The EthiSizer - (A Design Sketch)
The EthiSizer
(A rough Design-Sketch)
by
Dr. J T Velikovsky
18th March, 02021
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What is: The EthiSizer ?
Well - imagine if you will, a computer program that does, this:
Figure 0. The EthiSizer.
A five-step process:
1) At the onscreen-prompt, you enter the intended action. (Say, for example: (a) build a road in a certain location; or (b) erect a factory; or (c) start a company that creates good &/or service [X], or even (d) vote for a certain politician... etc.)
2) If more detail is required (and almost always will be), the computer then asks you to answer a set of Questions, that detail, the exact design specifications of the proposed action...
3) You then press the "Analyze the Ethics!" button, of the program...
4) The computer then: gathers up all of the latest, most relevant, most up-to-date, accurate, scientific data (e.g.: using GPS coordinates, Google Maps, population statistics, affected ecosystems, various databases) and it runs a simulation (an Agent-Based Model) of such a proposed action...
5) The computer then finally delivers, an (1) Executive Summary, and also, (2) A Detailed Report, on the Ethics of the action. (Including, all the effects and impacts, on all the connected bio-psycho-socio-anthro-cultural systems, and, ecosystems.)
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So... in a nutshell, the EthiSizer's Executive Summary Report looks something like, this:
Figure 1 - A design-mockup, of an `Executive Summary Report', by: The EthiSizer.
The report (Figure 1 above) shows the beneficial (good!) and deleterious (bad!) ethical effects on various units and levels of the system... Namely, our planet's Ecosystems, i.e., life (plants, animals, humanimals), cells, tissues, organs, organ systems, organisms, families, groups, states, nations, and, the whole planet - all considered as one whole unit. (In fact, as one HOLON/parton.)
Also, I suppose it helps to know:
The 3 Laws of HOLON/partons...
which govern the levels and units of the whole system...
And, these 3 Laws can be used as a tool...
Examining a FAMILY UNIT via the 3 Laws---------
So - we have:
More info at P3 of EC
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Okay, so now some questions.
Q: Why is it called: The EthiSizer?
A: It sizes up the Ethics of the planned: action.
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(Or - as the great Andy Lord says - it's an: Ethics SyntheSizer).
(Andy's a genius at ACRONYMS, and, names for things,
see his great CLIOLOGY website, for more...)
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So The EthiSizer algorithm (computer program) itself has Ethics & Morals programmed into it.
...This is important, so it's not a (flawed, biased, prejudiced) human, making the Ethics analysis...
...It's: objective.
Not subjective.
And - it's not even a human, (or even a group of them) doing the Ethical Analysis...
Rather, it considers: all points of view (of all units, and levels) in the system...
And of course - an army of experts on Evolutionary Ethics and Morality have informed the design, engineering, and architecture, of The EthiSizer software... (Before it was even built.)
(And obviously, the very first test - in, the very-very-many trials, and alpha- and beta-tests, is: to run an analysis on itself, and decide, if The EthiSizer program is, itself: Ethical, and Moral...!)
As, (again, to repeat) this way, it's not a human (or even a dictator, or, a demagogue) deciding what's Ethical, at all levels of the global HOLON/parton systems...
...It's: A computer.
Very Big Data.
So - at first - it's just an online app. (Like say, The Moral Machine. See maybe this article for more.)
So that, in a harmless `sandbox environment', you can `punch in to' The EthiSizer, any hypothetical action you'd like to take, in the world...
And - see how it `scores'...!
Look out for the
RED STUFF in the report
... Red means: Bad. (...Unethical.)----------
So... See any red statistics in the Report? (see: Figure 1)
If so, then: Houston, we have a problem.
And so, you can then see, how you need to tweak (or even, totally redesign) the planned action, so that, it's Ethical.
(The EthiSizer will help, and, can make recommendations for these tweaks.)
You can run the program, over and over - and, with different inputs - to compare the results.
And of course, you need to keep: Humans In The Loop (HITL)
(Its operation needs to be totally transparent, at all times.)
...And, the AI is `Explainable AI',
So The EthiSizer can show you exactly how (and, why) it arrived at
all those exact Ethical decisions/judgments.
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And so, what sort of Ethics, and Moral frameworks are programmed in (in The EthiSizer) - ?
Namely, partially in the words of a great Moral Philosopher, how to address these wicked problems?
...Is there a "true" (mathematical, objective, unbiased) solution to complex ethical dilemmas?
...How to assess: very-large-scale action plans? (On micro, meso, and macro levels?)
...Could a human (or a team of them) even do it? Given, complex, evolutionary, bio-psycho-socio-anthro-cultural ecosystems...?
And given, the current limits of human cognition? (see, for example, G A Miller (1956), and, a depressingly-long list of human cognitive biases, let alone, cognitive distortions...)
As another example of the `kind of thing' The EthiSizer is, see maybe:
So - for the kinds of (evolutionary) Morals and Ethics programmed into The EthiSizer, see some of these works, for example...
Harris, S. (2011). The Moral Landscape: How science can determine human values (1st Free Press paperback ed.). Free Press.
Pinker, S. (2018). Enlightenment Now: The case for reason, science, humanism, and progress. Penguin Random House UK.
Sunar, D. (2018). The psychology of morality. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture 2(1). https://doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1012
Singer, P. (2011). The Expanding Circle: Ethics, Evolution, and Moral Progress (1st Princeton University Press pbk. ed.). Princeton University Press.
Bradie, M. (1994). The Secret Chain: Evolution and Ethics. State University of New York Press.
Boehm, C. (2012). Moral Origins: The evolution of virtue, altruism, and shame. Basic Books.
Wilson, D. S. (2020). Atlas Hugged. Redwood Publishing, LLC.
Wilson, D. S. (2019). This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution (First edition. ed.). Pantheon.
Wrangham, R. W. (2019). The Goodness Paradox: How evolution made us both more and less violent (First edition. ed.). Profile Books Ltd.
Atkins, P. W. B., Wilson, D. S., & Hayes, S. C. (2019). Prosocial: Using evolutionary science to build productive, equitable, and collaborative groups. Context Press.
Gibney, E. (2012). Evolutionary Philosophy. & see: https://www.evphil.com/
Greene, J. D. (2013). Moral Tribes: Emotion, Reason, and the Gap between Us and Them. Penguin Press.
Henrich, J. P. (2020). The WEIRDest people in the world : How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous. Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Bostrom, N. (2014). Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies (First edition. ed.). Oxford University Press.
Tegmark, M. (2017). Life 3.0: Being Human in the age of Artificial Intelligence (First ed.). Allen Lane.
Harari, Y. N. (2017). Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow. Vintage Digital.
...And so on, and so forth.
Side Note: I became a pescatarian, (stopped eating farmed meat) after I read Harari's 3 (brilliant) books... (Even though as a human, eating fish is a strange loop.)
(Anyway - there's a lot you can read, on all of this... a guy called Kant had a lot to say, on: Ethics.)
See, also: the Stanford Encyclopedia, on Virtue Ethics, & what-not.
(The 3 `main' Moral theories are: deontology, consequentialism, and virtue ethics...)
And, so on.
Or, maybe if you're brand-new to the study and contemplation of Ethics & Morality, maybe even, try:
Blackburn, S. (2003). Ethics: A very short introduction. Oxford University Press.
And, maybe also even see, these blog-posts:
and
and
An Agent-Based Model of the global film industry as a system
...and so on, and so forth...
...You could even see a satirical short story I wrote a while ago, vaguely-about, all of this...
And maybe even see: My Worldview.
But - the humans involved in creating The EthiSizer shouldn't be relevant to the final program itself.
(...Trust the Science, not the Scientists.)
i.e., My own worldview (and, Ethics) aren't those of The EthiSizer.
Those are decided by: an army of highly-qualified Ethics Experts & Philosophers.
(...Which, I'm not :) [~JTV]
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...Anyway, so - that's a rough sketch of: The Design for The EthiSizer...
...(& I don't care who makes it, just as long as it's: Ethical!)
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Also -
...It would then go around, judging corporations and groups and individuals, for their: Ethics.
And, Morals.
!
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...There could even be a global competition, to see: who can make,
The best-&-fairest, EthiSizer program...?
(Would likely be a better - & more ethical - use of global resources than: making videogames? :)
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So... yeah.
I'm just "putting the idea out there", for now... :)
(I've been called "An Ideas-Guy", at times.)
So - in a nutshell, that's the idea of: The EthiSizer.
...Food for thought, perhaps-?
...& whether anyone goes through the process or making it (as a final: product), remains to be seen.
But, I think the whole world is crying out for such a tool...?
(...Just sayin'. :)
One possible solution to E O Wilson's very wise point:
`The real problem of humanity is the following: we have paleolithic emotions; medieval institutions; and god-like technology. And it is terrifically dangerous, and it is now approaching a point of crisis overall.' (E O Wilson, 2009)
As we seem to need, a Global/Planetary Conscience.
Which currently, seems: urgent, and lacking...? :)
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TL;DR: (too long, didn't read) Summary:
We need a computer-program, so that, anyone could simply ask it:
"Hey - here's an idea (or, process, or product)...? Does it pass the Ethics-test, for all units and levels of the HOLON/parton (from cells, up through people, up to, the planet)?
Yes or No?
& If `No' - what exactly would need to change, about the idea/process/product, so that it would pass the test..?
As in short - we'd then be able to simply ask the counsel of, some kind of: all-knowing, all-wise, all benevolent, Ethical `God'.
(i.e. a computer program :)
(And then - on demand - have it print out all of the data [`show your working'], to show why - so that, in our own sweet time, we could read `the long answer' / follow the logic.
And, we'd understand: Exactly, Why... :)
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Well, that's about all we have time for, folks.You have been reading / viewing a great blog-post by:
Dr J T Velikovsky Ph.D
aka:
`Velikovsky of Newcastle'
aka
`The (great) Velikovsky'
Evolutionary Culturologist & Information Scientist & Systems Scientist & AI Researcher & Enthusiast & Evolutionary Culturologist & Filmmaker & Writer & Artist & Actor & Muso & Rugged Frontiersman & Random Guy
(and, also The StoryAlity Guy)
aka Humanimal
(or, The Artist formally known as Dr J T Velikovsky)
More stuff:
Transmedia Blog: On Writering
IMDb (Movies, Videogames):
Music: Texas Radio & Zen Stupidity
Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/joeteevee (over 100 videos, some are even: good)
Academia page: https://newcastle-au.academia.edu/JTVelikovsky
Researchgate page: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jt_Velikovsky
My ouvre... etc etc.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6741-066X
Forthcoming book (November 2021): https://www.igi-global.com/book/principles-protocols-practices-evolutionary-culturology/267379
