2019 Year 12 IB Extended Essays

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2.2 Evolved knowledge in today’s society After considering how knowledge has evolved throughout history, it must be considered how this evolution has affected our society today, and whether there is, in fact, such thing as an evolution of knowledge. The cultural intellectual development in the Renaissance and the hunger for further knowledge, the separation of the Church and State, developing new forms of government, and rejecting traditional religious norms, and the technological advancements and intellectual developments in the Industrial Revolution, have all been crucial periods of history, to achieve the evolved knowledge we retain within society today. This has been fundamental to the advancement of society, enhancing the quality of human life. The integration of the Internet, and advanced technologies (smartphones, credit cards, vaccinations, etc.) into society has also had proven positive results. These technologies have globalised our world – allowing connections across the Earth, leading to further developments of intellect, with a well-rounded, worldly viewpoint on topics and economic advancement. However, it is becoming obvious that our evolved knowledge may have trapped us within the confines of our inventions, therefore undermining the point of an evolved knowledge altogether. With increased global connections, or online presences, comes decreased security of personal information, and a risk of exploitation and erosion of personal freedoms. Two examples of our current evolved knowledge, that pose the question of whether we have taken the development of knowledge too far, are the artificial intelligence (AI) industry, and government surveillance programs. The concept of AI has been one marvelled over for decades. The idea that human knowledge would be so advanced as to create a fully functional, realistic, fully automated, mechanic clone of a human that could think and act for themselves has always seemed unachievable. However, in the late 20 th century, and early 21 st century, there have been incredible intellectual advances in this field. Some artificial intelligence can be as simple as