Ethics is Not Rocket Science

Jennifer Smith

Students at Los Medanos College, enrolled in Contemporary Moral Issues, discuss ethical issues associated with technology.

Episodes

  1. 11/28/2022

    Should we pass legislation to prohibit public use of facial recognition technology?

    It’s well past time to start considering the moral implications of this technology. For instance, do we as human beings have a fundamental right to privacy; and, if so, does the use of this technology violate that right? Does using this technology make us safer, or better off in some other way; and, if so, do these benefits outweigh any potential costs? Question: Should we pass legislation to prohibit public use of facial recognition technology?

    19 min

  2. 11/28/2022

    Is social media good or bad? That is, ultimately, does social media overall improve human well-being or diminish it? Would life be better with it, or without it?

    The Issue: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tik-Tok, YouTube – we use them all the time. In fact, these five platforms alone have over 7 billion monthly active users—almost as many users as there are human beings on the entire planet. But, is it good for us? or bad?

    26 min

  3. 11/28/2022

    Is it morally permissible—or perhaps even obligatory?—to use genetic modification and/or cloning technology to help other species survive the harmful effects of human activity?

    Question: Is it morally permissible—or perhaps even obligatory?—to use genetic modification and/or cloning technology to help other species survive the harmful effects of human activity? For instance, is it permissible (or even obligatory) to genetically alter species so that they might be better adapted to climate change, or other threatening factors which we have caused (such as the chestnut blight)? Is it morally permissible to resurrect the woolly mammoth, or the passenger pigeon, which we have already driven to extinction?

    21 min
  • 3 Episodes

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Students at Los Medanos College, enrolled in Contemporary Moral Issues, discuss ethical issues associated with technology.

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