How changes in technology impact on the way humans communicate, and the ethical issues that surround these changes. (Week 7)

Throughout history, humans have used several mediums to communicate. Speaking has been our primary way of communicating, followed by written text. These forms of passing knowledge and information have always been clear and concise. Very little failed in its delivery, and mistakes could be quickly rectified. In our post-modern society, technology is becoming the main way humans confer information, and this has brought about multiple ethical problems that must be addressed.

 

Figure 1, Timeline of Communication tools (Wikipedia, 2014)

Figure 1 demonstrates how technology is taking humanity away from physical interactions and moving us towards audio and screen-based communication. From practically the beginnings of human history to around the early 20^th century, humanity has used either basic talking or text to deliver information. Nowadays, we are seeing more innovations towards long-range devices that allow us to send and receive messages, no matter the distance. Sure, this shows how “Information Technology (IT) has been an enabler of economic and cultural globalisation” (Schultz, 2010), but if we think about it, there are many consequences too. If you speak with someone, and you say “the weather is deadly”, they may recoil in horror. This physical reaction is the perfect time to explain how you are from Ireland, and ‘deadly’ means ‘really good’ or ‘brilliant’. You then both laugh at the slight miscommunication and continue with your conversation. This cannot happen with digital communication technologies. The only direction one has is from the words, and how they translate these words may not be what the sender anticipated. Miscommunication is almost too easy now, and miscommunication can have destructive capabilities (see the movie Dr Strangelove as an example).

Communication is key for a society to be well-informed and progress. Considering we live in a world of nuclear weapons and intense air traffic, one mistaken message can cause insane amounts of damage. Ethically, we must be cautious with information technologies, and understanding of their potential, or we can cause serious harm to those we never meant to hurt.

Reference List:

Schultz, R. (2010). The Role of IT in the Ethics of Globalisation. Burbank, CA: Woodbury University. Retrieved 15 September 2017, from http://iisit.org/Vol7/IISITv7p353-368Schultz729.pdf

Wikipedia (2014). History of communication. Retrieved 15 September 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_communication