IT Recent Tool to Escape the Ethical Path

Name: Asmaa Abdelaty

IT, Recent Tool to Escape the Ethical Path

The technological advanced cyber world we live in nowadays may have helped us great deal, facilitated communications and made hard tiring operations done through pushing buttons. Meanwhile, it presented us with lots of challenges both good and bad. Although cyber revolution started with the goal of benefiting humanity, with rapid advancement, violation, and misuse, it presented a dilemma to the ethical arena. Many infected issues have been discussed and probed such as privacy, identity theft, and copy rights; codes of ethics were developed to observe such rights though not much enacted. However, there is another subtle challenge that the technological cyberspace presents, the long term impact over ethics and behavior of the humane society. In the past, unethical behaviors were almost evident; they were met by harmful consequences, social disapproval, or sometimes punishment [9]. Cyberspace revolution has succeeded in facilitating wrong act such that its subtle, widely available and its consequences are indirect and intangible. Based on philosophical analysis, the social impact of computer applications is flowing in the stream of the world wide tendency to drive man away from ethics under the name of freedom, individualism, and one culture domination. I have always enjoyed the family conversation we used to have after dinner except that day when I had the idea to write this topic. At that day, a movie was on T.V, I never cared about movies as I can watch it another day, any virtual thing can be repeated, copied, and pasted unlike a real conversation! My family was enjoying talking when I screamed that I couldnt focus in watching the movie. Afterwards, I kept thinking how I dared scream at my family, what made me reject what has always interested me since ; when have I been so individualistic. It was not about the movie; its about the change that I undergo since I entered the Computer Science major. May be for me it started with this, but for many Egyptian youth, they dont have to be computer scientists, they have only to be cyber world addicts. Exposition to the whole world through the screen developed a strange sense of bewilderment and discontent in the youth minds which in turn affects their sense of belonging thats is so important for mans motivation. I dont claim that the information technology has directly caused social impairments; however, it alleviates forming them with its unique characteristics. Turn on the computer power button, put the headphones, and its your own world created by your hand clicks. Then, the struggle begins between ones duties and good intent, and his/her desires. The return is that young people are more and more experiencing their self interest and freedom to hear, watch, surf, and do what they like ignoring the concrete existence of others, and obviously others rights as well. Such repeated attitude undermines the value 2

of family, cooperation, and face to face sociability that the Egyptian society has usually been experiencing. Widely accessible computers helped self interest to win over community and responsibility. Were so busy rushing to and from, and messaging back and forth, that we barely have time to catch our moral breath a comment said by , Quentin J. Schultze, professor of communication at Calvin College [4]. Technology has worked so rapidly in the Egyptian society last decade. Thats why most focus of this article is about the youth and children as they are the part of the Egyptian society that has been much influenced by IT. To philosophically enhance on the social implications of information technology revolution, components of ethics will be investigated for being positively or negatively influenced by the cyber revolution. If ethics is about empowering humanity, many would argue that information technology have rendered previously impossible dreams. Nevertheless, if we defined empowerment as gaining self actualization and improving the disempowered conditions to the standards of living good life, informatics has negatively contributed to that. In cybernetic world, many people suffer losing power over their intellectual properties, and copy rights. The common wave of capitalism and power of profit have caused many powerful institutions to deviate from moral values which led young people nowadays to exercise misbehavior for disempowering such corporations to follow the universal path of self interest [9]. In addition, as cyber technology revolution helps decreasing distances and turning the globe as one small place, it widened the gab between societies and parties in the same society. In Egypt for example, huge portion of the society are poor and they have not been exposed yet to the information technology; nevertheless, their children may do immoral acts to get money to afford staying in internet cafes. For that same reason, the Egyptian record in copy rights violation and piracy is high as many still dont afford cheap access to computer applications, and still have to reach a technological standard to be up to date. Other societies in underdeveloped worlds dont yet have access to phones in the first place Also, Computers have empowered Man in some aspects side by side with replacing his mind to defy the empowerment meaning of increasing ones self reliance. Wheres the calculator? is a common statement of todays young people followed by an elderly saying why is the hassle and solving the simple mathematical problem fast. Its argued that humans reliance on computers will develop a generational deficiency in the advance of human thought. [8] Last decades, many argued the virtue behind machines replacing man in industrial and agriculture fields that caused known problems such as unemployment, and urbanization. Meanwhile, when computers now are replacing man in 3

almost all fields, human will have no value but to be there for the maintenance of computers. Thats why the common field joined by the Egyptian society nowadays is Computer Science. The lack of accountability also is relevant. As computer systems are in control, no one to be accounted for the results of an error; will it be the software developer, the computer, or the man observing it? Therefore, the feeling of responsibility and duty to care for the product of ones actions is blurred. Another ethical issue is the good behind man losing control not only in work fields but also over the self. As, nowadays, computerized resources have become temptation rather than solution. From a descriptive consequentialist point of view, the cyber revolution is contributing to the degradation of morals as many consequences of its applications are unethical. Its psychologically known that our senses transmit what we see, hear, or experience to our brains which influence our actions afterwards. Nowadays, common every day actions in young peoples lives are illegally downloading multimedia stuff, watching pornography, wasting time through mostly telling lies in chat rooms, and playing games with criminal or offensive content [5].Consequently, that affects their behaviors and develops inherent weaknesses in their virtue thermometer. Therefore, computer free applications are encouraging evil as mostly adolescents are gaining passion for combat, conspiracy, and indifference feelings which affects their choices in life afterwards. In addition, new means of addiction have spread. Nowadays, Games and Internet addiction, obesity, depression, and many other social defects are evident as post IT symptoms; if these forms can be diagnosed as better life for humanity, then the way our lives have been changed by the cyber environment is ethical as ethics is about the formation of good life. In a study about plagiarism on campus done by a Donald McCabe, Management Professor at Rutgers University, he found that results are 20% of students never cheat, 60% cheat occasionally, and 20% habitually cheat. He analyzed that the wide uncontrolled availability of sources on the internet has encouraged the middle group that cheat occasionally; they are provoked by the free nature of the cyber space as they fall under the category of people who want to do the right thing but are weak and thus fall to temptation [7] Modern codes of life took away humans ability of moral judging. All acts that have been considered wrong since the creation of human consciousness is still and will continue to be considered so (hopefully); however, we suffer from new ethical issues that have been raised with new changing computerized societies. Every body knows that stealing is wrong, but loses the ability and is unwilling to make the connection that 4

downloading copy righted stuff is stealing. Killing is wrong, and killers know that fact when they are provoked to commit crime, but the disaster is when one commits a wrong cyber act while believing that he/she is not doing wrong as they are invisible and the consequences are invisible too. In the example given last paragraph, I was in category one as it violates my religious principles to cheat; however, I never realized that I became in category two since I joined the computer science major when I was put into situations when I need software that is not licensed by the university, and I have to get it from a friend to finish my work. Information technology didnt stop at encouraging wrong act, but it further encouraged us to devalue ethics in the first place. Computers and technology are now being seen as systems to believe not merely tools to be used. The Information breakthrough replaced people faith in ethics with faith in facts and figures. As a result, the apparent victory of advanced technology has caused ethics to look less realistic or logical [1]. In addition, the pace with which binary world advances overwhelms the pace with which ethics counter measures are developed to be propagated. By the time its known that piracy is stealing; it became inherent in youth to enjoy it. A phenomenon I experienced in the American University in Cairo, which pertains the most computerized educational system in Egypt, so I dont think it exists that much in other universities. Its the devalue and disrespect of the teacher role and the class attendance in students life as every thing can be learned and searched for through the Internet of coarse beside plagiarism overspread. In conclusion, ethics have been obsolete in todays world because it has been the choice of the influencing powers to keep advancement without hindrance even under the name of morals. Therefore, its no exception that information technology empowers humans to keep such stream. It seems we have stopped thinking about what is ethical and what isnt when we left the job of thinking to computers. Evil is more encouraged with the same speed information technology advances, and the more easily rendered social vices are the proof.

Works Cited
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