CHAPTER 9

• Technology


  The practical application of knowledge especially in a particular area
• Technology


  • It is a word used to define or portray progressions, abilities, creations, happenings
  • Interpretations and knowledge of a particular group of persons and humans execute certain functions for man and society
• Advantages of technology


  • Life has become easy
  • Travelling has become faster
  • Communication becomes more comfortable, faster, and cheaper
  • Innovations in technology increased the standard of living
  • Using various technology, man becomes advanced
  • The impossible has become possible
  • Science and technology made a lot of things easy to do and comfortable for men
• Disadvantages of technology


  • The human had misused the technology and used in damaging purpose
  • By the use of technology, man is doing illegal things
  • New technology like mobiles is generating harmful consequences for children
  • Using modern technology, terrorists use it for destructive purposes
  • Many illnesses are created due to the development of atomic energy and the atomic bomb
  • Modern technology like nuclear energy have not only affected man, but it also affected plants and other creatures
  • Natural beauty is decreasing due to the development of modern technology
• Limitations of technology


  • Natural limits
  • Economic limits
  • Ethical limits
• Natural limits


  • Things that technology cannot physically perform
  • No limit is unquestionably a hard limit, despite the fact that our knowledge of the universe is constantly expanding
  • We cannot move faster than the speed of light
  • We cannot utilize every inch of land on Earth while still protecting every natural habitat
• Economic limits


  • Some things might be technically possible but be so expensive that they are completely unworkable
  • The cost of developing and manufacturing many of today's most cutting-edge medicines, including gene therapies, stem cell treatments, and complex pharmaceuticals, is prohibitive
• Ethical limits


  • Limitations imposed by preexisting notions about what is right and wrong in a particular culture
  • Concerns about the ethics of technologies like genetic engineering, cloning, artificial intelligence, surveillance, cybernetics, and biological warfare
• Humanity


  • The human race, including everybody on Earth
  • The qualities that make us human, such as the capacity to love, sympathize, be creative, and not be a robot or alien
• Humanity is highly dependent on technology
• With the development and constant technological changes, humans change their way of life to improve living standards
• Humanity has come a long way from the cave, but how far can they still go?
• The history of life on Earth is a history of extinction. Despite advancement, human beings are STILL quite vulnerable to both nature and themselves as human beings
• To measure how to advance human beings, it is relatively linked to human beings' ability to avoid extinction
• Human beings' capabilities in terms of technology, will depend on how they can improve the quality of life
• The two roads to take in humanity are ascension of all humankind, and the other is complete and total destruction
• Policies and technological advancement


  • US industry technological advancement has frequently been reinforced by congressional initiatives over the past 30 and more direct measures that concern budget outlays and the provision of services government and indirect measures that include economic and legal changes
  • The Philippines is taking action in reforming the technology market by focusing on 23 industries as priority areas
  • The Philippines can follow the technological innovation strategies imposed by Japan and South Korea
• Ethical dilemmas


  • Difficult choices in accepting whether a phenomenon is acceptable or not
  • Three ethical decision criteria: Utilitarian criterion, Criterion based on "Rights", Criterion based on "Justice"
• Technology is very involved in human life and activity. With the obligation to be an ethical individual, our use of technology is in pertinent scrutiny
• Criterion based on "Greatest Good"


  A certain thing or event should serve the greatest good for the greatest number
• Criterion based on "Rights"


  Urges an individual to decide based on the fundamentals of liberties and privileges, usually set forth in the Bill of Rights, with the main goal of protecting and respecting the basic rights of an individual, such as rights of speech, privacy, and due process
• Criterion based on "Justice"


  Requires individuals to impose and enforce rules fairly with no exception to anybody to ensure equitable distribution of benefits and costs
• Technology is very involved in human life and activity
• The three ethical decision criteria are universal, but is not fully utilized for assessing technological innovations
• Each country has different interpretation of what is ethical and what is unethical in regard with technological advancement but as a universal moral obligation they set certain legal provisions and standards on ethics
• Science and technology, as well as research and development, enjoy autonomy from the state and society
• The application, use, and distribution of technology require ethical standards and even legal provisions set by the local and international governments
• Technology permeates every aspect of human life, an activity
• Inevitably, ethics will also evolve into a burning, un-ignorable issue for every individual and organization
• At present, we do not have everyday global ethics to technological advancement to discuss different issues, let alone agreement or accepted legal rights and responsibilities
• Real-time Satellite Surveillance Video

  Companies such as Planet Labs and Skybox Imaging have launched lots of satellites in the last year to record the entire Earth's status in real-time. The satellites themselves are getting cheaper, smaller, and more sophisticated than before. Commercial satellite companies make this data available to corporations letting customers see useful images of areas handling natural disasters and humanitarian emergencies and data on private citizens' comings and goings
• Astronaut Bioethics (of colonizing Mars)


  The colonization of Mars and plans for long term space missions are already ongoing. NASA has launched the Orion spacecraft, and NASA Administrator Charles Bolden declared a "Day One of the Mars era." The company MarsOne and Lockheed Martin and Surrey Satellite Technology are preparing to launch a robotic mission to Mars in 2018 with succeeding humans in 2025. The first 418 mean and 28 women worldwide are presently competing for the four spots on the first one-way human settlement mission
• Wearable Technology


  We are presently involved in multiple technologies that monitor our behaviors. The development of dozens of bracelets and clip-on devices that monitor steps taken, activity levels, heart rate, etc., not to mention the advent of organic electronics that can be layered, printed, painted, or grown on human skin, has led by the fitness tracking craze. Google is partnering with Novartis to create a contact lens that monitors blood sugar levels in diabetes and leads healthcare providers' information
• Wearables have the potential to teach us, protect our health, as well as violate our privacy in many amounts of ways
• State-Sponsored Hacktivism and "Soft War"

  "Soft war" is a concept used to explain insurgents' rights and duties during the armed struggle. It incorporates tactics other than armed force to achieve political ends. Cyberwar and hacktivism could be soft war tools, through specific ways by states in inter-state conflict, instead of isolated individuals or groups. We already live in a state of low-intensity cyber conflict
• Enhanced Pathogens


  White house suspended research on October 17, 2014, enhancing the pathogenicity of viruses such as influenza, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). In itself, Gain-of-function research is not detrimental; it is used to provide vital understanding into viruses and how to treat them. When used to increase mammalian transmissibility and virulence, altered viruses pose severe security and biosafety risks
• Non-lethal Weapons


  Primarily, it may seem ridiculous that kinds of weapons that have been around since World War I and not designed to kill could be an evolving ethical or policy dilemma - considering the recent development and production of non-lethal weapons such as laser missiles, blinding weapons, pain rays, sonic weapons, electric weapons, heat rays, disabling malodorants, as well as the use of gases and sprays in both the military and domestic police forces. These weapons may not kill, but they can cause severe pain, physical injuries, and long-term health costs (the latter has not been thoroughly investigated)
• Robot Swarm


  Harvard University researchers created 1000 robots capable of communicating with each other to perform simple tasks such as ordering themselves into shapes and patterns. No human intervention is required in these "kilobots" beyond the original set of instructions and work together to complete tasks. These tiny bots are based on insects' group behavior and can perform environmental cleanups or answer disasters where humans fear treading. The concept of driverless cars also relies on this system, where the cars themselves would communicate with each other to obey traffic laws and transport people safely to their destination
• Artificial Life Forms


  Research on artificial life forms is a range of synthetic biology focused on custom-building life forms to address specific purposes. Announced by Craig Venter and colleagues is the first synthetic life form in 2010 made from a present organism by introducing synthetic DNA. Synthetic life allows scientists to study the origins of life by building it rather than breaking it down, but this technique blurs the line between life and machines, and scientists foresee program organisms' ability. The ethical and policy issues surrounding synthetic biology innovations renew concerns raised previously with other biological breakthroughs, including safety issues and risk factors connected with releasing life forms in the environment
• Making artificial life forms has been deemed "playing God" because it allows individuals to create a life that does not exist naturally