“Useless Class” or Uniquely Human?

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-38
Author(s):  
Daniel Topf ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Decision ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Paid Work ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Human Creativity ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Advanced Robotics

This essay explores recent developments surrounding the Fourth Industrial Revolution, particularly as they relate to the challenge of technological unemployment. In an age of advanced robotics and artificial intelligence (Al), so warns the philosopher-historian Yuval Noah Harari, ordinary people may become unemployable, unable to contribute to society, and therefore be declared a “useless class.” In contrast to such a dystopian view, futurists like Ray Kurzweil and Nick Bostrom envision a digital utopia, while more realistic optimists emphasize that Al will ultimately create more jobs than it destroys. As an alternative to these perspectives, this essay proposes a Judeo- Christian approach that, independently of traditional frameworks of paid work, affirms the unique value and dignity of all human beings by highlighting the theological significance of human creativity, the balance between work and play, love as an overarching framework for life, and the role of human beings as ethical decision-makers.

scholarly journals The Role of Values in Social Change: An Analysis from The Qur’ānic Perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anis Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Industrial Society ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Social Construct ◽  
Set Up ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Post Industrial ◽  
Means Of Production

In the post-industrial revolution world, social change is often studied and understood in the context of change in means of production, mobility, urbanization and change in the constitution of workforce. Role of ethical values is generally confined to personal conduct and manners. Industrial society is supposed to have its own work ethics which may or may not agree with personal ethics and morality. Ethics and morality are generally considered, in the Western thought, as a social construct. Therefore, with the change in means of production or political system, values and morality are also expected to be re-adjusted in order to cope with the changed environment. Sometimes a totally new set of values emerges as a consequence of the change in economic, political, or legal set up. The present research tries to understand the meaning and place of these values in a global socio-cultural framework. Relying essentially on the divine principles of the Qur'ān it makes an effort to understand relevance of these universal and ultimate principles with human conduct and behavior in society.  It indicates that essentially it is the core values, principles, or norms which guide human beings in their interpersonal, social, economic and political matters. Islam being a major civilizing force, culture, and the way of life, provides values which guide both in individual and social matters. The values given by the Qur’ān and the Sunnah are not monopoly of the Muslim. These values are universal and are relevant in a technological society.

scholarly journals ENHANCEMENT OF CREATIVITY AND INTELLIGENCE THROUGH LANGUAGE

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 01-11
Author(s):  
Khalid Ahmed Hassan AHMED
Keyword(s):  
Advanced Technology ◽  
Historical Survey ◽  
Human Knowledge ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Knowledge Culture ◽  
Human Creativity ◽  
Frame Work ◽  
Human Device

This study aims at exploring the role of human languages in establishing solid grounds for the continuity of human creativity and intelligence. Although it is not easy to define what a language is, no one denies that language is the most essential human device that helps people to communicate and get on well with each other. This capability of communication granted language its essential role in enhancing human beings survival and transmission of human knowledge, culture and the whole material advancement and heritage. For this end the study will be a qualitative historical survey of the role of human languages in extending human bonds and relationships for the sake of survival, safety and solidarity in a wild context at the first stages of human beings presence on earth, and later in a world of advanced technology where the whole world has come to be united as if it is a small village. The study will explore some verses of the Holly Qur’an that support human creation and ability to communicate. The theoretical frame work and the related literature will be outlined and explored to support the assumption and hypotheses of this study. The importance of the study will also be stated. The study will be processed through the methodology, the procedures and the discussion that will be followed for obtaining its findings. The study will be finalized by the main obtained results and recommendations for further future studies and a summary for the whole study. Key words: Enhancement of Creatıvıty; language; Inteligence.

scholarly journals The fourth industrial revolution: How the EU can lead it

European View ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Schäfer
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Wealth Creation ◽  
Fourth Industrial Revolution ◽  
Technological Impact ◽  
Common Policies ◽  
The Eu

The fourth industrial revolution is different from the previous three. This is because machines and artificial intelligence play a significant role in enhancing productivity and wealth creation, which directly changes and challenges the role of human beings. The fourth industrial revolution will also intensify globalisation. Therefore, technology will become much more significant, because regions and societies that cope positively with the technological impact of the fourth industrial revolution will have a better economic and social future. This article argues that the EU can play an important role in developing an environment appropriate for the fourth industrial revolution, an environment that is vibrant and open to new technologies. Member states would profit from an EU-wide coordinated framework for this area. The EU has to establish new common policies for the market-oriented diffusion and widespread use of new technologies.

Role of Nanotechnology in Electronics: A Review of Recent Developments and Patents

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Payal ◽  
Parijat Pandey
Keyword(s):  
Electronic Properties ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Electronic Devices ◽  
Measuring Instruments ◽  
Atomic Interactions ◽  
The World ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
New Generation

Background: Nanotechnology assures to be the base of the upcoming industrial revolution. The role that nanotechnology plays in electronic devices became a question of concern among the researchers when nanotechnology started to be the focal point of research programs in developed and developing countries of the world. Nanoelectronics, formed by combining nanotechnology and electronics deals with the handling, characterization, engineering, and manufacturing of electronic devices at nanoscale. Method: By reducing the size of materials, their electronic properties alter, and inter-atomic interactions and quantum effects gain significant importance. The challenge lies in interpreting their electronic properties at nanoscale so that they can be exploited for use in new generation electronic devices. Need to trim downsize and have a higher component density have ushered us into an era of nanoelectronics. Results: This work presents a detailed review of nanotechnology, its approach towards nanoelectronics, classification and types of nanomaterials used in nanoelectronics, application areas of nanoelectronics and measuring instruments with characterization at nanoscale. Also, the work incorporates latest developments and patents in nanoelectronics. Conclusion: In this manuscript, the authors have reviewed different aspects of nanotechnology in the field of electronics, recent patents and related advancements.

scholarly journals Digitalisation and Sustainable Work: obstacles and pathways

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-197
Author(s):  
Jan Jan Johansson ◽  
Lena Abrahamsson
Keyword(s):  
New Technology ◽  
Paid Work ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
The Future ◽  
Future Work ◽  
The Way

Work is a central part of our lives in many aspects. Half of our awake time is for most of us performed as paid work. At work, we create the values we need to live the life we desire. At work, we are socialized and shaped into the human beings we are. We are all concerned about how our work will be in the future; will we be able to handle the new technology or will we be replaced by a robot? Do we see the new technology as The wolf is coming or God's gift to mankind? This is an existential question and the future work is shaped here and now. This means that we need to get a picture of what is happening so we can act, but we also need a vision of where we want to go. Our mission as a researcher is to find the pathways to the Sustainable work, but in order to to find the way, we sometimes have to take on the role of the wolf and ask the uncomfortable questions.

scholarly journals Technological Revolutions and the Political Economy of Time

2020 ◽  
pp. 224-242
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Economic Resources ◽  
The Political ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Technological Changes ◽  
Fourth Industrial Revolution ◽  
Exponential Character ◽  
Different Dimensions ◽  
Political Economic

The paper investigates the role of time as one of the most precious politico-economic resources. It shows that the compression of time during every successive industrial revolution brings contradictions that change the logic of the politico-economic system. To prove this thesis historical and political-economic approaches are used. The historical approach shows the correlation between the development of technologies, time and society. The politico-economic approach emphasizes on the different dimensions of this change, trying to answer the question about the transformation of the role of time in contemporary economy and politics. One of the main contributions is that time is correlated with the different technological revolutions. Thus, I first examine the correlation between time and technological changes during different technological stages. Then the exponential character of the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is shown, as well as the transformation they bring to politics, economics, society, science, human beings and so on. I finish with the necessary transformation of the state as a result of the technological revolutions and particularly as a result of the ongoing Fourth Industrial Revolution, and in the conclusion I provide some possible answers to the contradictions brought about by exponential technological changes.

THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: HOW THE EU CAN LEAD IT

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Schäfer
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Wealth Creation ◽  
Fourth Industrial Revolution ◽  
Technological Impact ◽  
Common Policies ◽  
The Eu

The fourth industrial revolution is different from the previous three. This is because machines and artificial intelligence play a significant role in enhancing productivity and wealth creation, which directly changes and challenges the role of human beings. The fourth industrial revolution will also intensify globalisation. Therefore, technology will become much more significant, because regions and societies that cope positively with the technological impact of the fourth industrial revolution will have a better economic and social future. This article argues that the EU can play an important role in developing an environment appropriate for the fourth industrial revolution, an environment that is vibrant and open to new technologies. Member states would profit from an EU-wide coordinated framework for this area. The EU has to establish new common policies for the market-oriented diffusion and widespread use of new technologies.

Oxford Studies in Normative Ethics Volume 8

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Theory ◽  
Normative Ethics ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Annual Basis ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Contemporary Work ◽  
Moral Advice ◽  
Normative Ethical Theory

This series aims to provide, on an annual basis, some of the best contemporary work in the field of normative ethical theory. Each volume features new chapters that contribute to an understanding of a wide range of issues and positions in normative ethical theory, and represents a sampling of recent developments in this field. This eighth volume brings together thirteen new essays that collectively cover a range of fundamental topics in the field, including: the irreplaceable value of human beings, interpersonal morality and conceptions of welfare, what it is for something to be good for an animal (including humans), the relation between good will and right action, moral advice and joint agency, moral responsibility and wrongdoing, the basis of equality, the role of needs claims in ethical theory, threshold conceptions of deontology, prudential reasons, the significance of evaluative beliefs, and Stoic conceptions of insults. This volume features chapters by Ben Bramble, Samantha Brennan, Talbot Brewer, Dale Dorsey, Patricio A. Fernandez, Guy Fletcher, Christine M. Korsgaard, Chelsea Rosenthal, Grant J. Rozeboom, Roy Sorensen, Julie Tannenbaum, and Alex Worsnip.

scholarly journals Citizen Participation Policy Making for Environmental Issues: A Literature Review

2020 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rahman Ghaffari ◽  
Mahdi Ahmadi Tonkaboni
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Comprehensive Development ◽  
State Of The Environment ◽  
Major Decision ◽  
Systematic Knowledge

Developing countries, like Iran, have challenging environmental problems – the need to improve the state of the environment, for human beings and other living creatures, is among the most serious challenges for comprehensive development in such countries. Governments and local organizations could not single-handedly tackle the destruction, and its associated problems in the environment. Consequently, the value and role of public participation in administrating nations and developing democratic societies has drawn attention to the idea of citizen participation in management. Involvement of citizens in environmental issues is considered as one of the key realms of governmental strategic planning. Lack of systematic knowledge and sufficient awareness among officials and major decision makers has become a main source of challenges and problems in this area. This has resulted in a poor assessment of current situations and the consequent inability to provide the best conditions for employing the resources of civic engagement in environmental issues. This research aims to review related studies covering the topic of citizen participation in policy making, with regards to the environment.

ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS OF THE PRODUCER-CONSUMER RELATIONSHIP IN THE JOINT ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION MISSION

2021 ◽  
pp. 152-161
Author(s):  
Grigore Ardelean ◽  
◽  
Ivan Terus ◽  
◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Technical Condition ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Production And Consumption ◽  
The Right ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Impact

In the last decade, strange as it may seem, the perception of ordinary people about well-being and comfort is less related to the economic-progressive, technological and industrial aspect which continuously causes side effects that result in the suppression of other values. necessary for human beings, including the right to a healthy and environmentally friendly environment, harmless products and food safety. However, in today’s reality, economic theories are still supported, according to which any process evolves between two poles - production and consumption - in a relationship of interdependence, so of recognizing the active role of each of them. In this context, in the fight against the degradation of environmental factors, the first and foremost action should be directed towards the precise identification of the pollutant, followed by a detailed study of the methods and the intensity of the impact with which it acts on it. Although, initially the doctrine, but also the legislator considered economic activity as the main source of pollution, in the last decade, the eyes are also on the consumer, by whom depends on the amount of waste, technical condition and functionality of impacted products, control and possibility of reducing negative influences on the environment. This reality determines the need to change the consumer’s attitude towards the environment by linking his responsibility to that of the producer, both being treated from the position of potential aggressors, but at the same time, promoters of environmental values suggested by the legislator to take into account. production and consumption.

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