Hardin Durning Skinner Essay Draft 2 - 1480 Words

Haley Martin Lowe EH 101 – 123 24 April 2015 How Durning and Skinner Proved That Hardin’s Lifeboat Ethics: The Case Against Helping the Poor Does Not Float In Garrett Hardin’s essay, Lifeboat Ethics: The Case Against Helping the Poor, Hardin describes the wealthy population of the world as being in a single lifeboat that is almost filled until buckling while the poor population of the world treads water below. Hardin’s essay gets his readers to feel the natural instinct to survive. The lifeboat metaphor that Hardin uses relieves the wealthy population of their moral obligations to the less fortunate, but in addition, puts all of the blame and cause of the depletion of earth’s resources on the poor. As much as his argument may make sense,†¦show more content†¦By allowing all of the people in the water onto the boat, then all of the resources that the wealthy people on the boat have will be lost and there would be a survival rate of zero. Hardin states in the beginning of his essay that right now, earth is being treated more as a spaceship than a lifeboat because all of the resources and money is being shared and passed around. The main worry of Hardin’s essay is overpopulation to the point of complete loss of all resources and that the poor are the ones causing all of the resources to disappear because they are growing in population at outstanding rates. There is one thing in his essay that Hardin does not necessarily address and that is overconsumption by the upper-class. The lifeboat is almost full, but it’s not completely full. Why does Hardin want the wealthy to keep the extra space to themselves? This is the problem that Durning addresses in his essay, Asking How Much Is Enough. He states that â€Å"consumption has become the central pillar of life in industrial lands, and is even embedded in social values† where he begins to point fingers at the United States and Japan (405). Hardin seems to have forgotten to mention the middle-class and seems to only focus on two social classes when there are three present. Durning states that â€Å"American children have more pocket money†¦than the half-billion poorest people alive† (404). The

Artificial Intelligence For Utility And Threat To Humanity Or Not

Question: Write about theArtificial Intelligence for a Threat to Humanity or Not? Answer: Introduction Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to the theory and development of computer systems in such a manner than they become able to perform the simple to complex tasks without human intervention. There are a number of innovative applications that have been developed with the aid of artificial intelligence and the same have benefitted different users across the globe. There is a continuous debate between the utility and threats of artificial intelligence. There are groups that believe that machines can never be as close as humans in terms of operations and decision making. On the other hand, there are many who have researched and have come to the conclusion that further advancements in the field of artificial intelligence can be a great threat to the human race. Artificial intelligence can be dangerous if and only if goes in the wrong hands. AI has made it possible to develop machines that can think for themselves and are enabled with programmes that allow them to apply logics and rationality to the situations (Martin, 2016). However, there is no element of emotions of ethical component present in the functioning of these machines. They still do not have the ability to differentiate between right and wrong on the basis of factors such as morality, virtues, emotions and likewise. It is this component of the AI enabled machines that can be a major t hreat for the environment and human race. This component is often misused and misinterpreted by many that lead to the presence of a number of threats and risks associated with AI (Shead, 2016). There are entities that may take advantage of these machines and use them for their personal motives and benefits. The entities that are involved behind the development of the algorithms and the ones that find the capabilities to use and implement the same can be the major threat agents involved in the execution of threats. For instance, there may be an individual or a group of individuals or organization that may develop a robot having the artificially intelligent programs and codes implemented. The robot may be specifically designed to cause harm to a particular community or environment or for some other purpose that may not benefit the human race or the environment associated with the same. It will also be difficult to put a check on the once developed machine later on to make changes to the same or control the devastations. These threats can be controlled and prevented by understanding the risks that the incorrect and inaccurate use of artificial intelligence may bring up (Yudkow sky, 2016). There shall always be the element of legal consideration and ethical practices that shall be present during the design and development of any of the AI applications. The developers and the designers must always be made aware of the potential risks and threats associated with the technology. Government agencies also need to come up with regulatory policies to make sure that the application of artificial intelligence remains a boon and does not turn in to a threat for the society. References Martin, S. (2016). Artificial intelligence poses HUGE threat to humanity if in wrong hands, scientist warns. [online] Express.co.uk. Available at: https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/668886/AI-major-threat-microsoft-artificial-intelligence [Accessed 14 Oct. 2016]. Shead, S. (2016). Over a third of people think AI poses a threat to humanity. [online] Business Insider. Available at: https://www.businessinsider.in/Over-a-third-of-people-think-AI-poses-a-threat-to-humanity/articleshow/51359827.cms [Accessed 14 Oct. 2016]. Yudkowsky, E. (2016). Artificial Intelligence as a Positive and Negative Factor in Global Risk. [online] Available at: https://intelligence.org/files/AIPosNegFactor.pdf [Accessed 14 Oct. 2016].