Archive for the ‘ethics’ Category

The Atomic Garden

Eradicating famine? My ninja, please.

After WWII, there was a concerted effort to find ‘peaceful’ uses for atomic energy. One of the ideas was to bombard plants with radiation and produce lots of mutations, some of which, it was hoped, would lead to plants that bore more heavily or were disease or cold-resistant or just had unusual colors. (Source)

Blogger Fined

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Libel and creating a "defamation zone" these are the charges brought against Johnny Northside. Read below for part of the story:

Moore, after being fired by the Jordan Area Community Council in January 2009, was hired at the U of M’s Urban Research and Outreach/Engagement Center to study mortgage foreclosures. When Hoff found out, he wrote a post accusing Moore of being involved in a "high-profile fraudulent mortgage," one of several that resulted in a 16-year prison sentence for former real estate agent Larry Maxwell. Moore was not charged in the Maxwell case.

Hoff said he told the truth and had documentation.

District Judge Denise Reilly threw out four of the five statements, saying they were either opinion or the comments of others on the blog. With respect to the remaining statement, the jury agreed with Clark’s claim that Hoff had committed "tortious interference" by meddling with Moore’s employment. Clark pointed out to the jury that Hoff, in a later blog post, took partial credit for Moore’s firing. (Source)

Aliko Dangote, BBC Interview Excerpt

Dubbed "the richest man in Africa, Aliko Dangote is an interesting figure in a new Africa vying for economic stability.A Check out the interview below, noting what Dangote says about investing his money in Africa and the need to open markets, as opposed to receiving aid.

To quote:

Any corrupt dictator can embezzle $70B over 30 years when the Suez Canal is in [his] backyard. Building/managing a conglomerate is much more admirable. Besides, US intelligence estimates the Mubarak family fortunes are much less than the Bush crime family. But what do I know? I don’t believe in capitalism anyway. - M.G.

The Seven Principles of Bias

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1. Everyone is biased

And I meanAeveryone. Every single person, in every assessment that they make, has all kinds of biases. Sometimes it is as obvious and powerful asAconfirmation bias - the tendency to interpret matters in a way that confirms one’s prior views. At other times it can be as subtle as emotional associations, either positive or negative, with something from one’s childhood. No person is a computer.

2. There is nothing wrong with being biased

Being biased is part of the human condition. It hampers one’s ability to objectively appraise a topic, but that handicap does not reflect badly one someone any more than a physical handicap. For example, as someone who grew up Jewish and lives in Israel, of course I am biased towards seeing Israel as the good guy in the Israel vs. Palestinian conflict. There’s no shame in that bias.

3. Being biased doesn’t mean that you are wrong

This is a corollary of the first principle; since everyone is biased, of course being biased cannot mean that one is wrong. And even if, in a dispute, one person is substantially more biased than the other, it still does not mean that he is wrong.

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Stephen Fry : What I’d Wish I’d Known When I Was 18

Would You Refuse to Hire Someone Wearing Dreadlocks?

TheAU.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is suing aAVirginia moving and storage business for refusing to hire a man who wears his hair in dreadlocks because of his religious beliefs.

Christopher Woodson — who has 14 years of experience in the moving industry — applied for a job at Lawrence Transportation Systems in May 2008. The company wouldn’t hire him as a loader because Woodson refused to cut his hair, alleges a complaint filed inAU.S. District Court in Virginia. Woodson wears his hair in dreadlocks, because his Rastafarian religious beliefs encourage followers to refrain from cutting their hair.

Woodson offered to tie up his hair or wear a cap, according to the lawsuit. But aALawrence Transportationhiring official rejected Woodson’s offer, the lawsuit states. Woodson worked for Lawrence Transportation before he became a practicing Rastafarian in 2004.

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Who Got that Vocab?!

just-world phenomenon

The just-world phenomenon, also called the just-world theory, just-world fallacy, just-world effect, or just-world hypothesis, refers to the tendency for people to want to believe that the world is just so strongly that when they witness an otherwise inexplicable injustice they will rationalize it by searching for things that the victim might have done to deserve it. This deflects their anxiety, and lets them continue to believe the world is a just place, but often at the expense of blaming victims for things that were not, objectively, their fault.

Another theory entails the need to protect one’s own sense of invulnerability. This inspires people to believe that rape, for example, only happens to those who deserve or provoke the assault. This is a way of feeling safer. If the potential victim avoids the behaviors of the past victims then they themselves will remain safe and feel less vulnerable. (Wikipedia)

Chile First on Net Neutrality

Chile has become the first nation to officially put net neutrality principles into law. In a vote by the Chilean legislature, the new law won a near unanimous vote, according to local media.

The new law forces ISPs to "ensure access to all types of content, services orAapplicationsAavailable on the network and offer a service that does not distinguish content, applications or services, based on the source of it or their property".

.:elpais.com->

Wildman at Work

Ultimately, in the argument about work and how it should be done, one has only one's pleasures to offer. It is possible … to be in one's place, in such company, wild or domestic, and with such pleasure, that one cannot think of another place that one would prefer to bea€" or of another place at all. One does not miss or regret the past, or fear or long for the future. Being there is simply all, and is enough. Such times give one the chief standard and the chief reason for one's work. -AWendell Berry, "Economy and Pleasure" (Continue reading the article by clicking the link below)

.:thepointmag.com->