Your Answer ▼
There is a controversial debate on whether
sharing information in various areas of study is beneficial or not. While there
are certain advantages of information being open to public, I believe there
could be several drawbacks in the society by doing so.
People who support the idea of shared
information point to the benefits it can bring to the society. Firstly, further
and innovative achievements could be made if people were able to get access to
different information. This could allow scholars or business worker to
encounter novel ideas that they have not thought of previously and gain a
broader perspective. Consequently, they can adopt the knowledge they acquired
from such shared information to their work which could result in improved
performance or achievements. Secondly, there might be educational improvements
by such shared knowledge. For example, by not limiting the results of recent
research projects or discoveries to certain group of people, many educators
might be able to use those information to teach the public. Therefore, the
overall levels of education of the people may increase.
Despite the advantages mentioned above,
there are also potential risks of unlimited access to information. One scenario
would be discouraging the original researchers of the information. If the
result of years of hard work and devotion was taken for granted by public, less
and less people would be challenged to start a project or a research, which
might have a detrimental effect in development in academic fields. Another danger
is that if blue prints of a weapon or a research document on nuclear power end
up in the hands of terrorist, the world might face a threat of terrorist attack
or even war. This would be less likely to happen if such information was
confidential.
In conclusion, although there could be
benefits for developments in society by sharing information, I think the
negative outcome such as discouraging the scholars and potential threats should
not be ignored. |