When I was a kid, I remember people having diaries. They chronicled their lives writing their innermost thoughts as a way of processing and remembering. These diaries were hidden away so no one saw them, and sometimes had little locks on them to symbolize the privacy of their contents. I presume that some people still keep diaries. I know people who carry journals around and write in them. But I also know people who chronicle their lives in public via Twitter, blogs, or Facebook. Many people chose to share their more than they used to, and draw the lines between public and private in new ways.
“Don’t Be a Tool” and Other Friendly Reminders
Posted by Jim Caccamo on April 26, 2012
https://rewiringvirtue.com/2012/04/26/dont-be-a-tool-and-other-friendly-reminders/
World Peace and the Difficulty of Virtues
I don’t want to pile on with commentary about Metta World Peace’s hit on James Harden this past weekend. It has already, as Bomani Jones at sbnation.com put it, hijacked news on a big sports news weekend. Two things, I think, bear noting in a blog on technology ethics.
1) People frequently act out of habit. We learn some way of acting, or talking, or responding. The we repeat it over years, and it becomes a part of us. That’s what the ideas of virtue and vice is all about. Vices (like lying, cheating, and stealing) are bad habits, habits that help us act poorly toward others, and in the process, make us less human. Virtues, on the other hand, are good habits that help us act well toward others, and in the process, help make us more fully human, more fully perfected. Classics here are prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude.
Posted by Jim Caccamo on April 23, 2012
https://rewiringvirtue.com/2012/04/23/world-peace-and-the-difficulty-of-virtues/
Where’d Everybody Go?
As a quick followup to the Apple/Nike piece, consider Nick Bilton’s recent blog post over at the New York Times. It is entitled “Disruptions: Too Much Silence on Working Conditions.” In the wake of Apple’s troubles with worker issues at Foxconn plants, he notes the continuing silence of other tech companies that use Foxconn to manufacture their products.
In the last week I have asked Hewlett-Packard, Samsung, Microsoft and others about their reports on labor conditions. Most responded with a boilerplate public relations message. Some didn’t even respond.
Posted by Jim Caccamo on April 18, 2012
https://rewiringvirtue.com/2012/04/18/everybody-pile-on/
Rewiring Virtue 