Summary Report of the Colloquium
on the
Summary Report of the Colloquium
on the
Ethical & Spiritual Implications
of the new IT and Telecommunications Environment
held at the House of Lords on February 10 1997 by
The Worshipful Company of Information Technologists
"What has God wrought?" asked Samuel Morse after he had sent his first telegraphic message . A question that has been asked many times over with each advance in information technology and answered in many different ways. Some regard technology as a gift of God, others are fearful and sceptical.
One theme that informed the lively discussion was the question of the quality of electronic communication. Several speakers pointed out that historically communication has taken place face-to-face with all of the visual clues as to meaning.
In contrast the electronic medium was anonymous. It provided access to huge
amounts of information, but made it difficult for people to communicate effectively
because they lacked a common experience. There was a great gulf between transmitting
information and communicating information. "It is easy to forget there are people
out there," observed Bishop Richard Chartres
,
who warned that the new technical bias towards seeing the world in objective
terms might lead to "repetitive soul strain". "Any conversation about communication
must include some reflection on the meaning of life."
Huge areas of life essential to some people were utterly cut off from others. "More and more people are having uncommonly held experience in diverse and protected cells than in previous generations," commented one speaker. Some thought that the anonymity and diversity of the Internet was healthy in that it subverted totalitarianism of all kinds.
Others argued that the denial of body was something new. "Pornography is comparatively trivial compared with the questions of sovereignty and democracy raised by the Internet". Would the technology further the unity of the world, or merely confirm the dominance of an elite?
All were agreed that technological change is occurring very fast. "We are rushing towards a vacuum," complained one father, struggling to keep up with his children's knowledge of the Internet, and worried that no one was supervising their electronic adventures. Others decried the tendency of electronic media to create a domination of the momentary. The question of how to control the Internet was raised by many of those who spoke. "The speed of technological change is greater than the speed of institutional change , especially in government. The effect is not only that government now moves legislatively five years behind reality, what is worse we have too little time to devise the right legislative responses to new technology," declared an eminent IT entrepreneur. There was no need to hurry observed another, it was sensible to let the law evolve at a slower pace.
Some argued that while governments might control the flow of ideas to their populations by banning books, they could not stop people reading material on the Internet's web sites and bulletin boards. "There is no way that the law can keep pace with technological change. All we can expect of the law is some high level principles. We have got to generate a culture that respects the use of personal information. The law can only be a back stop."
However, with sex sites among the five most popular UK web sites, many were convinced that regulation was necessary. One speaker even claimed that information providers would welcome a definition so that they could push the barriers. Others were concerned that the Internet bestowed great power and huge profit, creating divisions between the information rich and the information poor. But there remained the question of how to enforce laws and detect law breakers.
The Church of England's role in guiding attitudes to new technology and its efforts to communicate via the new medium also came under discussion. The Church was closely involved with the invention of printing. Indeed, the spread of Luther's Protestant teachings was aided by the use of printing press. However, some were concerned that it had yet to fully embrace the latest technology. "The Church dominated printing because it could read, now we are in a situation in which the Church can't read," said one theologian.
However, many were convinced that the Church could provide deep analysis of the moral and ethical questions raised by the Internet and were investigating the possibility of a charter to guide Christian use of the technology.
Contributions to this project are welcome.
The Government was also urged to examine the impact of technology on society. One speaker called for a cross-party Commission to spend a year examining the sort of issues raised at the Colloquium. "There is a moral duty for government to look at these problems."
The Chairman ended the Colloquium by urging the Worshipful Company to be proactive: to take a lead in education - in schools, the home and in churches - and to consider what legislation might do in the future. "Where do we go from here?" he asked.