social issues

• The computer was born out of a need to solve a number-crunching crisis in the U.S. by 1880
• Punch-card based computers were developed to speed up tabulating the U.S. Census results
• Today, smartphones have more computing power than early punch-card based computers
• Key events in the history of computers:

  • 1801: Joseph Marie Jacquard invents a loom using punched cards
  • 1822: Charles Babbage conceives a steam-driven calculating machine
  • 1890: Herman Hollerith designs a punch card system for the census
  • 1939: Hewlett-Packard is founded
  • 1943-1944: ENIAC, the first digital computer, is built
  • 1947: Transistor invented
  • 1953: Grace Hopper develops the first computer language, COBOL
  • 1983: Apple's Lisa, the first personal computer with a GUI, is released
  • 1999: Wi-Fi becomes part of computing language
  • 2001: Apple unveils Mac OS X and Microsoft releases Windows XP
  • 2003: First 64-bit processor available
  • 2004: Firefox challenges Internet Explorer, Facebook launches
  • 2005: YouTube founded, Google acquires Android
  • 2011: Google releases Chromebook
  • 2012: Facebook reaches 1 billion users
  • 2015: Apple releases Apple Watch, Microsoft releases Windows 10
  • 2018: Meltdown and Spectre attacks revealed
  • 2019: Google shuts down Google+
• • 2020: Intelligent Cloud Computing and Networking
• Ethics can be reflected in the values, practices, and policies that shape the choices made by decision makers on behalf of their organizations
• Business ethics and corporate ethics describe the application of ethical values to business activities
• Ethics applies to all aspects of conduct and is relevant to the actions of individuals, groups, and organizations
• Professional ethics exist for individuals like managers, lawyers, and accountants who have specialized knowledge and skills when providing services
• Professionals have obligations to those they serve, such as lawyers holding client conversations confidential and accountants displaying honesty and integrity in their work
• Professional organizations and licensing authorities set and enforce ethical standards for professionals
• Moral reasoning is the process in which an individual determines what is right and wrong
• People use moral reasoning to make decisions in moral choices they face
• Moral reasoning involves understanding the intended action and its consequences on others
• Moral behavior components include moral sensitivity, moral judgment, moral motivation, and moral character
• Thinking through moral issues requires awareness of moral and ethical values, capacity for objective thinking, willingness to stand for what is right, and fortitude to maintain ethical standards
• Four skill sets play a decisive role in moral expertise: moral imagination, moral creativity, reasonableness, and perseverance
• Culture reflects the moral values and ethical norms governing behavior and interactions among people
• Culture describes a collective way of life shared by individuals in a group, organization, or society
• Cultural norms influence interpretations of what is moral, leading to variations in ethical beliefs across cultures
• Personal values provide an internal reference for what is good, beneficial, important, and constructive
• Personal values are influenced by family, teachers, classmates, and religion
• Conflicts can arise between an individual's moral values and those of their organization, impacting ethical decision-making
• Understanding personal values is crucial for making ethical and moral choices that others find persuasive
• Ethics is a system of moral principles that affect decision-making and how individuals lead their lives
• Ethics is concerned with what is good for individuals and society, and is described as moral philosophy
• The term "ethics" is derived from the Greek word "ethos," which can mean custom, habit, character, or disposition
• Ethics covers dilemmas such as how to live a good life, rights and responsibilities, the language of right and wrong, and moral decisions about what is good and bad
• Utilitarianism:

  • Ethical system in normative ethics
  • Often equated with "the greatest good for the greatest number"
  • Decisions based on consequences of actions (consequentialism)
  • Mistakes in applying utilitarian principles include failing to consider multiple options, subjective evaluation, underestimating costs, and favoring short-term benefits
• Deontological ethics:

  • Associated with Immanuel Kant
  • Based on the 'Categorical Imperative' that looks for transcendent principles applying to all humans
  • Focuses on treating human beings with dignity and respect because they have rights
  • Involves identifying one's duty and making appropriate decisions
• Virtue ethics:

  • Stemming from Aristotle
  • Based on virtues of the decision-maker
  • Focuses on what makes a good person or professional
  • Decisions are made in light of virtues considered important for the profession
• Ethical theories like utilitarian ethics, deontological ethics, and virtue ethics form the foundation of normative ethics conversations
• Moral realism:

  • Based on the idea of real objective moral facts or truths in the universe
  • Moral statements provide factual information about these truths
• Subjectivism:

  • Teaches that moral judgments are statements of a person's feelings or attitudes
  • Ethical statements do not contain factual truths about goodness or badness
• Emotivism:

  • View that moral claims are expressions of approval or disapproval
  • Moral statements show the speaker's feelings about something
• Prescriptivism:

  • Ethical statements are seen as instructions or recommendations
  • Ethical statements can be rephrased with an 'ought' in them
• Ethics can be derived from various sources like God and religion, human conscience and intuition, rational moral cost-benefit analysis, examples of good human beings, a desire for the best in unique situations, and political power
• Ethics is about considering the interests of others, society, God, and ultimate goods, going beyond self-interest
• Ethics can be used as a source of group strength but can also be misused as a weapon to attack those with differing beliefs, sometimes leading to tragic consequences