Lesson2: Ethics, Morals, and Technology

personal moral codes

based on our own experiences that may be guided by religious beliefs or personal philosophies. Ultimately based on personal intuition. Example: individually being opposed to the death penalty, however it is legal in some states.

Adaptation (functional requisite)

Every society must adapt to its environment to be successful. includes the gathering and distribution of resources and the division of labor. The concept of economy refers to some kind of adaptation to an environment, natural or artificial.

Goal Setting (functional requisite)

a mechanism to make decisions. Examples: the government making laws about what is legal and illegal

Web 2.0

a set of economic, social, and technology trends that collectively form the basis for the next generation of the Internet. Evolved specifically to facilitate user-generated, collaborative and shared Internet content, and while the initial aims of Web 2.0 software developers were still largely commercial and institutional, the new standards were designed explicitly to harness the already-evident potential of the Internet for social networking Examples: social networking platforms i.e. Facebook, Instagram, etc.

Device Paradigm

a technologically-driven tendency to conform our interactions with the world to a model of easy consumption

Social Networking

is reshaping how many human beings initiate and/or maintain virtually every type of ethically significant social bond or role: friend-to-friend, parent-to-child, co-worker-to co-worker, employer-to-employee, teacher-to-student, neighbor-to-neighbor, seller-to-buyer, and doctor-to-patient

codes of conduct

formalized rules and standards that describe what is expected from individuals within a certain group. Deals with issues of how to treat people, animals, and the environment.

moral principles

personal, subjective beliefs that tell us how to act in different situations, May come from an organization or belief system.

Legitimation aka Latency Function (functional requisite)

shared tales, rituals, and sacred texts that give members of a society a "cosmic" or shared universal identity. Example: Americans saying the Pledge of Allegiance to symbolize unity

Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC)

the exchange of messages carried through an intervening system of digital electronic storage and transmitted between two or more people

technological determinism

the idea that technological developments drive economic and cultural change

Hyperreality

the way in which online social networks may subvert or displace organic social realities by allowing people to offer one another stylized versions of themselves for amorous or convivial entertainment rather than allowing the fullness and complexity of their real identities to be engaged

Integration (functional requisite)

use of a common language is a way to communicate norms, beliefs, and values to a society's members Examples: marriage customs and parental norms