DOES TECHNOLOGY NEED TO BE ETHICAL?

                Over the past 50 or 60 years, technology has brought significant changes to our lives. Yet there remains some disagreement as to whether technology needs to be ethical. To begin with, ethics is generally defined as a theoretical discipline that reflects on the good or responsible actions of human beings. It is claimed that there is no room for ethics; existing technology should create machines as intelligent as humans and use them  in every area. However, some people argue that technology has a responsibility to society to be ethical because new technological developments may harm people.  Moreover, trust in the tech world continues to erode due to the increase in the vulnerability to hacking and the proliferation of misinformation via Google and Facebook.

                First of all, one point which is believed to be absolutely pivotal is the fact that new technological developments may harm people. It is important to emphasize that there are some adverse effects of technology on human life, so the adverse effects of technology are widely debated. The debate on using technology such as gene editing techniques on the Designer Baby Experiment in China, for example, has become a hot-button political issue, involving scientists, policy-makers, politicians and religious groups because how ethical is it to use technology to improve human species? Therefore, the adverse effects of technology are an undeniable fact and some developments may harm people.

                When it comes to the second point, at the heart of the matter lies another contributing factor: trust in the tech world continues to erode due to the  increase in the vulnerability to hacking and the proliferation of misinformation via Google and Facebook. Similarly, the discussion on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) has mobilized civil society, scientists and policy-makers in a wide debate on ethics and safety. Request for transparency and the desire to be ethical are increasingly central to these debates. A serious hacking event has happened in the USA. The hacked folders included the personal data of about 50 million Americans  which was/has been harvested  via Facebook. This  was announced as ‘’a mistake’’ by Mark Zuckerberg, who is the founder and owner of Facebook. Zuckerberg has been criticized during  the investigation. But there is no obvious conclusion and explanation about both GMOs and the hacking event. Therefore, there is a wide debate about whether technology needs to be ethical.

                On the other hand, some proponents argue that there is no room for ethics; existing technology should create machines as intelligent as a human and use them in every area. According to them, these machines should be the most superior and intelligent species in the universe. However, these technologies may have devastating consequences/lead to a lot of serious problems for human beings: for example, (For example..) artificial intelligence might be uncontrolled or get out of control:  we saw/have seen  an apparent instance in the latest Facebook AI Experiment. After a few hours, it was turned off by Facebook because it got out of control and it created its own language.Therefore, Technology needs to be ethical and should  not be used  in every area like in the case of the Facebook AI Experiment and the Designer Baby Experiment.

                To summarize, whether technology needs to be ethical is a controversial issue. There are those who claim that  there is no room for ethics; and technology should create machines as intelligent as humans and use them in every area. However, it seems that technology needs to be ethical because new technological developments may harm people, and trust in the tech world continues to erode due to the increase in the vulnerability to hacking and the proliferation of misinformation.

KUBİLAY ESER

THE ROLE OF MUSEUMS

 Museums and art galleries should concentrate on local works rather than showing the cultures or artworks from other countries.  To what extent do you agree or disagree?

    Museums and art galleries have long been at the forefront of preserving and representing cultural values and histories of almost all countries throughout the centuries. However, whether they should mainly represent traditional and local cultures or display an international collection is open to dispute. I personally believe that traditional museums should focus on outlining the cultural aspects and artworks of the country while having separate museums with items from other countries does not hurt the national feeling.

    To begin with, educating people about the history and traditions of a country is one of the primary reasons why we have museums in the first place. They conserve important cultural specimens, artefacts, artworks and other items to boast about our past. Such museums, which primarily signify our tradition, should comprise things we, as a nation, can be proud of, rather than having internationally acclaimed artworks or sculptures. For instance, many national museums in Europe solely focus on preserving artefacts and artworks from the country only and they are quite popular among international tourists.

    Having said that, the concept of the museum in the modern era has changed to a great extent. We now have aviation museums, war memorials, motor museums, computer museums, archaeological museums and the list goes on. To make this type of museum popular and useful, we have to have international collections. For instance, the Motor Museum in Australia has a collection from more than 20 countries and they serve their purpose just fine. Museums with international compilation often attract tourists and can be a great way to promote tourism.

    To conclude, national and traditional museums should focus on nurturing national history while we also need museums with international collections to make them more functional and famous. One does not necessarily diminish the necessity and usefulness of another category.

PROTECTING AGAINST CYBERCRIME

With the rapid growth of technology, mankind has made various inventions and individuals' lives have become  easier. Technology has great advantages as well as some disadvantages, and the drawbacks may affect people's lives negatively. One of the threats is cybercrime. Even though digital connectivity is making our lives easier, the risk of cyber attacks is increasing as well, and governments and companies have to deal with the attacks. Personal and institutional information may be stolen and privacy may be violated. However,if the proper solutions are known and applied well, overcoming the problem will become easier.

First of all, there are many effective solutions and one of the most obvious ones is that people should be informed about cybercrimes via news, social media or seminars. In most cyber attacks, hackers capture the innocent's computer through malicious e-mails, various specific software like keylogger and ddos attacks. If people have the knowledge about cyber attacks, they are able to protect their private information and computers with the help of antivirus software. Moreover, if people use their technological devices  consciously, they won't connect to web sites which can be harmful ,and individuals will be careful when they are installing something on their computers. As a result, the possibility of coming face to face with cyber attacks will decrease.

In addition, another significant solution contributing to preventing cyber attacks is that institutions should think about backup. Most corporations may be hit by hackers for ransomware but if a backup system is there, they don't have to pay any money to hackers. Institutions have to have the necessary data about business to work properly and hackers want to keep companies under pressure to realize their desires. A backup system means copied data in at least 2 different places and institutions don't have to worry about the problem thanks to it.

Consequently, with the development of technology, cybercrime is becoming a widespread issue in the world, and it threatens many lives in terms of privacy violations and financial losses. Although, cyber attacks seem  unstoppable, if people are more conscious and informed well, and if  companies have backup systems, they won't have to struggle with cyber attacks.

MUHAMMET TOKATLIOĞLU

WHY PEOPLE DON’T GIVE UP THEIR SEATS TO OLDER PEOPLE ON PUBLIC TRANSPORT

The modern world is becoming an increasingly stressful place as the pace of life has reached epic proportions and people are always on the run. Everything needs to be finished yesterday and people are under continuous pressure to succeed. This relentless pace means that common courtesy and concern for others have fallen by the wayside. Nowhere is this more obvious than on public transport where the elderly stand while young people sit playing with their phones. There are various reasons why young people have become like this.

One reason for the apparent selfishness of the younger generation is the fact that everyone is living in their own little bubble thanks to modern technology. The more connected people become via technology, the more likely they are to shift their attention to the virtual world that they have started to inhabit. A lot of business and socialization takes place online, shopping is done online and education, to a large extent takes place online. Thus modern man inhabits two universes, the virtual one and the real world of his ancestors. Technology aids and abets the break from the real world and leaves young people turned in on themselves focused on their screens and their parallel world. With this kind of a mindset, they don’t even notice the elderly. The modern day zombies are too busy living a life the elderly are incapable of comprehending.

A second reason for young people’s seeming indifference to the plight of the elderly on vehicles of mass transit is the lack of social intelligence. The lack of quality contact with fellow human beings resulting from increased connectivity has also had a knock on effect on social intelligence. Social intelligence enables people to be more aware of their surroundings and to read situations correctly. Yet such a skill cannot develop without practice in real life situations and exposure to real life problems. The virtual world, the new reality of modern man, provides no opportunity to do this. The thus mentally impoverished young people fail to empathize with the elderly who have difficulty standing. They don’t sympathize with their plight and stare at them with blank eyes. In short, the upbringing the modern generation and the life they lead have lead them to lose some important social values.

To sum up, modern life and technological developments have made young people what they are. Understanding the source of the problem should enable us to address it as a community. What needs to be done is make children more aware of the real world and all that is happening around them. ‘Re-socialization’ is the key to making the world a better place.

  

STUDYING ONLINE

     Studying online has become increasingly popular in recent years, so much so that universities are having a difficult time filling their classrooms. Nowadays,students prefer to study online rather than attend classes on campus. This essay will discuss both why students prefer online study and what universities can do to reengage students to bring them back to the campus.

     Since the early 2000s, students have been leaving the classroom in favor of studying on their computers.First and foremost, studying online is far more convenient than attending classes on campus. Who wants to drive through peak hour traffic to attend a one hour lecture when one can simply flick a switch and watch it online? Technological advances such as live streaming mean that students can participate in the classes without having to be there in person. Avoiding the hassle of attending class, which might be located a long way away, is the major reason why students prefer online study.

      Universities have very little hope of attracting students back to their classrooms.As technology progresses and computers become more and more virtual, students will want to actually attend real life classes. In the not too distant future, it is predicted that virtual reality will enter the mainstream which means that universities are fighting a downhill battle.The reality is that students will continue to study via computer technology rather than in real life.

       This essay discussed why students prefer to study online rather than attend classes at university. In my opinion, studying online is far more convenient for students and it is only going to continue to become more convenient.Universities will not be able to compete with the forces of technology and therefore it will continue to lose students numbers.

LABOR UNIONS

                                                              

                Industrialization and globalization have brought significant changes to our lives since the industrial revolution. Yet there remains some disagreement as to whether these are favorable or unfavorable especially in terms of employees. Employees have suffered for lots of reasons throughout history and they needed to protect their rights and working conditions. Due to these reasons, they established labor unions in the four corners of the world. Labor unions are defined as a group of people that get together to get better salaries and conditions from their employers. Although labor unions are seen as appealing to many people, there are advantages as well as disadvantages.

                In the first place, one of the advantages of labor unions is that labor unions protect the interests  of employees. It is clear that working conditions have detrimental effects on employees and labor unions are responsible for reducing these negative effects. Employees are the basic dynamic of industry and they should be protected from the negative effects of industrialization such as discrimination and inequality. Thanks to labor unions, employees can (gain) access (to) better conditions such as better wages, job security, reduced work hours, and safe workplaces. In addition, labour unions proved to employees that there is strength in numbers because unionized workers have more power as a cohesive group than by acting individually. This power is important especially during collective bargaining. Therefore, due to these reasons, labor unions have numerous advantages.

                When it comes to the disadvantages of labor unions, one of the disadvantages of labor unions is loss of autonomy. It is obvious that employees may disagree with the union’s decision but they have to obey, that is to say, employees are directed by labor unions (certain policies are dictated to employees by labor..). Besides, labor unions can be costly not only to the employers but also employees because there are union dues and initiation fees. Members generally complain about these issues. Due to these reasons, labor unions have some disadvantages as well.

                All that has been said raises the issue of whether labor unions are favorable or unfavorable. It is obvious that there are both advantages and disadvantages of labor unions, as a coin has two sides. Protecting the interests of employees, reducing the negative effects of workplaces, protecting employees from discrimination and inequality, and job security can be listed as the advantages of labor union.  Losing autonomy, union dues and initiation fees are the main disadvantages of labor unions. It is vitally important to shed light on the advantages and disadvantages of an issue before making a sagacious decision.

                                                                                                                                KUBİLAY ESER

CYBERSECURITY

                                                                       

                Over the past 15 or 20 years, cyberspace has brought significant changes to our lives. Yet there remains some disagreement as to why cybersecurity is important. It is obvious that people encounter computing and communication technologies every day, that is to say,  people’s personal lives involves computing through social networking, home management, communication with(their) family and friends. The ubiquitous integration of computing and communication technologies into common everyday objects enhances their usefulness and makes life easier and more convenient. On the one hand, IT is instrumental in the day-to-day operations of companies, organizations, and the government. Besides, retail consumers depend on computers and networks.   It is an undeniable fact that cybersecurity affects several factors in the four corners of the world due to the fact that a rough definition might be that cyberspace consists of artifacts based on or dependent on computing and communications technology. There is a controversial phrase about this issue: Cybercrime. No matter how well constructed, inevitably cybersystems have vulnerabilities that bad guys can take advantage of.  Cybercrime can be defined as the use of the Internet and IT to steal valuable assets (i.e. money) from their rightful owners.

                In the first place, one point which is believed to be absolutely pivotal is the fact that threats to national security are the main reason for cybersecurity. It is important to emphasize that armed forces depend heavily on IT for virtually every aspect of the nation’s capabilities weapons system; system for command, control, communications, and intelligence, system for managing logistics, and the system for administration. As can be seen above, in the modern world or the twenty-first century, armies consist of several interwoven competencies or distinct types of sensitive data. Due to these reasons, it is an undeniable fact that national security cannot be ignored and precautions should be taken to prevent the negative effects of lack of cybersecurity.  Otherwise, countries may be confronted with the unwanted consequences like in the case of espionage, hacking, misuse of employee privileges, loss of privacy, and misappropriation of intellectual property. These attacks can be defined as one nation’s or third parties attempts to gather, identify, and record information, intelligence, trade secrets, and other product or software information. Therefore, all policies and precautions should be in accordance with Cybersecurity policies to counteract the negative effects of attacks of these types because it is clear that all pieces of information are related to national security, trade, and foreign affairs.      

                When it comes to the second point, at the heart of the matter lies another contributing factor: cybersecurity potentially has negative effects in other areas such as economics, innovation, civil liberties, etc. It is an undeniable fact that cybersecurity is related to future possibilities and it is regarded as a part of risk management with all of the demands for a share of government budgets and attention from senior policymakers but decision makers discount future possibilities so much that they do not see the need for present-day action. On the other hand, the private sector is constantly trying to bring forward new applications and technologies but attention to security can slow the process of bringing new products and services to the market, therefore, new technologies and applications are offered for general use without effective security. In addition, some measures which are proposed to improve cybersecurity for the nation potentially infringe on civil liberties, such as privacy, anonymity, due process, freedom of association, and free speech.

               

By way of conclusion, the obvious conclusion to be drawn from all these points that have been explained so far is that cybersecurity is a controversial issue due to the fact that computing or communication technologies are indispensable factors for people, governments, companies, and organizations and contain sensitive data, therefore, cybersecurity is a fundamental component of cyberspace.  It is not wrong to say that cybersecurity is the main threat to national security and has negative effects on economics, innovation and civil liberties.

KUBİLAY ESER