Teaching ethics – teaching system theory
I recently wrote about ethics and the increasing tendency to understand ethics to be a list of rules which the governing body of organizations considers and then publish as rules. Often it seems an attempt is made to cover every possible scenario. Usually the advice is to err on the side of caution. I lamented that often it would seem that the assumption is that individuals, regardless of their formal education, are unable to articulate and use their core values to delineate what is ethical in a particular situation.
It will come as no surprise to my readers that this morning I was listening to this week’s podcast of On Being in which the host, Krista Tippett, has a conversation with some person who is often in the forefront of challenging the rest of us to think more deeply about some spiritual issue. This week she is having a conversation entitled “Tech’s moral reckoning” with Anil Dash. Ms. Tippett describes Mr. Dash as “A wildly popular blogger, tech entrepreneur, and Silicon Valley influencer.”
He says that he has always been fascinated by and interested in systems. Of particular interest to him is that technological tools such as the google, social media and many others are being developed at an amazing speed with little or no concern for the fact that all such tools are based on system theory and exist in systems. Yet, seldom, if ever, does one find a required ethics course in the curriculum of a computer hardware or software major. Even in my chosen field of psychology ethics may or may not be taught as a set of rules. In my experience, there may be little taught about the process of how to think about the fact that every action we take, no matter what the tools or situation, takes place in a larger system. One cannot do A without it affecting B which affects C, D and E which affects…
As I have often discussed, one must begin with something as basic as the Hippocratic Oath and then have a way of examining how to apply the core of that oath in various situations and in the context of the system of tools one is using. Sadly, not everyone can have the luxury of studying philosophy for four years before one goes on to study a special discipline. On the other hand, one can begin to teach the application of systems theory as soon as one begins to work with/parent/ teach very young children. If anyone has any doubt that very young children understand the rudiments of systems theory observe how quickly they learn to operate a hand held computer device, the television or other pieces of technology. They quickly learn if you push button A it produces result Y which may then result in being able to … They may not expand their understanding of those basic laws to how their behavior affects other people. Yet, if they are capable of using system theory the only stumbling block to them learning to think about how all their actions affect others is only limited by the ability of we adults to think in terms of systems and to accept that children naturally think in terms of systems.
What children (and many of we adults) are not good at is “coloring inside the line” – obeying a list of rules which stifle all creativity.
When other so called adults ask me about my educational background I tell them that I have studied systems. My scholastic work in engineering, philosophy, theology, and psychology is clearly all about how pieces fit together and affect each other as well as the surrounding environment. In my mind this is all I have ever studied. Whether I look at the internal workings of a human body, the organization of the parts of a ship, building or some other object and how it plays with the environment – water, air, people, other machines or structures – the study of our role in the universe or the relationship of one part of history to another, I am a student of systems.
If we want to create a more peaceful, healthy, fun, creative, beautiful, just society we will begin to teach the larger applications of system theory as soon as we begin to teach children. We will then continue to make room in all academic disciplines for how we think about how we use information and other tools and how that use affects all else.
As Mr. Dash suggests computers, social media, google, and other technological innovations are merely tools to be used in pursuit of goals based on the presence or absence of moral values.
Written January 14, 2017
I recently wrote about ethics and the increasing tendency to understand ethics to be a list of rules which the governing body of organizations considers and then publish as rules. Often it seems an attempt is made to cover every possible scenario. Usually the advice is to err on the side of caution. I lamented that often it would seem that the assumption is that individuals, regardless of their formal education, are unable to articulate and use their core values to delineate what is ethical in a particular situation.
It will come as no surprise to my readers that this morning I was listening to this week’s podcast of On Being in which the host, Krista Tippett, has a conversation with some person who is often in the forefront of challenging the rest of us to think more deeply about some spiritual issue. This week she is having a conversation entitled “Tech’s moral reckoning” with Anil Dash. Ms. Tippett describes Mr. Dash as “A wildly popular blogger, tech entrepreneur, and Silicon Valley influencer.”
He says that he has always been fascinated by and interested in systems. Of particular interest to him is that technological tools such as the google, social media and many others are being developed at an amazing speed with little or no concern for the fact that all such tools are based on system theory and exist in systems. Yet, seldom, if ever, does one find a required ethics course in the curriculum of a computer hardware or software major. Even in my chosen field of psychology ethics may or may not be taught as a set of rules. In my experience, there may be little taught about the process of how to think about the fact that every action we take, no matter what the tools or situation, takes place in a larger system. One cannot do A without it affecting B which affects C, D and E which affects…
As I have often discussed, one must begin with something as basic as the Hippocratic Oath and then have a way of examining how to apply the core of that oath in various situations and in the context of the system of tools one is using. Sadly, not everyone can have the luxury of studying philosophy for four years before one goes on to study a special discipline. On the other hand, one can begin to teach the application of systems theory as soon as one begins to work with/parent/ teach very young children. If anyone has any doubt that very young children understand the rudiments of systems theory observe how quickly they learn to operate a hand held computer device, the television or other pieces of technology. They quickly learn if you push button A it produces result Y which may then result in being able to … They may not expand their understanding of those basic laws to how their behavior affects other people. Yet, if they are capable of using system theory the only stumbling block to them learning to think about how all their actions affect others is only limited by the ability of we adults to think in terms of systems and to accept that children naturally think in terms of systems.
What children (and many of we adults) are not good at is “coloring inside the line” – obeying a list of rules which stifle all creativity.
When other so called adults ask me about my educational background I tell them that I have studied systems. My scholastic work in engineering, philosophy, theology, and psychology is clearly all about how pieces fit together and affect each other as well as the surrounding environment. In my mind this is all I have ever studied. Whether I look at the internal workings of a human body, the organization of the parts of a ship, building or some other object and how it plays with the environment – water, air, people, other machines or structures – the study of our role in the universe or the relationship of one part of history to another, I am a student of systems.
If we want to create a more peaceful, healthy, fun, creative, beautiful, just society we will begin to teach the larger applications of system theory as soon as we begin to teach children. We will then continue to make room in all academic disciplines for how we think about how we use information and other tools and how that use affects all else.
As Mr. Dash suggests computers, social media, google, and other technological innovations are merely tools to be used in pursuit of goals based on the presence or absence of moral values.
Written January 14, 2017
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