Lead Our Technology towards the Right Path

In response to the Era of Conscience movement, Dr. Leehter Yao, the President of National Taipei University of Technology, Taiwan, emphasized the importance of engineering ethics. He said, “Each student in our school must choose the mandatory course, “engineering ethics”. I totally agree that the essence of this course originates from a kind heart and is related to the era of conscience. We hope that all of our students graduate from the university not only with good technology, but also with kind heart and conscience in mind to distinguish what is good and what is not,  so as not to damage our lives or environment.”.

In the 21^st Century, the world witnesses an exponential rise in technological advancements. We can create plastic bags from oil to make our shopping easier. We can produce our meat sources in only a couple of weeks by feeding them the chemicals tested in the lab. We can grow enormous amount of food using pesticides and genetics. Moreover, we can easily produce electricity to power the cities by burning coals. The advance has brought us a comfortable living than last generation.  Now we can almost get everything by simply flipping our fingers.  However, the indulgence in modern life is not without cost.

Plastic bags pose severe pollutions to our environment in that they never decompose under most conditions.  Most of the meat we eat is injected with large amount of antibiotics, causing illnesses and diseases in our body. Pesticides and genetics in our food can potentially change the system of our body, leading to birth defects and other illnesses.  And finally, though electricity is vital for the functioning of the cities, most electricity is produced by burning coal, which is responsible for the large buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.  When we push the technology into next stage, we need to think not only the convenience it brings to current living, but also the potential impact on future life.  If we are keen to move towards a sustainable future, we will need conscience to lead the development of technology.  Put conscience in our hearts and it will inspire us to balance between self-interest and general welfare, short term benefit and long term prosperity, and human and nature.  We can also secure a better work ethics and stop those notorious industry espionage or sabotage by promoting more conscious conducts.  Evidently, conscience is the key solution to ensure a healthy technological and sustainable development for our living environment.  Conscience is the seed. If we put the seed into the development of new technology or new design, we will be able to expect an eco-friendly development in the future. 

Dr. Leehter Yao encouraged everyone, “Keep our conscience and make our contribution to the love and world peace.”  Everyone is the leader and should guide his/her own way based on conscience.  The founder of the Movement of An Era of Conscience, Dr. Hong Tao Tze, said, “With conscience comes a peaceful world.With happiness comes a joyful family.”