Ethics Essay Assignment Due: 15 November 2016 – please upload to the Canvas “Ethics” assignment You are asked to provide a response to the following ethics question. The raw material for your answer will come from your reading of: Kidder, Chapter 1 Ford, Chapter 11 Our class discussion of the topic Other readings posted to Canvas Your ethics essay should be 1½ single-spaced pages (or 3 double-spaced pages). Be specific and use examples from the readings or from your own experience. If you would rather write about an ethics topic or event of more immediate concern to you, please do so. I hasten to point out that this essay should not be considered ‘technical writing’. ************************************************************************************ We as professionals in the field of engineering are seen as the guardians of technology. That is, we are the ones who are the experts and who create the designs that are at the heart of the social and cultural norms that define day-to-day life in our era. With every design, we endeavor to apply the most advanced expression of our ability as a species now to brighten and extend our lives and our capabilities. As guardians, we are also the ones who ultimately decide which endeavors are worthy of our attention (and our heritage). With this …power…, comes a responsibility to make sure that technology is used in ways that are worthy and not wasted in nefarious, self-serving or greedy applications that ultimately go against our best interest as a species. In this exercise, you are asked to consider where we as a people should devote our efforts at technological enhancement and what areas should be beyond our tampering? That is, what are the limits of technology? Are there areas of human endeavor to which an application of technology would be inappropriate or unethical? Support your reasoning with links to your closely-held values. In addressing this question, there are a number of sub-themes that you might develop: 1. How do we assure that “genius” technical ability is firmly tethered to moral and ethical accountability? 2. How do we protect ourselves from the harsh judgment (or sanction) of those who see a looming crisis or who are advocates of a point of view, however well-meaning? 3. As designers, how can we assure that our designs are used as intended and not “corrupted” for purposes that we feel are unethical? Once delivered, do we have a responsibility for the use of our designs? Or, do we (must we) cast them off and leave it to others to apply them ethically? The following case studies might help you to focus on the topic of “What, if any, are the limits of where technology should or should not be applied to human endeavors?” Case 1 Accountability: Tom Lehrer penned a memorable line in one of his protest songs of the 1960’s, in which he said, “ … and where they come down/Is not my department, said Werner VonBraun.” Werner VonBraun is a controversial figure. ...

1. Ethics Essay Assignment
Due: 15 November 2016 – please upload to the Canvas “Ethics”
assignment
You are asked to provide a response to the following ethics
question. The raw material for your answer will come from
your reading of:
Kidder, Chapter 1
Ford, Chapter 11
Our class discussion of the topic
Other readings posted to Canvas
Your ethics essay should be 1½ single-spaced pages (or 3
double-spaced pages). Be specific and use examples from the
readings or from your own experience. If you would rather
write about an ethics topic or event of more immediate concern
to you, please do so.
I hasten to point out that this essay should not be considered
‘technical writing’.
*****************************************************
*******************************
We as professionals in the field of engineering are seen as the
guardians of technology. That is, we are the ones who are the
experts and who create the designs that are at the heart of the
social and cultural norms that define day-to-day life in our era.
With every design, we endeavor to apply the most advanced
expression of our ability as a species now to brighten and
extend our lives and our capabilities. As guardians, we are also
the ones who ultimately decide which endeavors are worthy of
our attention (and our heritage). With this …power…, comes a
responsibility to make sure that technology is used in ways that

2. are worthy and not wasted in nefarious, self-serving or greedy
applications that ultimately go against our best interest as a
species. In this exercise, you are asked to consider where we as
a people should devote our efforts at technological enhancement
and what areas should be beyond our tampering? That is, what
are the limits of technology? Are there areas of human
endeavor to which an application of technology would be
inappropriate or unethical? Support your reasoning with links
to your closely-held values.
In addressing this question, there are a number of sub-themes
that you might develop:
1. How do we assure that “genius” technical ability is firmly
tethered to moral and ethical accountability?
2. How do we protect ourselves from the harsh judgment (or
sanction) of those who see a looming crisis or who are
advocates of a point of view, however well-meaning?
3. As designers, how can we assure that our designs are used as
intended and not “corrupted” for purposes that we feel are
unethical? Once delivered, do we have a responsibility for the
use of our designs? Or, do we (must we) cast them off and
leave it to others to apply them ethically?
The following case studies might help you to focus on the topic
of “What, if any, are the limits of where technology should or
should not be applied to human endeavors?”
Case 1 Accountability: Tom Lehrer penned a memorable line
in one of his protest songs of the 1960’s, in which he said, “ …
and where they come down/Is not my department, said Werner
VonBraun.” Werner VonBraun is a controversial figure. He
was the superb rocket pioneer who developed most of the rocket
technology of the late 20th century, including the Saturn 5
which took us to the moon. He began his career by developing
the “V” rockets that the Nazis used to terrorize London. The
song protests the atom bombs delivered on rockets and

3. flippantly examines who is responsible for the destruction that
would result. Is it the rocket-builder? The bomb maker? The
politician who presses the button? Who of these can deny
responsibility?
Case 2 Privacy: Ross McNutt and his team came up with an
idea. He was an Air Force engineer and had been asked to
dream up a method to combat IEDs in Afghanistan. His ideas
was that with a small plane and a 44 mega-pixel camera,
he figured out how to watch an entire city all at once, all day
long. Whenever a bomb detonated, he and his team could use
those snapshots to zoom into that site of the explosion and then
scroll back in time and see - literally see - who planted the
explosive. After the war, Ross McNutt retired from the Air
Force, and brought this technology back home with him…. (For
the story, look here.) He has tried to sell his system to US
cities and towns as a way to catch criminals. It works! But do
we … do you … want to be the subject of such surveillance? Is
that the kind of society we want to be? Who gets to use these
files and for what purposes? If you were a mayor of a city, like
Baltimore, would you see this as a tool for keeping the city
safe? Or an invasion of the privacy of the citizenry? Which
would you choose? Should military tools or weapons be
introduced into civilian contexts?
Case 3: For a long time, I did not own a cell phone because I
did not trust AT&T with a record of my whereabouts. I have
nothing to hide, still I find it creepy that AT&T can and will tell
the US government the intimate details of my life without
telling me. Should I trust the government to interpret my
motives based on my position?
Case 4 Humanity: Many of the leading minds of our time
(including Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk and Bill Gates) have
expressed the opinion that the leading threat to humanity is
NOT global warming, nor is it any political issue. Rather, it is

4. artificial intelligence (AI). If safeguards are not put in place,
they have said, there will come a moment when we will teach
machines to improve themselves and they will do so at a rate
much faster than we biological beings are able to evolve. At
that moment, we will have given up our free-will. We will
become the tools of technology, instead of the other way
around. Our destiny, as a species, would then be merely an
adjunct to the destiny of machines. You might say, “We can
always turn off the power.” But if that would mean our own
destruction as a species ….
Case 5 Humanity: This from the Guardian (8 November 2016):
US military scientists have used electrical brain stimulators to
enhance mental skills of staff, in research that aims to boost the
performance of air crews, drone operators and others in the
armed forces’ most demanding roles. The successful tests of the
devices pave the way for servicemen and women to be wired up
at critical times of duty, so that electrical pulses can be beamed
into their brains to improve their effectiveness in high-pressure
situations.
Now it is your turn: “What are the limits of technology? Are
there areas of human endeavor to which an application of
technology would be inappropriate or unethical? Support your
reasoning with links to your closely-held values.”