

yes i agree.If we only developed technology and not ourselves as well we open our selves up to ignorance,brains without sense doesnt make any common sense

Anonymous said...

Yes, I agree with Dr. King's word because we care more about material things nowadays that we forget about so many things. Money can't buy happiness and it seems that some people are happier with money. We've made progress thanks to technology but we also have to think about our spiritual life. Maybe if we let the material things to the side for one day and we just talk to everybody we could make a change.
-Diana 7th pd.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. if all we do is not to better ourselfs then what use do we have of technology. All technology needs a moral support. The tech of today is for conveniance and not ment to help people in accepting eachother.

michi-7

Anonymous said...

I think he is right for the reason that many people use technology for no reason sometimes. For example some technology was design to help people with things they can't do on the own, but now they're taking advantage of it & becoming lazy.

Eric-7th

Anonymous said...

i agree in a way. without moral backing in the technology and the people that use it then all humanity might as well jump out a window or start turning themselves into robots.we spend all our time with technology and because of it people dont interact and become unable to associate with other human beings.because of that we lose morals stop undertsanding the world and go into a fantasy.maybe if we listened to Dr.King's words we wouldnt have all these problems.
-jasmine 7th

Anonymous said...

I totally agree with Dr. King.
the reason why is because he is correct on the fact that "The richer we have become materially, the poorer we become morally and spiritually." Which is true, because we then become consumed with these riches and before we know it; it has completely taken us away from the outisde world spiritually and physically.
Dr. King was a VERY intellectual man, and would have, I believe, made this world such a happy place and would have stopped segregation before it became a VERY big issue

- Luke 7th

Anonymous said...

I agree with mlk because the more that technology advanced the less people came together. technology blocks us from the "real world" sure technology lets us know things all over the world but i bet they dont know their neighbors. in the old days technology did not get in the way of discovering the real world and interacting with people

m.h 7th period

Anonymous said...

I have never really thought about the progress of technology and morality going hand in hand and effecting one another, but Dr. King's statement is very eye openig and true. As technology and man kind progresses, it seems like people now should be able to live in peace but technology has played a detrimental part in today's society. Without progression in morality and spirit, the progress of either of these things goes to waste.

-Katherine :) 7th

Anonymous said...

I agree with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We always hear about new technology and how it is going to do all these cool things later on in the future. But, we don't hear morals or any truths unless we read books or listen to what our parents say. No wonder teenagers are the most missing age group in church. We can clearly see that without Spiritual growth, commonly known as morals, technology will only succumb to a more ignorant and defiant nation that is hellbent on destroying everything just for self gain.

~Matthew DeWard Period 7

Anonymous said...

I both agree and disagree with Dr. King. I agree where he says that we need to improve upon our spiritual and moral lives because there is absolutely a need to lead a good life and be good examples for others, but I don't agree with how he believes that the "growing abundance [of science and technology advances are] undermining the human spirit". It cannot be the fault of science and it cannot be the fault of technology for moral decline. It is the responsibility of people to improve their morality and spirituality, no one or thing else's responsibility.

-Ashley R. 7th

Anonymous said...

I deffinately agree with King. Just because we are technologically advanced doesnt mean we are improving all around. In fact the increase in tech might even relate to decline in moral priority. Also the fact that we depend on tech makes us less concerned with the real world and more out of touch. A testimony to this is the mistreatment of blacks during the civil rights movement.

Ross C. - 7

Anonymous said...

I believe Martin Luther King Jr. is correct when he says that technology is depriving us if we don't take moral advancement into consideration. Look at the futuristic weapons for warfare. All of it is designed to kill or harm people, but we should try to find peace. Many people find technology advancement a necessary, but the purpose of the technology is blurred by our mentality and no thought of how these advancements will help us morally and spiritually.

-Neil Baquiran 7th

Anonymous said...

I would have to say I agree with him because with technology advancing we lack to appreciate the little things that we have and others wish they did we take things for granite.

Raul 8th

Anonymous said...

i agree with mlk, because with new technology you also have new responsibilitys. without moral growth new technology can cause more destruction then benifit.
@reidperry14 8th

Anonymous said...

I would agree with Dr. King because technology can not just be understood by one race. Helping one another on ideas and projects is what has made us be more advanced..
-Juanita 8th

Anonymous said...

I agree with MLK because the fact that we've become so dependent on technology. Half the work jobs are on computer and if not on computer, something to do with technology. Everybody is on the internet, cell phones went from a communication for transportation to another computer in your pocket. There are kids now that will throw a fit if they can't play their consoles, or go live on the consoles. Kids are learning only from computers. Books are becoming a thing of the past.
-8th Destiny C.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Dr. King because he makes a great point that even though we come so far in technology and being so advanced that we can't even achieve the simple task of treating eachother equally.
-Savannah 8th

Anonymous said...

i agree with mr.king cuz he is trying to tell us that with all the technology we have that instead of putting that tech to better use. we put it to war and other bad things. we need to be united

placido 8th

Anonymous said...

I agree with Dr. King because everything we do, we should do to Glorify God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 states, So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
Kacy 8

Anonymous said...

i agree with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.. with out moral structure the technology cant fully extend to its full potential. people get too attached to technology that that we dont care for nothing else. people put too much effort on material thing rather than spiritial and so we loose whats important. if we can combine them, technology can be better than it in now.
jazz-8

Anonymous said...

I agree in some respects with Dr. King's words. I agree that technological growth has become exponential, and I agree that this growth ratio does not apply to moral growth as a society. But I do not agree that these two measurements must be proportional. Yes, society's morality should remain at a healthy level, and as of the present it is not near the level it should be at for true peace and prosperity. But I don't believe that this has any relation to material innovation. Technology is increasing, morality is not; there is no connection.

Miranda, 8th

Anonymous said...

i agree wit dr. mlk beacause if we would work together the way that technology does I think that we would look at life another way , technology is really changing and so are we

-eli8th (x

Anonymous said...

Martin Luther King is right about what he says in the speech. We get caught up in the technology that we dont really apperciate the other things around us like we should. NElis 8th

Anonymous said...

I completely agree with Dr. King. When we take into account all of the technological information we as humans have acquired and compare that to how we have progressed with regards to human relations we have to realize that something is very wrong. We have developed amazing cars and phones, but we can't develop a cordial relationship with our next door neighbor. And to add to all of that, human relationships are the basis of a society. Without them society crumbles, and that is why it is so important to take Dr. King's words to heart.

Trenton B. - 8th

Anonymous said...

I agree with Dr. King because people now nowadays are spending more and more money on technology than on stuff they really need and people now spend less and less time with their family.
-Andrew 8th

Anonymous said...

i agree Everyday as people progress we forget the purpose of life. The rich become richer and the poor become poorer... Its like we forget the main reasons of our goals and how to achive them correctly
Miguelito
8th

Anonymous said...

that is for dr. king beause kill people is year ago dec 11 1964 but he have son beause dr.king is jail for kill people
lucasjardon
1/19/2012
8prideo

Anonymous said...

This is a very difficult subject to discuss. I do agree that we do need moral structure in our technological advances. with how realistic technology is making certain things such as movies or video games, violence or sex is hardly being censored and what not. morals and such have been becoming less and less enforced and seeing kids younger than myself doing things that older people do is kind of disturbing. it really is going to hurt our generation and the one after at this rate. on the other side of the spectrum, morals can be limits and or guidelines. the renaissance was a time where men cast God out of their thoughts and works and many new inventions and art was discovered. more recent, the atomic bomb was discovered, not very moral to create a weapon that can destroy the world but, irreversably it saved it even.
sam 8

Anonymous said...

I agree with Martin Luther King Jr.The majoirty of the people are getting sucked into technology and forgetting to keep their morals straight. We need to not be so caught up in technology that we lose our sense of right and wrong.
becca-8

Devin Bruton said...

i agree with MLK....instead of letting all of the new technological advancements get to our heads..we need to all come together and figure out a way to make things better!

Devin Bruton said...

i agree with MLK....instead of letting all of the new technological advancements get to our heads..we need to all come together and figure out a way to make things better!

Anonymous said...

I get where the King is coming from, but I just don't think religion and technology will ever mix.

Nicholas Morin - 7th period

Anonymous said...

I think he is right because when you create new technology some people dont have the same idea original use it wasnt attended for. Without moral structure, technology wont be used as it was it intended. Possibly not even to its full potiential.
-GaryB, 8th