Ethics is Not Rocket Science

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?

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?

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?