张灵:浙江大学选手,第17届21世纪杯全国英语演讲比赛三等奖获得者。
自我介绍:
个性阳光开朗,为人热情大方。
做事认真仔细,做人低调随性。
年少略有轻狂,梦想志在远方。
岁月将我磨砺,时光让我成长。
演讲稿:
Humanism is like a rock.
It smashes a mask. A mask we human being are weaving with modern technologies. A mask we are wearing to disguise our own ugliness. A mask we are just reluctant to shed. Humanism mashes that mask, reveals the real face that people have tried so hard to hide, greed of the condor, arrogance of the peacock, gluttony of the locust and envy of the snake.
In a technologically advanced world, all those tremendously fabulous achievements of modern technology blind us from those unkind and evil. They make us believe we are prefect. People seldom care about the workers being contaminated by the chemical reagent used for the screen in our cellphone, simply because the touch screen phone is stylish. People seldom care about seagulls and turtles, because drilling a hole in the middle of the ocean and pumping out petroleum makes money. People seldom care about bears, because slice their abdomen and drainage the bile is now said to be painless and profitable. These are all thanks to modern technologies.
However, humanism concerns about the human and our connections with the nature. When our mask was crushed into dust, however repugnant we are, we have now realized with no confusion of beaming technologies how little we are concerned about others and other creatures’ lives.
Technology is the mask that conceals the evil and unkindness of us human beings. Humanism shatters us into a thousand pieces, pointing out our limitations and shortcomings.
Humanism is like piles of rocks.
It does not only smash our masks, but also build up a way to a better future. Einstein once said “it is more important to find a problem than to solve one”. Our technologies may have being continuously advancing over the last few centuries because we always find limitations and defects about them. Forced to see our own limitations, we shall not be disappointed but filled with vigor. Though it is painful and shameful to let humanism unmask us, we shall felicitate ourselves on finding the way ahead, the problem unsolved, and the key dusted. A defect might be a blessing in disguise.
We may not be flawless, but at least we know where to improve and amend. We may be imperfect, but that doesn’t diminish our confidence to live and descend.
We have books discussing about humanism in a technologically advanced world. In her book Silent Spring, Rachel Carson points out people’s greed for profit makes them giving up the respect for nature, applying all those germicide and pesticide. In the book Reverence for Life, Albert Schweitzer raises the connection that humanism as part of our ethical standard.
Besides books, there are people talking about humanism in a technologically advanced world. Mother Teresa told us “People have given science too much love. Now it is time for a little science for love”. And we gathered here discussing this heated issue. This particular question is being raised by an ever increasing number of people. Even if there are saying that man can never get rid of pride and arrogance, it has already made a difference to understand and amend.
Humanism is exactly the same thing as smashing our mask, exposing our defect, humiliating us and building up our way ahead.
In a technologically advanced world, it is never wrong to cherish technologies and science. But it is wrong to cache our shortcomings under the cover of advanced technologies and its achievements. It is wrong to put our faith in technology rather than us, humans.
Humanism reveals the darkness backward and lights up the road forward. This is the role of humanism in a technologically advanced world. This is how we will survive a technologically advanced world, with Humanism the Rock