Socrates Warning

Part 1: A summary of the Bluemink (2017) article focusing on the key ideas that was most interesting to you. The ideas are not opinion, but you get to choose those pieces most interesting to you.

The first idea that struck me was the fact that Socrates was right. Recording information in books meant people had to remember less because they had books as reference points. Sadly, the same is true for the Internet and very true in my personal life. Bluemink (2017) says that the Internet is evil in itself as much as it is a blessing. This brings me to the 2^nd idea of the Internet basically making one dumber as it simultaneously gives one the impression of becoming smarter. I had no idea that the brain processes information faster when accessing the Internet, but it does not retain the information. This is quite frightful for two reasons; the first being the fact that with old age comes dementia, and the Internet is basically fast-forwarding that process, and second, being there seems to be no time for people, and me in particular, to shut down and read an entire book. I would rather look for information on the Internet rather than read through a book trying to extract useful information. If the brain is not storing information at the intensity that it ought to, it means there will come a time when there will be a generation of dumb people who have to literally rely on the Internet for their everyday life. A simple calculation such as 1+3 will need someone to search for the answer because the brain will refuse to tax itself to think.

Lastly, the idea of decreased attention has rung home ever so accurately. I find that I cannot concentrate long enough on one issue on the Internet without opening other tabs to check for more information or updates. I cannot sit down still for one hour straight and do maybe my assignment, without having 7-10 interrupting breaks to check my mail, Facebook, Instagram, and other interesting stuff on the Internet. The revelation that the Internet has played a huge role in decreasing my attention span is a real blow to me.

Part 2: With the ideas put forward by Cloudera, Inc. (2019) and by Roose (2018), how would Socrates respond to Facebook and to Lufthansa?

Socrates would be proud to know that this prediction has come to pass. Lufthansa uses the data it collects to predict possible faults in airplanes and airways and takes action rather than wait for accidents to happen. The data that the company collects has enhanced passenger experience and averted unnecessary costs associated with aircraft damages, including lawsuits from airplane crashes from mechanical failure. Lufthansa plays the part of a palm reader/medium that is able to predict possible worst-case scenarios by reading and interpreting data (Cloudera, 2019). On the other hand, Facebook uses the data it collects from its users to make more money for the company and advertisers. The data targets potential customers and places product and service advertisements that the user is most likely to purchase (Roose, 2018). In the case of Lufthansa, Socrates would have to disagree with his own prediction because, in this case, the data collected and stored can inform future events. In the case of Facebook, Socrates will assert that the data-generated marketing and advertising strategy denies individuals a level of independent thinking about what they would really want to purchase. The data-generated suggestions do all the decision-making for the user and present the final product, thus eliminating the need for the user to deeply think about what they want and why they want it hence, leads to mindless purchasing or impulse buying. Chan, Cheung, & Lee (2017) assert that these random acts of buying products and services via the Internet have contributed heavily to the financial instability in many persons’ lives both in the US and other compulsive Western countries.

References

Bluemink, M. (2017). Socrates, memory & the Internet. Retrieved October 1, 2019, from https://philosophynow.org/issues/122/Socrates_Memory_and_The_Internet

Chan, T. K., Cheung, C. M., & Lee, Z. W. (2017). The state of online impulse-buying research: A literature analysis. Information & Management, 54(2), 204-217.

Cloudera, Inc., (2019). Director. Lufthansa Technik: Reducing Airline Operating Cost by Leveraging Cloudera’s Big Data and Analytics. Youtube, Cloudera, Inc., May 7, 2019, Retrieved September 20, 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TMYGoLIYhk.

Roose, Kevin (2018). Director. How Facebook Tracks Your Data. Youtube, The New York Times, April 10, 2018, Retrieved September 20, 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAO_3EvD3DY

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Module 1 – Case SOCRATES’ WARNING

Assignment Overview

The whole idea of this assignment is to look at what Socrates, a traditional ancient philosopher, had to say about the ethics of technology. Using those thoughts, jump forward to modern-day concerns seen within Facebook and Lufthansa. From this point, your goal is to review and think through how these two companies would be viewed by Socrates based on his ideas as expressed by Bluemink (2017).

References

Bluemink, M. (2017). Socrates, memory & the Internet. Retrieved October 1, 2019, from https://philosophynow.org/issues/122/Socrates_Memory_and_The_Internet

Cloudera, Inc., (2019). Director. Lufthansa Technik: Reducing Airline Operating Cost by Leveraging Cloudera’s Big Data and Analytics. Youtube, Cloudera, Inc., May 7, 2019, Retrieved September 20, 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TMYGoLIYhk

Roose, Kevin, (2018). Director. How Facebook Tracks Your Data. Youtube, The New York Times, April 10 2018, Retrieved September 20, 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAO_3EvD3DY

Case Assignment

In this case, you will be writing a two- to three-page paper describing the following from the sources within the reference section:

Socrates Warning

• Part 1: A summary of the Bluemink (2017) article focusing on the key ideas that were most interesting to you. The ideas are not opinion, but you get to choose those pieces most interesting to you.
• Part 2: With the ideas put forward by Cloudera, Inc. (2019) and by Roose (2018), how would Socrates respond to Facebook and to Lufthansa?

Strategies for completing the assignment:

• Read through the entire article by Bluemink (2017).
• Review the YouTube videos.
• A good strategy would be to make a list of bullet points of all you remember from the Bluemink (2017) article. This will help you write Part One of your paper. Note: Do not just reproduce your bullet points for Part One; use the list to structure a written summary.
• Next, take notes on what specific bullet points are relevant to what you would want to say regarding Socrates’ warning about technology and how Socrates might approach some of the problems within Lufthansa or Facebook. This will form the basis of your arguments for Part Two.
• Any time you use information, ideas, or data from one of the sources you used to research your paper, cite it using in-text citations.

Assignment Expectations

• The assignment should be 2-3 pages (12-point font, Times New Roman, double spaced, and 1-inch margins), not including the title page or the reference section.
• Include in-text citations for all sources used in the assignment. The sources must also be listed on a reference page or bibliography.
• Citations and references should follow APA style. Use this APA guide as a reference.

Your paper will be graded using the rubric attached to this assignment in the Dropbox.