5.1 Beneficial and harmful effects
Beneficial and Harmful Effects of Technological Innovations
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People are the driving force behind creating computing innovations.
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Innovations are crafted with specific goals in mind. But they can have unforeseen consequences, both positive and negative.
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A creator cant predict all the things that can be done with their innovation as there are so many things that could be done and as technology evolves, new uses are made
Dopamine
Postives
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Social Connection: Social media platforms allow people to connect with friends and family, especially those who may be geographically distant. It facilitates communication, sharing of experiences, and staying updated on each other’s lives.
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Learning Opportunities: Many video games are designed to be educational and can enhance cognitive skills such as problem-solving, strategic thinking, and hand-eye coordination. Some games even incorporate historical or scientific elements, providing players with additional knowledge.
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Creativity: Video games often stimulate creativity and imagination. Games with open-world exploration or creative building elements encourage players to think outside the box and express themselves in unique ways.
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Community Building: Both video games and social media can foster a sense of community. Gamers often form online communities where they share tips, strategies, and experiences. Social media also allows people with common interests to connect and form communities.
Negatives
- Anthony Rosner story.
- Played up to 18 hours every single day and became extremely succesfull in world of warcraft but suffered in every other aspect of his life: school and relationships
- Eventually quit gaming, became a succesful DJ, and created a documentary.
Example Beneficial and Corresponding Harmful Effects of Computing
Tik Tok
- Postive: Platform for people to share their creativity and talents
- Negative: “Doom Scrolling”
Popcorn Hack 1
What is an example of a computing innovation with unintended consequences, whether positive or negative?
- ANSWER
Social media; can connect you with friends and family which is a positive, but you can grow an addiction
Mitigating Risks/Responsiblity
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Targeted advertising, machine learning, and data mining are all good exampels of how unintended uses can have both positive and negative effecs
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Even though it is impossible to predict all possibilities, a responsible programmer’s goal it to forsee and prevent any unintended/negative uses and effects
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Rapid sharing of a program can lead to events outside the creators control
Popcorn Hack 2
How can responsible programming help contribute to minimizing unintended harmful impacts?
- ANSWER
Do multiple test runs and add limitations
Finding Balance
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Finding a balance between innovation and responsibility is important
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Programmers shape the impact of their creations on society.
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Unintended uses of innovations may potentiallyhave harmful impacts on society
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While negative effects could occur, Innovations often bring unintended benefits by helping advance the current states of technology.
Popcorn Hack 3
Why is it important for programmers to consider the unintended consequences of their innovations?
- ANSWER
Bonus Hack(0.05 extra points)
Self Reflect on your use of technology? Whats your daily screen time? What beneficial effects of technology do you utilize and what are some negative consequences you succcumb to?
- ANSWER
My use of technology could definitely be shortened. Besides using it for homework assignments, I’ve had an addiction to the screen and more specifically gaming since around 1st grade. Recently, I have been busier and have found new interests, therefore I have been spending less time pushing rank 35s on brawl stars. Instead I have been enjoying the fruits of real life, like touching grass and playing sports. I have also been going to the gym a lot and getting the gains in real life instead of gaining the trophies in clash royale. I heard they added a new champion the clash royale and that it’s really broken. I quit after they added evolutions because it got too pay to win. Anyways, I still try to utilize the positive effects of tehonlogy, such as keeping in touch with my sister in college, and keeping up with the latest breaking news. Speaking of news, why is dream always beefing with kids on twitter i mean X? Isn’t he 40 years old? Anyways, the negative consequences I succumb to are entering a flow state on brawl stars and play the game until 12 am -100 trophies on my mortis and realizing I have calculus homework to do. Not only do I end off the day negative but I also end off with a massive gaping hole on my desk after I viciously slammed my fist into it.
Homework
- Choose an innovation(Social media, computers, phones, etc.) and talk about an alternative use than what its actually use for. Then, give the potential positive and negative impacts of the use you came up with
- ANSWER The invention of the phone allowed for everyone in the world with a phone to interact with one another. The phone was undoubtly life changing, as it combined multiple useful utilities into one item, and could be carried in your pocket at that. However, as techonlogy further evolved, life became much easier, and now kids these days are more attatched to their phones than their real lives. The phone is a clear example of a generational piece of technology that cames with positive and negative impacts on society.
- How might you as a programmer implement code that helps your program have less unintented risks.
- ANSWER To prevent my program from having unintended risks, I would enforce restrictions on my program which provides more safety for my users. Making the program lack bugs and flaws will make my program less risky to use, and will allow for a more seamless user experience.