Midterm 1

Question 1

What is technology?

Answer 1

Using Physics laws to make devices

Question 2

What are some examples of technology discussed in class?

Answer 2

Toaster - Electricity travels through coiled wires, generating heat

Neon lights - Electricity travels through gas, creating lights

Car - Gasoline and ignition cause motion

Question 3

What is the engineering design process?

Answer 3

1) Identify problem
2) Define requirements device needs to meet, keep in mind money time and labor needed for your solution.
3) Come up with several candidate solutions
4) Pick best one
5) implement the device
6) Evaluate device

Question 4

What are the important areas of technology?

Answer 4

Communication
Manufacturing 
Transportation 
Construction 
Biotechnology

Question 5

What is the purpose of data analysis, what are the types of data?

Answer 5

Data analysis is to prove a hypothesis.

Lab data - Obtained in lab, controlled conditions

Field data - observe the phenomenon naturally

Question 6

What are the types of faulty data

Answer 6

Overgeneralization - Conclusions from one or two examples
Inferences - the end result does not justify the main idea
Circular Reasoning - Going in circles, not proving anything
Contradictions - A position that contradicts the main premise
Oversimplification - A single thing is assumed to have caused the problem
Assumption - A belief that something is true
False Correlation - Comparing unrelated things
Opinions - Personal views

Question 7

What are ethics?

Answer 7

The study of moral values, (right vs wrong)

How societies ought to act in a given situation

Question 8

What is the purpose of moral values or laws?

Answer 8

To control society and individuals

Question 9

What are the origins of moral values?

Answer 9

1) Societies and man
2) Values created by religion
3) Values are universal

Question 10

What are the types of ethics?

Answer 10

Meta Ethics (Beyond) Deals with abstract problems, i.e. why is there evil in the world?

Normative perspective ethics - Provide moral codes for people to follow, i.e. IEEE Code of ethics

Applied Ethics - Using ethics in dealing with every day problems

ex) Euthenasia (mercy killing), cloning, gun control, abortion.
a) medical ethics
b) business ethics
c) environmental ethics
d) social ethics

Question 11

What is the origin of religion?

Answer 11

Used to explain natural phenomenon and create moral support psychologically

Question 12

What is the definition of religion?

Answer 12

A set of beliefs and rituals practiced by a group of people concerning a supreme being (god)

Question 13

What are the holy books?

Answer 13

• Bible (Christian)
• Torah (Jewish)
• Kuran (Islam)
• Vedas (Hindu)

Question 14

What are the priest heads?

Answer 14

• Imam (Islam)
• Rabbi (Jewish)
• Priest (Christian)
• Lama (Hindu)

Question 15

What is religious knowledge?

Answer 15

Comes from the holy books, is static and always the same, can’t be questioned

Question 16

What are the origins of science?

Answer 16

Dissatisfaction with religious explanation of phenomenon.

Question 17

Definition of science

Answer 17

A system of way of acquiring knowledge through experimentation

Question 18

What are the steps of the scientific process?

Answer 18

1) A question arises
2) Form a hypothesis (educated guess)
3) Experiment to test hypothesis
4) Analyze the data and draw conclusions
5) Communications

Question 19

What are the types of science?

Answer 19

Physical - Explains physical phenomenon

Social - Explains human behavior

Question 20

Who causes the split between science and religion?

Answer 20

Galileo

Question 21

What was Pascal’s point of view on science and religion?

Answer 21

He thought they should be mixed, and that believing in god was the natural thing to do, since if god exists you get eternal life, and if he doesn’t you lose nothings.

Question 22

What did Karl Marx think about religion?

Answer 22

It was the opiate of the masses. Religion was invented by the upper classes to make people feel better about their exploitation and poor conditions.

Question 23

What did Einstein think about science and religion?

Answer 23

Science without religion is not moral, and religion without science is irrational.

Question 24

What is AI?

Answer 24

The ability of a computer to solve problems and reach conclusion through processes like a person

Question 25

What are the types of AI?

Answer 25

Commercial AI - It exists now. Using the computer to do limited and focused tasks, such as playing games, speech recognition etc. etc.

Theoretical AI - Does not exist 100%.