This week’s reading is about ethics and how they apply to the technical workplace. When thinking back on the previous projects and the current one there is definitely one specific project that sticks out as an ethical problem to me and that is the instruction project. I did my project on how to use a specific file sharing software program in conjunction with a website. The obvious dilemma of whether to use the program to download copyrighted material or only use it to download files considered “fair use” rests on the user’s shoulders. However I think there is a less apparent ethical problem that I had to face that came as both a questions of personal ethics and of social ethics. Satisfying the social ethics question of whether it was lawful to make the instructions was simple enough to answer. I just put in the instructions that I only made the document to guide a user through legal use of the program to get files available for fair use. This situation reminded me of driver’s training because the instructor teaches you how to properly and legally drive a car but it falls on the student whether or not to obey traffic laws once they have learned the procedure. The next, more difficult situation was the personal ethics question of whether it is in my “values derived from family, culture, and faith” (as said in the TCT) to make the instructions. Much like the driving instructor, I know that there are a good number of people that are still going to behave unlawfully once I give them the instructions. Ultimately I decided to make the instruction set. I found it interesting that there is no apparent problem of conservation ethics in my situation. Unlike that of the driving instructor example where pollution of the environment and possible death due to a user’s misuse of their instructions, there is really no conservation ethics question that I saw for my instruction project. I think that made it easier to quickly come to a solution of whether or not to make the document.
Driving Instructors
I liked how you compared the ethical decision that you had to make with the decision of a driving instructor. This analogy also fits well with a similar dilemma that I had when writing my instructions. When I wrote my instructions, I knew that there was a possibility of someone injuring themselves if the instructions were not performed correctly. However, I decided that people would have a greater chance of getting hurt if they did not have instructions to tell them the proper way to do the project. This is similar to the driving instructor because without his/her instructions, most of the people on the road would not know how to drive correctly, leading to more accidents and deaths. It's kind of funny how I started out thinking about whether or not my instructions were ethical and in the end decided that it would be unethical not to write them. I think the same thing goes for a driving instructor.
Driving instructor metaphors
I think that the driving instructor analogy fits very well for both of your instruction sets. But I think that there are many other examples around that deal with the same things. There are many people that teach you skills or instructions that are very beneficial when used correctly, however they can also be used unethically and that dilemma is something the instructors of these skills have to deal with. Should you teach someone a skill that can help them and be beneficial? Even when that skill can be used unethically and possibly to hurt someone else. One example I can think of is someone who teaches a martial arts class for self defense. Helping people be able to protect themselves is something good, however some people could use these skills to hurt others or do something unethical.
Patrick Griffin
pgriffin@purdue.edu