Ethics in a Computing Culture Chapter 6 How Computing Is Changing Who We Are

The Internet and the Self (continued) Psychologists treat compulsive behaviors differently from addictive behaviors. –Could checking Facebook or Twitter updates be considered an addiction? A compulsion? Two types of addictions: –Substance addictions –Process addictions (compulsive behavior) Compulsive behavior: –anxiety based, repetitive, senseless behaviors predicated by seemingly uncontrollable thoughts, images, or impulses –OCD 2Ethics in a Computing Culture

Social Network & Graph Terms: Nodes /vertices = Interconnected objects Edges = links/lines that connect Theories 6 degrees of separation – ‘67 Prof. Stanley Milgram’s experiment (6.5 steps) – Modern: mzdfxt mzdfxt Ethics in a Computing Culture3

How the Internet Changes How We Know Epistemology: study of the nature of knowledge and how we know what we know Acquired: –Indirect –Direct Growing role of intentional bias in finding information 4Ethics in a Computing Culture

How the Internet Changes How We Know 6.5.1: Homophily: the tendency for people to have close friendships primarily with people similar to themselves –When searching for information about political issues on the Internet, would you prefer that the pages be sorted by quality only, or would you like your beliefs taken into account, so that high-quality pages that agree with you are shown closer to the top than high-quality pages that disagree with you? –Would you prefer to see online advertisements that are randomly selected, or would you prefer to see advertisements for things that your friends like? 5Ethics in a Computing Culture

How the Internet Changes How We Know (continued) 6.5.2: Expert fear of Wikipedia In evaluating the quality of information you use in your academic work, how important is it to you that the author is an expert in the topic? –For example, would you be more likely to trust a Wikipedia article on U.S. history if the author is a history professor, instead of an average person? Why or why not? Crowdsourcing 6Ethics in a Computing Culture

How the Internet Changes How We Know (continued) Primary source: as close as possible to the topic being studied –Benjamin Franklin’s letters Secondary source: discusses information presented elsewhere –authoritative history of the Revolutionary War Tertiary source: survey or summary of other work that does not include full evidence sources, or technical details –Wikipedia article on the Revolutionary War 7Ethics in a Computing Culture

How the Internet Changes How We Know (continued) 8Ethics in a Computing Culture

How the Internet Changes How We Know (continued) If you notice a significant error in Wikipedia, do you have a moral duty to correct it? If a scholar or expert notices a significant error in Wikipedia in his area of expertise, does he have a professional duty to correct it? 9Ethics in a Computing Culture

Diverse Perspectives: Race in Video Games Digital minstrelsy: refers to types of role play that meet the following criteria: –A person who is a member of an advantaged group in real life plays the role of a person from a disadvantaged group –The role play purposefully demeans members of the disadvantaged group –The experience is primarily played out on a computer or gaming console Does the main character in GTA San Andreas meet these criteria? 10Ethics in a Computing Culture

Interdisciplinary Topic: Understanding Media Tetrad: four questions designed by McLuhan to help analyze a new medium and foresee its effects: –What does artifact enhance, intensify, make possible, accelerate? –If some aspect of a situation is enlarged or enhanced, simultaneously the old or unenhanced situation is displaced thereby. What is pushed aside or obsolesced by the new ‘organ’? –What recurrence/retrieval of earlier actions and services is brought into play simultaneously by the new form? What older, previously obsolesced ground is brought back and inheres in the new form? –When pushed to the limits of its potential (another complementary action) the new form will tend to reverse what had been its original characteristics. What is the reversal potential of the new form? 11Ethics in a Computing Culture

Interdisciplinary Topic: Understanding Media (continued) Analysis using the tetrad is context-dependent Consider applying the tetrad to –How might people in their 50s and 60s view ? –How might people in their late teens or early 20s view ? 12Ethics in a Computing Culture