Assignment+Due+April+4

After your vacation, we will be moving on to a discussion of ethical issues raised by our use of computers and the internet.

Watch the **entire** Frontline video (not the excerpt) at this website :

Submit by email on or before April 4th, one takeaway and one question for each of the nine "chapters" of the video.

As you are watching the video, think about how it applies to each of the following topics:

**Virtual Reality** Video Games (Are they good practice for life, a waste of time, a way to change reality?) Second Life: What is the significance of living in a virtual world, involved in relationships between avatars? Does it make people less engaged in real life; does it matter? Pornography: Does it affect ‘real’ sexual relationships? Does it impact the way women are treated in real life? (While using children for pornography is obviously bad, creating digital pornography is more problematic. As is voluntary exchange of sexually explicit pictures among minors.) ** The Dark Side ** Are people meaner to one another on the internet? Why? Do violent video games make people more or less violent in real life? What, if anything, should be done about it? Is it the price of free expression? Do we just have to develop a thicker skin to stand up to criticism and bullying? ** Free Speech ** Do we need different standards for free speech on the internet since the consequences of internet activity can be so devastating, ranging from personal bullying to hate speech to international terrorism? What should internet policy be on anonymity? Do we need more protections from mis-information? ** Changing the Way We Think ** Does use of the internet change our brains and the way we think? Are we too distracted, entertained, overwhelmed, and addicted to think straight? Is it bad not to read anymore? Or are our new powers beneficial to humans and the world? How can education best prepare children for the future? ** The Perils of Internet Democracy  ** When everybody is talking, whom do we hear – the best or the loudest? How do we distinguish good information from bad? Is the voice of the people the least common denominator? Who should moderate?