Evaluating Technology, Term Paper Example

One of the most fascinating and challenging developments in recent human history is the exponential growth of technology that has been driven by advances in science over the past few centuries. Perhaps in no other age of humanity has the proliferation of scientific technology dominated both the social and ethical landscape. Technology brings with it great advances in medicine, communications, engineering and countless other areas of human endeavor. It also brings a corresponding increase and complication of the ethical and moral issues that are associated with the widespread discovery and implementation of technology. As the following discussion will show, modern ethical and moral standards presently lag behind in relation to the development of new technologies. This means that the ethical and philosophical sophistication possessed by the human race is incapable of producing ethical and moral paradigms for the evaluation and control of technology. This situation represents a critical and dangerous time in human history a threatens to radically alter, if not outright destroy, many aspects of human society that are presently taken for granted.

In fact, it may not be too much of an exaggeration to suggest that the moral and ethical challenges that are posed by science and technology form the most profound and immediate concern for the human race as a whole, with globalization , as a primary byproduct of technology, coming in at a close second. The reason that this is the case is because technology has infiltrated nearly every aspect of human endeavor. As Blazey indicates in the article “Ethics and Technology” (1999), the challenge of technology is both practical adn philosophical. Not only must humanity as a whole learn to integrate each successive advance in science and technology at at the cultural, political, and economic levels of scoiety, humanity must also confront the meaning of technology and its impact on human society and on individual human lives. Blazey writes that “An overwhelming aspect of […] life is technology in all its myriad forms.” (Blazey, 1999, p. 29). So, for example, most people are probably aware of, say, the ethical questions associated with genetic engineering and the intentional mutating of genetic strands. Fewer people are probably aware that a relatively simple technology, such as Email, all on its own, presents a significant moral challenge to many areas of human scoiety.

The basic problem that confronts moral adn ethical theorists when it comes to the topic of evaluating and controlling technology is that advances in technology seem particularly influential over already existing moral structures and paradigms. Blazey asserts that technology impacts moral adn ethical theory in a very potent fashion, basically eliminating the surety that was previously associated with a given moral paradigm and replacing it with a challenge or question. For Blazey, “a radically new technology makes certain moral practices (and inhibitions) out of date, that is, non-functional or even dysfunctional,” ad due to this fact, “we find ourselves presented with a sort of moral vacuum […] to meet new conditions, opportunities and powers” (Blazey, 1999, p. 29). Obviously such a state of conditions is not positive from a point of view that values global stability and order. What is happening, in effect, is that the optimism and eagerness that is associated with the advent of new technologies is making it more difficult for human society, as a whole, to retain its realization that technology must be understood not only in a scientific framework, but in an ethical and philosophical framework.

The two basic issues that are ethically associated with science adn technology are evaluation and control. That is to say: one, what does a given new technology represent in terms of its potential impact on human life and society and, two, the potential to control that same technology. In both cases, it si a moral imperative that drives the question. Therefore, in terms of both the evaluation and control of technology, the development of new ethical paradigms are indicated. According to Blazey, “ethicists are grappling with many of the thornier issues presented by rapidly developing technologies […] however, the speed with which new technologies are introduced means that ethical development lags far behind.” (Blazey, 1999, p. 29). As previously mentioned, this mismatch of evolution brings with it significant risks and potential for tragedy as new technologies continue to outpace the ability for human beings to imagine and devise paradigms by which to evaluate and control them.

One way to understand the pace at which technology is presently out-matching ethical standards is to simply consider some of the immediate impacts that are evident with the spread of such basic technologies as the personal computer. The impact or potential damage of certain technologies such as atomic weapons or armed drones is fairly self-evident. On the other hand, for many people, a device such a PC seems pretty harmless by comparison. The truth is that the personal computer poses a very serious and complicated challenge to the human task of evaluating and controlling the impact of technology. As Blazey points out, it is unnecessary to dig deeply into the potential negative consequences of hacking or identity-theft in order to discover some of the ethical challenges that are posed by the advent of the modern PC. The simple existence of email has raised the level of global and interpersonal communication to such a different level than what previously existed that most ethical paradigms associated with communication are now hopelessly outdated. Blazey writes that “Consider first the ethical dilemmas […] that the personal computer has made possible […] The nearly ubiquitous use of electronic mail in many professions provides a useful starting point for this discussion.” (Blazey, 1999, p. 29). Blazey of course, chooses email as as starting point for discussion precisely because it seems, on the surface, to be a wholly innocuous and positive technological advance.

However, even a simple look at a few of the potential negative impacts of email can be very helpful in demonstrating that no technological advance, even one that seems harmless in comparison with advanced weaponry or surveillance. The point is that email technology, no less than the creation of cruise missiles, poses a set of distinct ethical challenges and holds a potential to create devastating harm to a vast number of people. Richards points out in the article Ethics and Technology: Point-Counterpoint” (1999) that email communication differs from any other form of communication previously involved in human scoiety. The author notes that “Individuals have a tendency to think aloud in email and to invest less thought in writing and responding to messages because there is an opportunity for near-instantaneous response” (Richards, 1999). This kind of conditions mean that email users often “speak” in a manner that is spontaneous, but which leaves a dubious record.

Other dangers of email communication involve the common tendency for people to mistake lapses in email responses of vagaries of wording as being personally insulting. As Richards writes “Readers can misinterpret messages because of the absence of non-verbal responses in the communication process […] Since recipients can forward messages easily, the sender cannot control further dissemination of the document.” (Richards, 1999). Each of these facts contributes to complicated issue of evaluating and controlling technology in the modern world. The truly devastating reality that is associated with the issue of email is that the concerns stated above, along with their associated ethical issues, are only the beginning of the kind of issues that are associated with email technology.

Some of the other issues move beyond the merely personal or professional consequences of email communication. Email communication also carries an ethical and moral connection to legal issues and issues of personal security. It is not only the chance that a person may be lured into saying something “stupid” or offensive in an email, but that an individual’s emails may be accessed by law enforcement or one’s enemies or rivals with tremendously negative consequences. Richards notes that “e-mail is virtually indestructible; even deleted messages may remain on a computer’s hard drive and can be retrieved […] e-mail is not private and can even be used against the writer.” (Richards, 1999). So, obviously, even the most innocent appearing of technologies can carry profound ethical consequences. It is necessary in regard to the challenges posed by technology to create and implement new ethical paradigms that are able to incorporate such complex issues in a way that best serves humanity. The fact that the spread of technology is universal also mens that the ethical paradigms and ideas that rise to meet the issues created by technology are based in universal notions. In other words general ethical principles, rather than point by point “by-laws” are needed in order to create a moral and philosophical atmosphere relative to technology that facilitates human happiness and benefit.

This would seem to indicate that some variation of the “social contract theory” of philosophy should be brought to light in relation to the ethical issues raised by technology. The basic idea behind any social contract theory is that the individual agrees to give something of his or her individual freedom to society exchange for society extending benefits and protections to the individual. The book Science and Technology Ethics (2002) offers the following simple definition of a moral or ethical system: “An ethical (or moral) system is a system of principles or values determining right and wrong” and as such “indicates what people must not do, what they are allowed to do and what they must not fail to do.” (Spier, 2002, p. 89). These are exactly the kinds of considerations and motivations that will stand at the heart of whatever kind of ethical paradigms are eventually fashioned in regard to the evaluation and control of technology.

The simplistic definition of an ethical or moral system that is offered above is streamlined by design. This is because, due to the complexity and depth of the ethical and moral issues that are associated with technology, the moral and ethical answers that are offered must be straightforward, simple, and adaptable from one technological advance to another. In order to arrive at workable solution to the task of evaluating and controlling technology, it will be necessary to begin with basics ideals, such as just what ethical paradigms underlie humanity as whole and should therefore be reflected in its collective use and perpetuation of technology. What must take place in relation to these questions is that we, as humans, “ask what we owe to each other, or what our rights, duties and responsibilities with respect to other persons are” (Spier, 2002, p. 107) because that is the nature morality itself.

Similarly, the issue of technology “should be seen as part of the domain of the social and, even if they do not lie within the domain of the social contract, scientists owe a public justification of their activity transcending immediate self-interest” (Spier, 2002, p. 123). This same state of mind should be applied to those who use technology, which, in the modern world, indicates a significant portion of the global population. As the preceding discussion has shown, the present state of technology has far out-stepped the understanding of ethics and morality that have been established in human society. The gap between the advance of technology and the creation of apt ethical ideas has caused the human race to enter a dangerous and volatile era of its evolution. Technology has, so far, posed a series of challenges to humanity that have resisted easy solutions. It may be that the true heritage of technology will prove to be not simply the “nuts and bolts” benefits that it has provided to humanity on a practical scale, but in the moral and ethical sophistication that it will inspire the race to attain in an effort to evaluate and control both the spread of technology and its impact on humanity.

References

Blazey, M. A. (1999). Ethics and Technology. JOPERD–The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 70(8), 29.

Richards, V. (1999). Ethics and Technology: Point-Counterpoint. Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences, 91(3), 46+.

Spier, R. E. (Ed.). (2002). Science and Technology Ethics. London: Routledge.