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I won't say science-fiction never has substantive ethical content, but one definitely needs more than that. > they are about questions that were relevant centu
by _bxg1 7y ago
I won't say science-fiction never has substantive ethical content, but one definitely needs more than that.
> they are about questions that were relevant centuries ago
It's clear you're missing the point: ethics that are specific to a given technology, or even a specific social structure, are of limited value. If a person's moral system is going to be rich enough to apply itself to new technologies and situations that nobody has ever faced before, one needs a broad perspective on the human condition. A deeper understanding of right and wrong and the in-between.
Civilization was very different centuries ago, but people were not.
- polishdude20 7y agoI think a beneficial course would be one where the students learn about the history of how controlling certain governments and malevolent agencies can be. History can tell us a lot about how bad it can get and the implications. People nowadays are forgetting the things that happened back in Russia under communist rule for example. We like to believe our information is in good hands and won't be used for nefarious purposes. We have forgotten how evil humans can be under certain circumstances.
- wolfgke 7y ago> Civilization was very different centuries ago, but people were not. Very different civilizations imply very different ethical questions that are relevant. I just say that the global (network) interconnectness brought a huge plethora of new ethical questions that were never relevant in the past - exactly because they were science-fiction at that time. That is why I mentioned science-fiction literature as far more relevant further above in the thread.