Berkeley Paper Flashcards
What happened during the Thule False Alarm? Why did this happen?
The Early Warning System in Greenland detected missile flying to America from Russia. The system was not working properly and detected the moon.
What is a Horror Point?
A point at which a human should say “I cannot study/investigate/publish this. It’s too horrible”
In 1958, people believe the social responsibilities of computer scientists should be discussed by who?
Computer people
It can be argued that computer scientists cannot discuss social responsibilities, as it is outside of their domain of _______
knowledge
Summarize the story of the locksmith
- Guy goes to locksmith asking to open a safe and promising lots of stuff
- Locksmith says yes and takes years to open safe
- Guy just pays locksmith and makes him go away
- Guy found super weapon and rules the world
In the Locksmith Story, the locksmith’s obligation is to what? This can also be said for computer scientists creating the ICBM guidance system. However, they must also question the moral and legal implications of the request
Help the stranger
What is “The Argument of the Beard”?
A logical fallacy that is the failure to acknowledge a real change (eg, Hitler taking land, the Brits saying they made peace)
When are you guilty of the argument of the beard?
If we use middle ground to raise doubt about the existence of real differences between such opposites as strong and weak/good and bad.
The fact that we cannot determine the exact point at which white ceases to be white does not prove that there is no difference between white and black
