1. Technology is influenced by society and also influences society in a two-way relationship. Engineers must consider the social and ethical implications of technological development.
2. Computer technology both benefits society through information access but also raises issues regarding privacy and how personal data is collected and used.
3. Engineering design involves addressing social and ethical issues, as technological development can be seen as a form of social experimentation with uncertain outcomes.
3. Main Ideas in this Chapter
Technology is embedded in a social context and both influences and is
influenced by the larger society.
Engineers should take a critical attitude toward technology, appreciating and
taking pride in its benefits while being aware of the problems it can create.
Computer technology illustrates the benefits that technology can confer as
well as the social policy issues that one type of technology can raise.
Engineering design often raises social and ethical issues that engineers must
address and shows how engineering is a kind of social experimentation.
5. “Dr. Wulf believed that at 21st century:
the greatest challenge maybe engineering ethics.
The issues may not be as much problems for
individual engineers (‘‘microethical’’ issues) but,
rather, issues of social policy regarding technology
(‘‘macroethical’’ issues).
6. What is Technology?
◍ Technology is
the making and
using of
tools. Humans
often been
called tool-
making beings
Technology is
the application
of science to
the solution of
practical
problems
Technology is best
understood as a
system composed of
physical objects and
tools, knowledge,
inventors, operators,
repair people,
managers, government
regulators,and others
7. “Technological determinism
Holds that technological development has a life of its
own, an internal logic that cannot be controlled by
individual humans or even the whole society. a
technology that can be developed usually will be
developed, and a technology that can be put to some
use almost always will be put to that use.
9. TECHNOLOGICAL OPTIMISM
Technological
optimism is the
view that the
effects of
technology on
human well-being
are almost
altogether good
Technology enables us
to provide for our
basic needs and even
some luxuries, and it
does so without our
having to spend all
of our waking hours
merely trying to
survive
Even if technology
does have some
negative effects, such
as pollution and harm
to the environment,
the overall effects of
technology are
overwhelmingly on the
positive side
11. TECHNOLOGICAL PESSIMISM
Technology and Human Experience
Technological pessimism, on
the other hand, takes a
more negative view of
the effects of technology
on human life
Even though many
technological pessimists
say they do not want to be
considered as simply against
technology, they are much
more likely to point out the
undesirable aspects of
technological development
12. TECHNOLOGICAL PESSIMISM
The first theme is that technology
is associated with a dominating,
controlling frame of mind,
obsessed with achieving ever
greater efficiency, that harms the
environment and obscures certain
aspects of human experience,
especially the aesthetic and
spiritual aspects.
A second theme of
technological pessimism is
that technology tends to
fragment human experience
and thus destroy the
meaningfulness of much that
we do
15. “James Rachels
“informational privacy by maintaining that
people need to control information about
themselves in order to control the intimacy
of their relationships with others”
16. Finding a Creative Middle Way
◍ The existence of data systems containing personal information should be public
knowledge.
◍ Personal information should be collected for narrow, specific purposes and used
only in ways that are similar to and consistent with the primary purposes for its
collection.
◍ Personal information should be collected only with the informed consent of the
persons about whom the information is collected or their legal representatives.
◍ Personal information should not be shared with third parties without notice or
consent of those about whom the information is collected.
◍ To ensure accuracy, the time information can be stored should be limited, and
individuals should be permitted to review the information and correct errors.
◍ Those who collect personal date should ensure the security and integrity of
personal data systems.
21. 7. THE SOCIAL EMBEDDEDNESS OF
TECHNOLOGY
The Social Interaction of Technology and Society
22. THE SOCIAL EMBEDDEDNESS OF TECHNOLOGY
The Social Interaction of Technology and Society
Science and Technology Studies: Opening the Black
Box of Technology
23. The Social Interaction of Technology and Society
So far, we have considered primarily the influence of technology on
society and the social policy issues that such influence creates.
However, in contrast to technological determinism, most scholars
believe that social forces also influence the direction of
technological development so that the truth seems to be that there is
two-way causal interaction between technology and society: Technology
influences society, but society also influences the development of
technology. From the commonsense standpoint, this may be the most
plausible position. There are many examples of social, political, and
economic influences on technology
24. Science and Technology Studies: Opening the Black Box of Technology
Many traditional engineering ethics cases give short descriptions and then
identify a decision point at the end of the case where an engineer has to make a
crucial decision. Even many of the more extended descriptions, such as the
description of the Challenger case, often focus primarily on what we might call
an ‘‘endpoint decision.’’ In the Challenger case, the decision point was the
teleconference the night before the launch, in which Roger Boisjoly and other
engineers attempted to get Morton Thiokol to hold to their no-launch
recommendation. STS researchers contrast his approach, which might also be called
the ‘‘externalist’’ account of a case, to what we might call a ‘‘process’’
account, in which various points throughout the case can be identified in which
ethical issues arise. Since this approach focuses on points throughout the
narrative, it is also sometimes called an internalist account.
26. Ethical Issues in Design
In pursuing the internalist program, STS researchers have often focused
on design as a crucial stage of development in which value issues can
arise where either decisions are made that affect society or social
forces have affected the course of design. A study by two researchers
from The Netherlands illustrates how issues for ethical reflection
arise in the design process.39 Following another scholar, W. G.
Vincinti, they identify two types of design challenges.40 Without going
into the elaborate classification they use, we present some of their
examples.
27. Designing for the Environment and for Human Community
Some critics of technology have noted that these features may not be essential
to technology itself. Technologies can be designed that stress sustainability,
the use of renewable resources, and minimal pollution. Technologies can also
serve to promote human community rather than fracture it. If modern technology
destroys or makes irrelevant such traditional focal things as the fireplace, it
can replace them by others. Computerized networks for those with AIDS or with a
thousand other interests can provide a focus for activities. Urban and housing
design can provide humane living spaces that allow greater access to others and
to the natural world. Running shoes and backpacking equipment can enable us to
again establish access to the natural world. The advance of technology does not
necessarily destroy values that we consider of great importance, such as a
relationship to the natural world and focused human activities. It does,
however, change the forms and contexts in which these activities take place. It
is not too much to ask engineers to think about these issues, as many engineers
are certainly doing. Such thought can lead to creative designs and a more
humanly satisfying life.
29. There are several analogies between engineering and experimentation.
• First, engineering works—whether consumer products, bridges, or buildings—
have experimental subjects, like scientific experiments. In engineering,
however, the subjects are the public who utilize the products of
engineering.
• Second, as in any experiment, there is always an element of uncertainty
about the outcome. Engineers never know for sure how well a new automobile
will perform on the road, or whether a new building will withstand a
hurricane. Yet, there is a necessity of gaining new knowledge, which can
only come by experimentation. Only by innovation can technology advance.
• Third, like experimenters, engineers must assume responsibility for their
experiments. They must think about the possible consequences, both good and
bad, and attempt to eliminate as many bad consequences as possible.