Why a Seminar on “Computers and Human Values”?
• Consider the role/effects of computer technology in/on contemporary life; or, why not “Refrigerators and Human Values”? Until the 1980s, a course like this would have seemed ridiculous. Even had computers in the 1950s and 1960s been a million-fold more powerful than they were, they were regarded by nearly everyone who used them as simply large specialized machines. The view that the computer imposed (or would impose) itself on our lives in such a way as to transform our value system(s) was not a common one. With the rise of “personal” computing, computer networks, and extraordinary advances in the computing power, it is clear that the reach of computers is far greater than that of the hammer (the traditional example of a “neutral” technology) or even the automobile; and thus the consequences of our use of computers seems a reasonable thing to question. • Consider the rise of the “information sector” of the economy. Your generation is the first to have been schooled in the midst of wi
