Free access to information

Some people believe that it is good to share as much information as possible in scientific research, business and the academic world. Others believe that some information is too important or too valuable to be shared freely. Discuss both views and give your opinions

It is thought that people should feel free to spread a wide range of knowledge regarding academics, science and business. Nonetheless, several people insist that they should not due to its mighty value and importance. In my opinion, I believe both of the viewpoints are reasonable to some points.

To start with, it is indeed worthwhile to have open access to much information, since once people are informed about that, they will be able to enrich their knowledge and be aware of harmful elements which will accordingly result in their better life. For instance, a scientific research conducted by a university in my hometown shows that children who use too much technology are likely to be sedentary, obese and short-sighted. Therefore, should this information be shared to parents on social media, they will know the harm and take steps to protect their children’s health.

Otherwise, I also hold the view that it is not always favorable for us to widely spread information, especially extremely vital one. To explain, I notice that most businesspeople never show their customers’ personal details such as phone numbers, addresses and birth of dates publicly. If these pieces of information were leaked, some people could take this advantage to disturb them or use their names for crime. On the other hand, I also find that some information must be kept in private in scientific world while doing an experiment, because if someone knows our ideas, he will immediately plagiarize and get awards when his experiment is successful.

On the whole, I assume that publicizing scientific, academic and business knowledge is both advantageous and harmful.