HUMAN FLOURISHING IN SCIENCE AND

TECHNOLOGY

1. Which of the following statements relates to modern technology as

“poeisis” or bringing forth?
Ans: through technology human realized that nature provides for its needs

2. Which of the following individuals demonstrates the idea that the person is
“swallowed” by the technology?
Ans: The person who feels he/she cannot survive a day without the gadgets.

3. Why did Heidegger describe technology as “challenging forth”?

Ans: It demanded so much from the earth’s resources.

4. Which word encapsulates Aristotle’s concept of human flourishing?

Ans: eudaemonia

5. Which of the following described technology according to Martin

Heidegger? Check all the correct answers.
Ans: it is a human activity
it is a mode of revealing
it is a means to an end

6. Why should technology be questioned?

Ans: all of the given answers are possible reasons

7. How does social media behave like a "standing reserve"?

Ans: It creates an environment to gather online friends to whom we can expect “
likes”.

8. Vanderweele and his colleagues (2017) listed five aspects of human

existence as important social-psychological dimensions of human
flourishing. Which items are included in his list? Check all possible
answers.
Ans: happiness and satisfaction
Meaning and purpose
close social relationship

9. It is a concept defined as an effort to achieve self-actualization and

fulfillment (or being human and humane) within the context of a larger
community of individuals.
Ans: Flourishing

10. Which of the following statements relates to Heidegger’s concept of

technology as a mode of revealing?
Ans: Nature is perceived in technical and scientific manners.

ADD—

Human flourishing can be captured by the term eudaimonia. It is

defined as a contented state of being happy, healthy, and prosperous.
It is also known as " an effort to attain self-discovery and fulfillment
within the setting of society, each with the right to pursue his or her
effort to achieve such state."

Human Flourishing according to Aristotle

For Aristotle, the ultimate purpose of a person is earthly happiness or

flourishing. This can be achieved through reason and acquisition of
virtue. Each human being should use abilities to their fullest potential
and should take pride in being excellent at what they do (Younkins,
2003). http://www.quebecoislibre.org/031122-11.htm

Human Flourishing in the socio-psychological perspective

Vanderweele (2017) purported that human flourishing is “a state in

which all aspects of a person’s life are good.” It includes the five
domains of human life - happiness and life satisfaction, mental and
physical health, meaning and purpose, character and virtue, and
close social relationships.
http://www.christoncampuscci.org/human-flourishing-full-article/

Human Flourishing in the Christian Perspectives

According to Sallade (n.d.), "a flourishing life will be a life lived in right
relationship with God, with one's environment, with neighbors, and
with self". https://www.pnas.org/doi/pdf/10.1073/pnas.1702996114

THE GOOD LIFE

–PPT LINK

https://usa.neolms.com/files/7564240/The_good_life(2).pptx?lmsauth
=c7c4aae644dbaa3e450f5c759acaf3b3f738efab

A good life is when you are able to take out time for yourself and
enjoy the small pleasures of life. A good life is also when everyday
teaches you something new, something that cheers up your soul. Or
it can be when you readily accept criticism and work towards
improving yourself.

The good life is a term for the life that one would like to live, or for
happiness(McNamara, D.,et.al. 2018).

Aristotle argued that as we mature, we act less aimlessly and more

purposefully. We try to develop a plan for living that unites all our
various purposes. Without a plan for living, we don’t know what we
are trying to do or why we’re trying to do it.
For Aristotle, the final end of human life is to flourish, to live well, to
have a good life. All actions should aim at this end. Of course, in
order to live at all we need food, clothing, and shelter, but living is
itself the means to the end of living well. And what is living well a
means to? Aristotle says that living well is the final end for humans; it
is not a means to anything else. Aristotle thinks this is obvious
because few people want to live poorly.

For Aristotle, happiness is a final end/goal that encompasses the

totality of one’s life. It is not something that can be gained/lost in a
few hours like pleasurable sensations. Further he explained, for as it
is not one fine day that makes a spring, so it is not one day or a short
time that makes a man blessed and happy (Nicomachean Ethics,
1098a18). This is associated with Aristotle’s eudaimonia in his
Nicomachean Ethics. Eudaimonia is a term that means happiness
and is a central aim of stoic philosophy(retrieved from lectures during
the second GE 1 training, May 2017)

Aristotle in his Nicomachean Ethics stated that “if… we take the

characteristic activity of a human being to be a certain kind of life; and
if we take this kind of life to be activity of the soul and actions in
accordance with reason… and a characteristic activity to be
accomplished well when it is accomplished in accordance with the
appropriate virtue; then if this is so, human good turns out to be
activity of the soul in accordance with virtue.”

Happiness is the ultimate end of human action (McNamara, D., et.

al., 2018). Happiness is consists in achieving, through the course of
a lifetime, all the goods – health, wealth, knowledge, friends, etc.
leading to perfection of human nature and enrichment of human life
(http://www.pursuit-of-happiness-org). Therefore, happiness defines
a good life. (McNamara, D., et. al., 2018).
 In the pursuit of understanding happiness, there were two main
theoretical perspectives focusing on what makes people feel good
and happy, these are eudaimonia and hedonia.

Hedonic wellbeing is based on the notion of subjective wellbeing

that increased pleasure and decreased pain leads to happiness. It
comprises of an affective component (high positive affect and low
negative affect) and cognitive component (satisfaction with
life)(Carruthers & Hood, 2004).

Eudaimonic wellbeing is reliant on Maslow’s ideas of self

-actualization and based on subjective wellbeing. It emphasizes that
people feel happy if they experience life purpose, challenges and
growth. This adopts self-determination theory which suggests that
happiness is related to fulfilment in the areas of autonomy and
competence.

VIRTUE AND GOOD LIFE

Virtue plays a significant role in living and attainment of the good life
(McNamara, D.J., et.al.,2018).

There are two kinds of virtue: intellectual and moral. Intellectual virtues are
habits of thinking like understanding the nature of things, judging the truth of
matters, reasoning from a truth known from the truth that is not known. While
moral virtues come about as a result of habit (McNamara, D.J., et.al., 2018).

According to positive psychology , there are three pathways to happiness:

1. pleasure - the process of maximizing positive emotion and minimizing negative

emotion – this is referred to as pleasant life. It involves enjoyable and positive
experiences.
2. engagement – the process of being immersed and absorbed in the task at hand
and is referred to as good life . It results from individual cultivating and investing
strength and virtues into relationships, work and leisure (Seligman. 2002). By
applying the best of self during challenging activities results to growth and feeling
of competence and satisfaction thus bringing about happiness.
3. meaning – the process of having a higher purpose in life than ourselves -
referred to as meaningful life. It involves the use of strengths and personal
qualities to this higher purpose. The combination of these three elements
suggests that it would contribute to authentic and stable happiness
(Vella-Brodick, Park & Peterson, 2009; Carruthers & Hood. 2004)

HUMANS AT THE AGE OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY

Technology is more than an abstract concept associated with

advanced tools and systems used by businesses and end-users for
convenience and automation of complex tasks. It also shapes the
way societies and people behave, grow, evolve, and develop, both
within their own lives and in their relationships with others (Wardynski
2019) .

"5 technologies that will change the future of human race"

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2022/02/07/the-5-technolo
gies-that-will-change-the-future-of-the-human-race/?sh=5b988d178f1
c

Roboethics

In the 1940s, American writer Isaac Asimov developed the Three

Laws of Robotics arguing that intelligent robots should be
programmed in a way that when facing conflict they should remit and
obey the following three laws:
 ● A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a
human being to come to harm
● A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where
such orders would conflict with the First Law
● A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does
not conflict with the First or Second Law

https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/roboethics-the-human-ethic
s-applied-to-robots

THE INFORMATION SOCIETY

PPT LINK
https://usa.neolms.com/files/7564251/Chapter_8_Information_Society(2).p
ptx?lmsauth=5a946d366083de7a38c490d71f3fd49417b40c8d

–ESSAY–

1. Information is utilized as an economic resource; the Philippines, for instance,

relies on the data provided by social media and other sources to create and
develop its society and technology more effectively. Information is used more
frequently by people in their daily activities as consumers: to better understand
their options when deciding which things to buy, to explore their rights to public
services, and to exercise more self-control. Additionally, they use information to
perform their political duties and rights. Information systems are also being
created that will significantly increase public access to educational and cultural
resources.
2. When something that is off limits to the public is accessed or made public without
the owner's consent, it is considered an invasion of privacy. Individuals who lose
 their privacy may suffer very real consequences, such as identity theft or
embarrassment. The risk of inaccuracy, misunderstanding, discrimination, bias,
and other abuses increases with the amount of sensitive information that is
transmitted. Information access is a basic right. Another is information inequity,
Information access is still not equitably dispersed, especially for communities that
are already at jeopardy. Locally, when nations increasingly rely on online media
and communications, language can be a complicated barrier. Due to the limited
availability of information in their own languages, hundreds of ethnic minority
populations run the risk of falling behind. About information control, Authorities
are taking action on issues regarding economic productivity, intellectual property
rights, privacy protection, and the accessibility and affordability of information due
to the wide-ranging implications that advancements in information technology are
having across many sectors of the society. The huge increases in the capabilities
and applications of new information technologies have been accompanied and
supported by the remarkable reductions in communication costs, which have
been driven by both technological advancements and higher demand.
3. If social media was deactivated for a month in the country, there would be severe
disturbance. Any country or nation make profit from social media and the majority
of businesses rely on it. It can make people lose their job because social media
also plays a huge role in the economy. There will also be a disadvantage and
advantages to the society if social media will be taken down.
4. As a student to ensure that I do not propagate inaccurate and unreliable
information, I will share content from trusted and and known sources or websites.
Also research is also important before you publish or post something in the
media and shouldn't be bias to any information. Fact-check is a must before
anything else.

BIODIVERSITY
From the smallest single-celled bacterium to the tallest redwoods in California,
the varieties of life on Earth are what we call Biodiversity. Every organism has a
unique role in the ecosystem to help maintain and support the cycle of life.
Organisms interact with each other and their environment providing various
resources to humanity that is often overlooked.
The food you eat, the water you drink, and the air you breathe all depend on
biodiversity. Biodiversity is short for "biological diversity" which was first coined by
Walter Rosen when organizing the National Forum on Biodiversity. The
proceedings were later published as part of a book called Biodiversity by E.O.
Wilson in 1988 that cemented the term in both scientific communications and
public awareness (Neuman, 2009).

Biodiversity is the measure of variety and variability of life (Faith, 2007).

Biodiversity is comprised of several levels: genetic diversity, species diversity,

and ecosystem diversity (Australian Museum, 2020).

Genetic diversity is the variety of genes present among individuals of the same
species (Australian Museum, 2020). Genes are made up of DNA and are the
building blocks that determine how an organism will develop (eg. variation of eye
color) and what traits and abilities will be (eg. ability to metabolize).

The amount of genetic diversity is important because it represents the raw

materials for evolution and adaptation. It serves as a way for the population to
adapt to changing environments (Lumen Learning, n.d.).

Less diversity leads to uniformity which would lead to less adaptability to a

changing environment. The offspring can be exposed to a handful of
environmental factors which could lead to furthering biodiversity or its stagnation
depending on which factor it is exposed (California Academy of Sciences, 2014).

Genetic diversity often increases with environmental variability because many

genes are in the population at any given time, however, inbreeding, genetic drift
(founder effect and bottleneck effect), restricted gene flow (eg. by physical
barriers), and small population size all contribute to a reduction in genetic
diversity. Fragmented and threatened populations are typically exposed to these
conditions, which is likely to increase their risk of extinction (Furlan et al., 2012).
Species diversity is the variety of species within a habitat or a region (Australian
Museum, 2020). A species is a group of organisms that is able to interbreed
freely under natural conditions to produce viable offspring. Each species can be
considered to have a particular "role" in the ecosystem thus, any addition or
subtraction of single species may have consequences for the system as a whole.

Species diversity is measured by species richness and species evenness

(Launchbaugh, 2011) The two different communities can have the same species
richness, but a different relative abundance (evenness). A community with an
even species abundance is more diverse (Figure A) than one in which one or two
species are abundant and the remainder are rare (Figure B).

Ecosystem diversity is the variety of ecosystems in a given space. The basic

principle of biodiversity applies here as well, but the scope is much larger such
as with the community of organisms and their physical environment interacting
together. It is at this level that the interaction and links among species and the
consequences of those are evident (Australian Museum, 2020).

In the Philippines, the introduction of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) started in

the late 1990s. Currently, there are 120 GMO crops approved for food, feed, or for
processing including Alfalfa, canola, cotton, corn, potato, rice, soybean, and sugar beet.

Philippine Policies in Relation to GMOs

1990 – Executive Order 430 (EO 430): -- Created the National Committee on Biosafety
of the Philippines (NCBP)

1991 – First Edition of the Philippine Biosafety Guidelines (PBG) - with a revised edition
dated 2014

2002 – Department of Agriculture- Administrative Order 8 (DAO 8) -- appoints its

Bureau of Plant Industry (DA-BPI) to regulate field trials and propagation and
commercial release of GMOs

2006 – Executive Order 514 (EO 514): National Biosafety Framework

2010 – Republic Act 10068 or the Organic Agriculture Act

2013 – Republic Act 10611 or the Food Safety Act Relevant Laws

THE NANO WORLD

Which of the following is NOT an example of nanoscience in nature?

Ans: Gold that can stretch to form flexible substances

Nanometals are?
Ans: Very promising in many applications and toxicology studies are now underway to
assess their safety

Which of the following examples are NOT in the nanometer scale?

Ans: Pollen grain

We know that nanomachines can exist because_____

Ans: scientists have created a nanobot that travels through your bloodstream ‘’zapping
cancerous cells

Which of the following explains possible disadvantages brought about by

nanotechnology?
Ans: all of the above choices are correct

What might be the concern about the use of nanotechnology

Ans: all of the above are legitimate concerns about nanotechnology

Nanoscience is the study of

Ans: phenomena on the scale of electrons

At the nanoscale a material can have different properties compared to its bulk form.
This statement is _____.

Ans: TRUE

Which of the following are currently or might soon be possible with nanotechnology?
Ans: all of the above are possible

Which of the following properties of particles are altered in nanotechnology?

Ans: any of the above choices