Should every CS/SE/IT major be forced to take an ethics class?

Should every CS/SE/IT major be forced to take an ethics class?

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why tho

and doesnt saying "forced" and not "required" or "mandated" prompt illogical scream wars and not civilized argument by using hostile wording

No, students already take too many bullshit classes. Whats next? Quran studies?

No. People should get it in high school.

HOW CAN WE HAVE A MULTICULTURAL COUNTRY IF WE DON'T STUDY THE QURAN?

People who want scream wars will do scream ward regardless of what you write so why bother.

Exactly what I'm afraid of. First its ethics, next religious studies. Then humanities. God it never ends. One bullshit after another.

I had to take one. 1 unit class, with just watching jewtube vids as the assignment.

It was whatever, probably could have been time better spent for sure.

Why?
"Ethical" is a floating, subjective term. If it's legal, it's up to the person to decide whether or not it's ethical, and they probably have firm beliefs on that formed at home when they were kids.
If anything, kindergartens should have a mandatory ethics class, but it would probably be taken over and distorted by leftists like so many uni classes that aren't hard science. So it's probably best to leave it in the hands of parents to teach their kids to be good people.

I don't think it would achieve much, people would still build AI police state death machines if they get paid for it.

High schools are too busy cramming in 8 years of elementary school education to do that.

Forced is the wrong word.
As a student, you should take classes so you can speak the same language as other students in the field.
CS is very often a part of a bigger education, so there ethics can be thrown in.
But if you take CS because you want to be a CS only student then no, ethics doesn't belong there.
I think English and history is more important to ethics in that situation.
But again, it all comes down to what is taken out and how much time you have.
They could also put in ethics because you need a breather so you can just sit and do nothing for a couple of hours.
I mean I guess that is why we had a course on system design and OOP

High schools are for general education. University is for specialization. Or we will end up with CS degrees that know more about humanities and history of art than science or computers.

it's totally pointless desu
if you're an ethical person, you don't need an ethics class
if you aren't an ethical person, no ethics class is gonna make you into one

ethics was actually a part of the courses i did
i didn't really understand any of it, i'm probably autistic though
did everything else well enough that i still passed

computers and "unclear, illogical, unique to the situation" things just don't go well together

The problem with this is that the unethical decisions are very rarely made on side of the wageslave making this stuff. They might not even be told what the application for what they are making is.

They did the same thing here after we had a major accounting scandal at a few of our big companies (not of the scale of enron, but big for my country), and they made all of the workers do ethics classes. As if the toilet cleaning wagie had anything to do with cooking the books.

Ethical decisions are made by Big Business and Government. The problem here is that 'mandatory ethics training' won't do much to stop those two making a mess. Particularly in countries like the US where the system is designed to reward making cruel or bad decisions.

>right and wrong are always clear

of course they aren't. The ethical person knows that and doesn't need a class to teach him. He'll stop and think on his own when he finds himself in an ethically ambiguous situation, and needs no training to do what he thinks is right as best he can. the unethical person doesn't do that and won't no matter what classes you make him take.

if you think that people, rather than situations, can fall between these two, I disagree. you either care or you don't.

It's a nice GPA booster.

I got made to do an ethics class as part of my HND. Fucking pointless (the qualification, but I got 2 years of grant money out of it), and the lecturer running the ethics class outright called me a sociopath.

I don't think that was very ethical of him.

> implying there is only one ethic
shiggy-diggy-doo

People can still be mislead by sliver tongued devils. Best educated yourself on the common moral deception tactics.

No.
Fuck that stupid shit.

There's nothing wrong with mandatory religious studies, humanities, and economics classes.

No one said they are, but a book can't tell you what option you should chose if you are left with only black or grey choices. Your own moral system guides you on your decision, and morals are entirely subjective.

Any remotely safety related software will need to be developed by actual engineers, not CSfags or Software "Engineers".

>it's about ethics in game programming

Ethics is too far away for me. How about Cent?

No, because the people who do bad things consistently are going to keep doing them.

They should be given an ethics test and if they fail they aren't legally allowed to write software.

No need to "teach" ethics.

Who defines the ethics?

I would have studied the shit out of it, if it was available when I was graduating.

Gamergate, duh

I took one. It was fine. Actually, I used a book by the same author as
>OP's pic
6th Edition, though

It's not bad, really. I learned a decent amount of crap like Copyrights and Fair Use.

Now I know how I can use stuff.

We also covered a bunch of stuff about different Ethical Systems. Kinda interesting actually.
I found out I'm NOT actually 100% Utilitarian; I also have SOME ethics considered to be "Kantian". And maybe even a couple others.
Although, still like 95% Utilitarian.

On things I can't reconcile Utilitarianism AND my other ethics with, though, I decided to NOT decide.

>Should a self-driving car that sees a group of 20 people in front that can't get outta the way in time crash its passenger (1 person) into a wall, killing THEM instead of 20?
No, it should blare the horn and slam the breaks, and if the sleeping passenger wakes up, THEY can decide. Otherwise, whatever happens, happens. IDK how important that 1 person is OR how important or NOT important those 20 people are. AND I was paid by the person IN the car. Therefore, the car must AT LEAST take care of them.

Thrilling. Post more.

no

Ok.

Are you being sarcastic?

>No, it should blare the horn and slam the breaks, and if the sleeping passenger wakes up, THEY can decide
What about way in the future when cars won't have controls

Or what about if in the future most cars were taxi style
You didn't own it, you just "rented" it for the trip

Nope. I'd love some actual ethics discussion. Summerfags are far too eggy for a serious conversation.

Was the textbook aimed specifically at STEM, or was it a general-audience book?

>What about way in the future when cars won't have controls
Well, I doubt there will ever be ZERO controls, even if it's something attached to us or something.

>Or what about if in the future most cars were taxi style
>You didn't own it, you just "rented" it for the trip
Same, I was paid by the passengers, not the people OUTSIDE the car. I'm responsible to those INSIDE it.

What if it was a cliff and 10 school children and there wasn't enough place to stop

Real engineers do

Don't see why cs/ce shouldn't

>Nope. I'd love some actual ethics discussion. Summerfags are far too eggy for a serious conversation.
Oh ok.

>Was the textbook aimed specifically at STEM, or was it a general-audience book?
It was AIMED at STEM students. You COULD, however, just use it for any tech-savvy bunch, because it covered software development in an ethical way and how we can determine who is responsible to whom in what scenarios.

Things like when the developers should have been considered to be negligent vs when it's not really something they could've helped with. Is it ok to release something only to find out a devastating bug existed in it, such as with the Therac-25 cancer-radiation thing that killed like 7 people because the devs forgot to consider that the hospital techs might be faster than the machine. Because of this, some operated the GUI, but the machine didn't rescan changes made since they pushed START. It sometimes gave too high doses, because it was assumed no one could move that fast to make adjustments (or rather, never even considered)

So, exactly what should these people have been brought up on, if anything? Especially since it was a device that was designed to help people, and did (except in those somewhat uncommon circumstances).

> Therac-25
Every time

Anyway I took a similar class and it was okay. Spent a bit too much time on how to properly do experiments that involve people though.

>there wasn't enough place to stop
Well, in that case, it'd kinda have to crash anyway, or EVERYONE would fall off the cliff.

At that point, deciding WHO dies is invalid, because EVERYONE dies if nothing is done.

Basically, I'm saying: If the ONLY ones in real danger are NOT inside the car, then take the person(s) INSIDE as top priority. If THEY'LL die, however, there's actually a LOWER chance of death from a crash than of falling off a cliff.

Now, if you said the kids were all standing on a ramp, and the car could jump the ravine if it plowed them over, that's a different story, but why in the metric fuck would they be standing on a car ramp, and why is it not a bridge?
Also, due to a loss of speed, will the car still make it?

So.... yeah. That's a different ballpark of abstract question...

Pic related, this is the flow chart for ME's from my university

See the bottom right corner for the ethics requirement

Fuck forgot pic

We already are, you fuck.

how about something like this

(excuse my awesome paint skills)

The car (in green) is heading towards a bunch of special needs children (in red) who are standing on a road (because they're retards).
Now the car could

a) run over the kids and save the driver
b) save the kids by driving over the cliff and killing the driver

It cannot stop because reasons

What should the car do

Kill yourself.

lol

Probably the most memorable one, tbqh.

I think we also covered a bit on experiments involving people.

I just think if the experiment is for the Greater Good (cue: Godwinfags), just do it, as long as it won't hurt them (or get consent forms if it could). For instance, I feel the FDA is WAY too strict. Medicine being AVAILABLE is WAY more important than bureaucratic technicalities. My mom is allergic to fucking Advil/Ibuprofen (not to mention like every other fucking painkiller around). You CAN'T test for EVERY potential fail point.

If it involves WEAPONS or DEFENSE, however, THAT needs to be tested as fuck, but consumer goods can be a little more lax, because SOMEONE will always have a problem; there's no getting around it.

fug

The car does a sick drift and runs all of them over.
LAW OF THE JUNGLE

(muffled eurobeat is heard in the distance)

DEJA VU
I'VE JUST BEEN IN THIS PLACE BEFORE

Mow em down.

I'd have a much more difficult time deciding if you said they were all Doctors or Physicists or something, though.

But, alas, even in a case like that, without ID-tagging EVERYONE, you couldn't know. So, assuming no ID tags, I'd still have to say 'Mow em down'.

If, on the other hand, the guy inside just spent 3 months' paycheck from Walmart to get a nice ride for the week, and they were all high-end people in the road (since it's a cliff, maybe making measurements on a volcano that seems to have awakened), AND we now had a law to ID tag everyone, then, Public Safety first, and also They're fucking Scientists, not some 40 y/o dude living on minimum wage who won't do anything, so, Pile Drive off the cliff. Sorry, dude.

See, very important is the ID-taggingness going on here.

It can get a lot more complex if I was ACTUALLY working on self-driving cars. But, these are initial thoughts. They might change someway over time.

Alternatively, can the car chuck the guy out using a mechanism? That might help alleviate some concerns. Throw them out the car.
But... that's a solution to the dilemma, not an answer. We aren't assuming the car has that ability. Though it should.

But what about the blow back the manufacturer would get for killing 30 retarded kids tho

Well... that's adding a whole new layer to the question. You asked which is the right thing to do, not what will have the lowest corporate impact.
And it's ALSO assuming current society, NOT ID-tagged (1984 + 100).
In that case, sticking to the corporate policy of "Safety and Efficiency for Those Who Ride With Us" will probably still pan out not too bad. Society will blame the parents or whoever was in charge of the children at the time, anyway. Then, the fucking Liberals will say that Driverless Cars are evil. Then, you pay the government to ignore them, because technology supersedes idiotic opinions, especially ones that apply only in very awkward situations that don't NORMALLY occur in day-to-day life.

Ultimately, it becomes Liberals arguing with the Puppet Government, while the Future pushes forward.

>pic related

Just found something called Initial D- Running in the 90's
Pretty good. Might have to download this type of stuff. If it's on iTunes, you just made someone money.

...

sorry, wrong pic.
I used the one regarding money instead

Guess I'll throw this out there.

Maybe this class isn't aimed at you? Could be aimed at the retards that need the "cosplay without consent" bullshit. You uni fuckers will soon be learning that you are going to be put through all sorts of bullshit because there is always an idiot in the group. Man up and realize that there is at least one guy in that class that would seriously consider pumping out shit code for a nuclear reactor if it gave him more time to redo the UI themes. This class is needed and the retards that need to be there are the same ones who won't take it if it is an elective.

>Hating education

I just hate indoctrination

Which is what the modern educational system has become

No but they should be forced to take a topology class to weed out retards who "only want to make games"

It shouldn't teach what is right or wrong but how to form a coherent framework to build those beliefs on, and about arguments to reject those beliefs altogether (ethical nihilsm).

The class should make people seriously consider things they have taken for granted. For instance, how do you justify that murder is wrong? This isn't trivial.

This is the slipperiest of slopes.
Nothing wrong with gen ed classes. They are rarely indoctrinating in the way you're afraid of unless it's a shitty backwater that can't attract hires good enough to understand nuance.

A CS ethics class would, at its worst, be an easy-A how-to on why h4x0r5 are bad. It could also actually be a thoughtful class on how there can be moral consequences to the work you do, considers more than one perspective, etc.

>Learning history is indoctrination.
>Learning economics is indoctrination.
>Learning religion is indoctrination.

kek

A good course will expose you to multiple viewpoints to weigh the argument for yourself.

ethics for nerds
unit i: ethics of games journalism

I'm taking one this semester, just fucking end me now.

some people are doomed to wallow in ignorance for life user.

Its best to ignore them.

this should be mandatory

I had a CS-specific ethics course.

>how there can be moral consequences to the work you do, considers more than one perspective, etc.
Pretty much was that, pretty interesting course.

Agreed. I think we should also teach people about race theory, national socialism and creationism. They're just different viewpoints dude.

I already have to take a hybrid career development and ethics course, but from what I've already seen, the ethics part gets in the way of the career dev making the class more unreasonable than it needs to be.

those are usually covered in polisci and philosophy courses actually. it just so happens that people with actual educations tend to reject them :^)

why read all that shit pleb? just follow him

Yes, because fuck you.

I had to sit through ethics as a premed and it was shit. If I have to, so the fuck should the rest of you fa/g/gots

Dunno, my uni has a required ethics track nearly everyone has to take.

>national socialism

They should. It's scary how often politicians get away with rehashing the same sophistry the Nazis used, often verbatim.

>implying people don't immediately jettison what they teach once they pass

It's the college equivalent of shit like health class or character ed, except in the latter the teacher might teach you black jack on an off day.

>should every x major be required to take y
no, every x major should be required to take x

>staticts

lel

Yeah, stat 509 is statistics for engineers

Maybe we can study the Quran *in* the ethics class.

Please turn to page 421 for a detailed explanation on why honor killings aren't ethical.

I actually have an old MP3 player with just this on it for use in my car:
youtube.com/watch?v=29o9I8AJuBE

Why would that situation even exist?
Why would a road like that exist?
Why would people be on that road?
Why would you be going so fast on such a road that you wouldn't be able to stop even though you'd be able to see the people for some distance considering there's nothing obstructing your view?

More importantly, when has someone driving a vehicle EVER had to decide between their life or the lives of people out in the road when driving?

if(persons.age()

It can't hurt. Frankly it would be nice if everyone had at least an entry level background in philosophy of ethics.

no

brianna wu is that you?

I did an ethics class in college. The only good thing to come out of it was I got to fuck a cute blonde swedish girl raw and cum in her pussy so many times.

that shit was so cash

no you fucking idiot. Make lawyers, business majors, and politicians take an ethics class.
also feminists, liberal arts majors, and sjws have to take a trip to africa class.

So they should have bible studies class to teach them right from wrong?

A CS ethic class?

I'm an EE major and I had to take an ethics class.

>people with actual educations

if you think that modern undergraduate schools are uniformly offering "actual educations", you are probably well on your way to a career at Starbucks with tens of thousands of dollars of crushing debt.

college should be more about giving people skills and bodies of knowledge for real, in-demand trades and not being hugbox indoctrination centers with remedial instruction for people with squandered high school educations.

> if you graduated HS without the capacity for "critical thinking" and writing bullshit essays competently, you should probably just kill yourself

>I'm an EE major and I had to take an ethics class.

do people not get raised by their parents anymore that this sort of shit is even plausibly necessary?