Law in Contemporary Society

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TheFirstLawOfRobotics 11 - 09 Jul 2012 - Main.RohanGrey
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 Today I came across a Forbes article based on a brief phone interview with Eben. The focus was on internet security, specifically in the context of mobile technology. As a huge fan of Asimov, I found it particularly interesting because of Eben’s reference to the First Law of Robotics, and how science fiction has generally predicted the interaction between humans and robots.

The First Law of Robotics states that “a robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.” According to Eben, what our modern day “robots” – our smartphones – do to us on a daily basis is exactly the opposite, and he lists a variety of ways in which this is done.

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 What about the way they have changed our brains? Eben's article didn't mention this, but we discussed it in class a little bit. I love my iPhone, but since I've had it I've noticed that my attention span has decreased significantly. When I'm waiting somewhere, instead of pulling out a book to read, I pull out my phone, check my email, play Words with Friends, check Facebook, and check the news. I check my email ALL THE TIME but I have no reason to do that. I wish CLS would install cellphone signal blockers in the classrooms, because if I have my phone, I'm going to check it. I recognize that this kind of behavior is bad for me, but I can't stop.

-- KatherineMackey - 08 Jul 2012

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There was a great Gary Larson Far Side cartoon I saw on this issue, which I can't find online but this is a crude approximation. Don't know how insightful it is but it's funny and thought i'd share.

Revision 11r11 - 09 Jul 2012 - 03:14:45 - RohanGrey
Revision 10r10 - 09 Jul 2012 - 02:40:56 - AlexWang
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