Our Legacy for Future Generations
A legacy is something that one generation inherits
from the previous generation. A legacy
can be concrete or abstract. A concrete
legacy can be a physical object or a technology, while an abstract legacy may
be a concept or an idea. Some legacies can become a springboard for the next
generation to build on and pass on to future generations, while others may be
rejected and lead to new legacies for the following generation.
There are many examples of abstract legacies that are
built on or expanded and others that are not maintained, and even rejected, by
future generations. Recycling is an
example of a legacy that has been successfully implemented and developed. The
concept of recycling was established in the 1970s with recycling of plastic and
cans. Now people have expanded on that idea and have recently started to
recycle food by composting, which reduces waste and benefits agriculture. The
concept has grown by understanding that building a sustainable environment
requires that we have to watch what we do with our waste. An example of a
legacy that has not been maintained is the neglecting of ideas that the increasing
use of cars results in a rise of carbon emissions that cause global warming.
Some people do not pay a lot of attention to that because they prefer their
comfort over the the environment.
In the last decades, there were significant improvements
in people’s lives due to the advancement of technology, and this will be a concrete
legacy for the next generation. Some of
these technologies are difficult to predict, such as the innovation of nanotechnology
in the medical field. Nowadays, cancers have to be treated by using chemotherapy
and radiation. However, these types of treatments
have severe side effects on the patients’ body. Scientists have now discovered nanotechnology
methods to treat cancers without using chemotherapy, whereby small machines
will be put into the patient’s veins to fight the cancers cells. This treatment has not been applied yet, and
this is an example of a legacy that our generation would pass on to the next
generation.
Some abstract legacies can be can be cultural in
nature as well. In particular, women driving cars in Saudi Arabia has become a
controversial subject recently. Women are not allowed to drive cars because the
rules of their culture do not allow them to do so. Most women of the new
generation would like to drive, but the majority of people do not accept this
idea. If the groups can gather enough support to make it allowable, this will
be a legacy for the next generation.
To
finalize, legacies can take on many forms and can have varying impacts on the
generations that follow. Some legacies that our generation will leave for the
future generation include nanotechnology, food composting, and changing of
cultural customs.
Mazionah and Alrayan
