De typische Marokkaan bestaat niet - Univers

More documents

Recommendations

Info

18. Science & school text Esra van der Wolk photography U.S. Air Force Univers 16 mei 2013 Imagine yourself living under the supervision of U.S. military forces; unmanned aircrafts that watch your every move. Your village attacked on a regular basis, leaving behind death and disabled bodies. That is the reality behind drone fighting. Mark Coeckelbergh, philosophy professor at the University of Twente addresses the ethics of drone fighting. The ethics of drone fighting Playing a video game Since 2004, more than 3.100 people were killed in Pakistan by the use of drones. Most of them were innocent. Less than 2% of the victims are high-profile targets. According to Coeckelbergh, the main problem with drone fighting is the fact that it changes warfare entirely. The distance makes it easier to kill: only a simple press on the button is sufficient. “Can you still speak of war or is it a kind of murder then?”, he wonders. A lot of people see drone fighting as playing a video game, where the drone operator does not grasp that he is actually killing people. Coeckelbergh argues that this is not completely true. “It looks like that but that also holds true for pilots of bombing aircrafts. They do not see the victims they make either. Research suggests that people can judge a video game as not being real. With drones, it seems real enough since pilots think about what they have done afterwards and find it strange to go back home after work.” He explains that this indicates that something psychologically has happened, made possible by the use of cameras. Often, drone operators have been monitoring their subject for months. Through better cameras, they see what life that person has and they make up a story around it. A subject becomes more human this way. He becomes a father, husband and neighbor. “The big distance makes killing easier but the moral distance is reduced by better cameras that make it possible to get a better image.” Increased distance Coeckelbergh says that military technologies and the history of fighting can be interpreted as a history of creating increasing distance. Where drones than not the logical next step? “In terms of distance, drones are the ultimate weapon. The next step in warfare will be weapons that fire from space. I think this will be used more and more. By creating distance, you protect yourself while making it easier to kill people.” States part of the problem The risk of an arms race is always present with the existence of drones. They are being used on a massive scale by the United States. Coeckelbergh believes it is important to keep thinking about what is a just war. “We should avoid using violence as much as possible. But I do not believe in a control approach: creating rules or laws like thou shall not kill. On the contrary, we should create conditions in which violence is less probable.” He also thinks that big entities like states are part of the problem because they make wars possible at a large scale. Moral machines When asked about the future of drone fighting, Coeckelbergh is cautious. “Security is very important. We should look out for new technologies. More parties will try to disrupt drone signals and the increasing use of internet makes abuse and cyber crime possible.” He warns for the risk of hacking. Coeckelbergh also opposes to the idea of drones operating on their own. “There is a lot of international protest against this development. Some philosophers believe that morality can be build into drones. I think this is a dangerous thought and we should push for regulation against it. Morality does not work like that. In morality, there is doubt. It is more than just a consciousness, it is emotion and involvement. That is not possible for a machine. In any case, there should always be a human involved for the human judgment.” Coeckelbergh was one of the speakers on the second day of TILTing Perspectives 2013, a bi-annual international conference at Tilburg University organized by the Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology and Society (TILT). Around 35 scholars were present during his presentation on drones: Too close to kill, too far to talk: interpretation and narrative in drone fighting and surveillance in public spaces.
Masterpiece Protecting your digital counterpart Always wondered why you get those irritating weight loss products adds? Or why the shoes you watched online last week keep popping up on your computer screen? That is probably the result of matching digital data concerning your personal information. Arnold Roosendaal wrote his PhD thesis on the protection of online data, accompanied by a book for the general public called De Informatiefuik. According to Roosendaal, the current privacy debate must be seen in light of digitalization and speedy technological develop ments. “It is nearly impossible to prevent companies like Facebook and Google to register what you do online. But it is important that persons keep control over their digital representation. We have to redefine the notion of privacy and get more transparency.” He also believes in making companies more aware of the fact that, by matching data and creating profiles, they make decisions that concern human beings. For example, Google shows advertisements and links that are based on your search history. “Choices are steered and options are limited, that is indirect discriminatory treatment.” Eureka! Sugar depression Depression is more commonly diagnosed with people that have diabetes. The worldwide problem of diabetes is accompanied by an increase in depressions in 47 European, Asian and South American countries. That was the outcome of research done by Paula Mommersteeg in collaboration with scientists from Germany and England. The results showed that the probability of getting depressions with diabetes is slightly bigger for persons under the age of 30. And also for women that live in countries with middle incomes. The most surprising result was that Africa did not show an increase in depression related to diabetes. The scientists conclude that more research is necessary to explain the relationship between depression and diabetes. Ease your mind Psychologist Ivan Nyklicek and colleagues published an article in the magazine Health Psychology about the effects of mindfulness training on body functions. Mindfulness is the conscious perception of ‘what is’ without attaching a label to it that says it is good or bad and wanting to change it. The results of the research suggest that mindfulness not only reduces stress, but also lowers the blood pressure before and after undertaking stressful tasks. Our advice: ease your mind and stay relaxed. Freelancing your career In her dissertation, Laine Goldman explores the concept of media freelancing. With the increasing number of freelancers and contract workers, it is important to investigate what makes a successful freelancer. She argues that the He argues that the currently applicable Data Protection Regulation is insufficient to protect personal data because the Regulation came into force in 1995. Through technological developments it is now easier to link certain data to persons. “The challenge lies in making a law that is abstract enough to hold for a long period but at the same time is specific enough to allow strict application.” Roosendaal thinks he has a good alternative for the current legislation on data protection. He proposes protecting digital personae instead of bits of personal information. What this means? “We should look at all the data sets together that are used to include or exclude people, and the digital representation of the person as a whole. Awareness must be created that these digital profiles are about natural persons, represented by data that were created without their active involvement.” idea of what constitutes a real job has been altered and expanded to include many work styles. She also uses the term interdependent instead of independent for media freelancers, because they work collaboratively with clients, are relationally networked, and often serve as part of a creative team. Improvisational skills, discipline, and brainpower are needed to stay up-to-date in the creative industries. According to Godman, the 40-hour work week as we know it is changing rapidly. Science & School .19 text Esra van der Wolk Arnold Roosendaal Freelancer: knight who sells his skills with the lance to any master Univers 16 mei 2013
Page 1 and 2: De digitale professor Drones: oorlo
Page 3 and 4: Colofon Adres Postbus 90153 5000 LE
Page 5 and 6: Proost ff bellen met Tijs Kooijmans
Page 7 and 8: Online burgerschap ‘Dode bomen’
Page 9 and 10: Ik kreeg het beste van twee culture
Page 11 and 12: © 2013. For information, contact D
Page 13 and 14: Student met content Als het aan Ger
Page 15 and 16: U2 in Tilburg Univers bestaat 50 ja
Page 17: Wè nou? Vraag het Stapel Na een la
Page 21 and 22: ‘The Chinese can sleep anywhere
Page 23 and 24: Ruben Controversy To be sustainable

De typische Marokkaan bestaat niet - Univers

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?