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Ethical Dilemmas Related to Technology
Anonymous Coward writes "I have a relative who will be teaching a college class on the topic of ethical dilemmas brought about by new technology. Unfortunately, he doesn't keep up with technology news, so he's not sure what the most relevant dilemmas are. For example, 'If robots came alive, would we be justified in killing them?' is one that might come up if nothing more relevant were suggested. (OK, it might not be that bad, but you get the idea. He was using Netscape 4.76 on system 9 until last week.)
So, what are the most relevant ethical dilemmas brought up by technology? Note that I am looking for ethical dilemmas, e.g. 'Is Activity X moral?' rather than legal dilemmas like 'Is the DMCA constitutional?' Now is your chance to guide the young minds of the future toward stuff that matters."
The book description:
What is music when you despise all sound?
Hopefully the course instructor is already aware of that particular question, since Luddites have been around for 200 years.
This was a good one brought up on /. recently...
The Ethics of Stealing Wireless Bandwidth?
The college I went to forced everyone to take a "cluster" of "liberal arts" courses so that everyone would have a "broad" "cultural perspective" even if they were in majors that were not "humanistic."
There were more buzzwords, but I can't recall them. The classes that would fulfill this requirement were at the 300 and 400 level in English, Philosophy, Political Science, etc. I don't recall anyone from any of those majors being forced to take a 300 level math or science course...
Anyhow, for my "values, technology, and society" cluster I took Information Ethics. This was taught by a philosophy professor, and he knew nothing about computers, or any of the issues. He once horrified the entire class by rebooting the classroom's computer by turning it off and turning it back on at the surge protector, without trying CTRL-ALT-DEL, using the "soft" reset button, or passing GO. He basically picked a list of topics and had the students present them in pairs, and made no secret about the fact that he was learning from us so that he could more properly teach the class the following semester.
So I guess the answer is that if you are not familiar with your subject then find someone who is, and that happens to be your students then Hey Presto! The topic I presented to the class was the whole GUI war thing (Apple vs Microsoft), and demonstrated configuring KDE to look like win95 and Mac OS, while the professor looked on awestruck... I also did a paper on emulation, which the professor had been ignorant of, focusing mainly on BLEEM! as it was the new cool thing at the time.
And, yes, I paid for that crap.
A pilot, in those days, was the only unfettered and entirely independent human being that lived in the earth.-Mark Twain
System Admins should follow a formal code of ethics, just like any other profession. (i.e. accountants) Obviously, they do not always do so.
One good start might be to look at existing codes of ethics from professional bodies, like SAGE. Here is theirs
I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress -J Adams
" He could have bombed Tokyo."
They had already firebombed the crap out of Tokyo anyway. More people were killed in the Tokyo firebombings than either Hiroshima or Nagasaki (but not both combined).
graspee
Gentically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
Is it ethical for us to push the envelope of genetics and create our own made to order creatures? It might seem like and easy "no" or even "yes" but it isn't.
-Imagine if scientists discovered they could splice a few certain genes to create some special breed of monkey that would live its life in pain but would offer guaranteed universal matches for organs in humans. Is that ethical?
Bionics
The abicore heart has shown that we are well on our way of having artificial organs. Is this ethical? The first inclination might be yes. I am envisioning extending life of people by an extra 50 years or so.
This might sound great but if all thing were equal and everyone could reap the benefits then that could cause serious population problems as people would live MUCH longer.
Besides, this kind of technology will probably only really be available to those that can afford it which brings up a whole other ethical issue.
Nope. It varies from state to state.
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From http://www.smith-lawfirm.com/mandatory_reporting.
"All states require certain professionals and institutions to report suspected child abuse, including health care providers and facilities of all types, mental health care providers of all types, teachers and other school personnel, social workers, day care providers and law enforcement personnel. Many states require film developers to report.
A number of states have broad statutes requiring "any person" to report. "
In Iowa, my state, the rule of law is:
b. Any of the following persons who, in the scope of professional practice or in their employment responsibilities, examines, attends, counsels, or treats a child and reasonably believes a child has suffered abuse:
(1) A social worker.
(2) An employee or operator of a public or private health care facility as defined in section 135C.1.
(3) A certified psychologist.
(4) A licensed school employee, certified para-educator, or holder of a coaching authorization issued under section 272.31.
(5) An employee or operator of a licensed child care center, registered child care home, head start program, family development and self-sufficiency grant program under section 217.12, or healthy opportunities for parents to experience success-healthy families Iowa program under section 135.106.
(6) An employee or operator of a substance abuse program or facility licensed under chapter 125.
(7) An employee of a department of human services institution listed in section 218.1.
(8) An employee or operator of a juvenile detention or juvenile shelter care facility approved under section 232.142.
(9) An employee or operator of a foster care facility licensed or approved under chapter 237.
(10) An employee or operator of a mental health center.
(11) A peace officer.
(12) A counselor or mental health professional. "
http://www.legis.state.ia.us/IACODE/2001SUPPLEM
Other people may, and certainly should, report suspected child abuse, but mandatory reporters, in Iowa at least, are guilty of a simple misdemeanor and can be held civily liable if they do not report child abuse.
Someone's been reading too much US patent number 4,666,425.
Here are topics we have covered over the past three years.
1) File sharing piracy? (was The Napster Dilemma) - A good one to start the year. Gets everyone fired up. Most students have no concept of copyright law or what happened when it was done away with after the French Revolution.
2) Technology's Role in Terrorism - Tool or Defense? - I first introduced this the week after 9/11. Are encryption, steganography, airplanes, cell phones, etc dangerous weapons that need to be controlled, or are they just tools like any others?
3) Internet Privacy - Do you and should you have any? - We review amendment IV to the Bill of Rights and discuss whether this should apply to the Internet. We touch on FBI's Carnivore, web cookies and spyware, the lack of legal protection behind "privacy pledges", future cell-phones with GPS, and the movie Minority Report. Big brother's vision is getting better and better.
4) Microsoft - Aggressive Competitor or Network Effects Monopoly? - Partially an economics lesson. Is MS just the winner of the inevitable consequence of network effects saying there can only be one dominant OS? Is this any different than ATT in the early days of telephones, or Intel with microprocessors, Cisco with network equipment, AOL with instant messenger, Ebay with online auctions or Visa/Mastercard with credit cards? Should these types of industries be managed as monopolies (eg the power and phone companies) or what?
5) Cyber-Relationships - displacing or enhancing our real world? - Do new technologies improve degrade, or displace personal relationships? If you can't speak to someone because they have a cellphone in their ear, is that bad? If you kids mostly know their grandmother through email, is that good? Can you really get to know someone you have never met? Can you know someone who shares their innermost thoughts anonymously through a blog better than their best friends do? Where might The Sims Online lead? (Have you read Stephenson's Snow Crash?)
6) Aibo, A Cute and Frisky Robot Dog - Can you form an emotional bond with a robot? Is this robot smarter than your dog? Is this the pet of the future? With the projections of Moore's Law, might a future Aibo be your child's calculus tutor?
7) Computer Games as Heroin-ware - "Dennis Bennett was failing his college classes, his marriage was in trouble, and he wasn't being much of a father to his 1-year-old son. But he had progressed to Level 58 as Madrid, the Great Shaman of the North, his character in the online role-playing game "EverQuest," and that was all that mattered at the time." - My students debate this from a lot of personal experience.
8) The Digital Divide - Internet Haves and Have-Nots - About 1/2 of the US population doesn't have ready access to the Internet. Most are lower income, older or minority households. As the Internet becomes an essential tool in our daily lives as consumers, workers and citizens, are they being left out? The divide is even more dramatic on an international scale. Will this accelerate the trend of rich countries become richer and poor countries becoming poorer? Should anything be done to shrink the divide, or will it take care of itself?
9) Sealand - Rebel Outpost on the Fringe of Cyberspace - Does the Internet overturn the sovereignty of countries? Historically, countries have had sovereign authority over its citizens. The Internet cuts across national boundaries disrespecting all national laws. Should the Chinese government be able to block access to the exile government of Tibet website? Should the French government be able to block the sale of Nazi paraphernalia on the Yahoo auction. Should the US or state governments be able to block online gambling or c
How about the ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct as a start?
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
There's prior art described in C.S. Lewis' "That Hideous Strength". It's book three of the sci-fi series including: "Out of the Silent Planet" and "Perelandra".
The premise is based on "The Saracen's head," which is kept alive through mechanical and biological means, although the brain has been grown past the bounds of the head itself. It's a really creepy picture that Lewis creates, but the books were printed in the 60's, a full 20-30 years before this particular patent was filed/granted.
You need to restart your computer. Hold down the Power button for several seconds or press the Restart button.
Technically they were military support infrastructure.
If you want to get into 'tit-for-tat' arguement then perhaps you should crack open a history book. Especially the bits about how the Japanese were actively using bio-warfare in IndoChina, including experiments on civillians that were as brutal, if not more so, as those perpetrated by the Germans.
Incidentally, the term terrorism is only really applicable where actions are against civillians not involved in the prosecution of the war or supply to the troops and is perpetrated by irregular troops, or regulars out of uniform, where there has been no formal declaration of war. Factories involved in the production of armaments and ammunition are legitimate targets.
Stephen
"Don't write down to your readers, the only people less intelligent than you can't read" - Sign on Newspaper Office Wall