Condorcet and the Attitude towards Technology

When one considers the opinions of Condorcet concerning human development and progress, one will come to the conclusion that he was a man whose opinions of the latter were progressive. One would even go as far as to state that he would have wholeheartedly supported the technological development of the human race because this would lead to the further advancement of the race as well as the improvement of the lives of all individuals within it. Condorcet’s views can be said to have been of the opinion that the development of technology was an essential part of human development and that it was a means through which the progress of the society could be measured. The fact that technology was seen as a measure of the way the human society progressed may have been the motivation behind which Condorcet saw the future of the human race as a whole, and as an enlightenment philosopher, he may have found inspiration in it. In his opinion, the development of technology was synonymous with the development of civilisation and because of this; it did not have a singular origin, instead coming from diverse cultures. If one were to consider Condorcet’s opinion on technology, it can be said that it has the sole aim of increasing the efficiency of production as well as ensuring that human lives are improved.

Among the most fundamental uses of technology is that it provides the means through which suitable methods can be used in solving problems. The use of technology can be said to be an effective means of teaching future generations hence the creation of effective learning environments which is conducive for learning. If Condorcet’s views concerning technology were to be put into practice today, then it can be said that it was necessary for universal education to be provided for all individuals so that the knowledge gained would be further improved by the students. Because of this belief, individuals had to have equal rights to education because this was the main means through which civilisation could be transmitted and as a result, there would have been a swifter development of technology. Civilisation did not have a single origin and in fact, the various civilisations and the technologies that they used had diverse origins hence the need to have an equal understanding between them. In Condorcet’s view, since civilisations were either absorbed by others or amalgamated to form more advanced ones, it was necessary for all the civilisations in the world to develop an understanding of each other because this would be the only way through which there would develop massive human progress.

Technology was not a static form of civilisation, and in fact, it changed constantly as improvements were made to it in order to suit the different needs of its users. in the current world, the use of technology has become so widespread that the demand for it has far outstripped supply and this might as well be a manifestation of Condorcet’s vision for the human race as well as his opinion of where human progress should be headed. It has seen the cooperation at present between companies, academia and governments from different continents and regions that have ensured that there is not only understanding between them, but also the establishment of common goals that can be put into use for human development. While this has been the case, the opinions of Condorcet concerning the cooperation of people from different civilisations have remained true because of the fact that there is no equality between these civilisations and their technologies. In the current world, it is a fact that the technology of European origins has come to dominate the world as he had predicted, and this has put the technologies developed by other civilisations into an awkward position since they have been relegated to the sidelines of human development. Condorcet’s fear that Europeans and their way of life would come to dominate the world at the expense of other civilisations, some far much older, has come true as the western world has come to push its ways over others, without any attempt being made to understand the latter.

In conclusion, one would agree with Condorcet that while technological development is the means through which human progress can be measured, it is also the means through which some civilisations end up gaining power over others. It has become a means through which the injustice of races which deem themselves to be superior have used to dominate others. It is therefore essential for there to be dialogue between different civilisations in the world so that there can be technological development for mutual benefit.

The Sociological Perspective: Culture Shock

The sociologist Peter Berger has come to view sociological discovery to culture shock without the geographical displacement and one would agree with him because it is a fact that the views of individuals tend to change as they mature and undergo active socialisation. When individuals are growing up, many of them tend to perceive the world innocently, not realising that the world is made up of many complexities which are hidden just below the surface. The first perception that individuals tend to have of the world and their societies is always based on their immediate surroundings and these surroundings can be considered to be the starting point of the process of active socialisation as well as the development of the realisation of different sociological perspectives. As individuals continue growing and their social circles expand, and these mostly happen when they go to school, the come to encounter for the first time the different sociological perspectives which they are not prepared for in their domestic social environment (Muller, 53). For example, it is often in school that individuals come to encounter, for the first time in their lives, social conflict and this often comes from instances where they witness such incidents as bullying. In addition, it is in the school environment that individuals also encounter social conflict in the form of racial discrimination, where it is normal to witness the marginalisation of other students who come from minority groups. Such encounters often end up tarnishing the individual perceptions of the world as they end up coming to the realisation that their society is not what it seems in the first place, and this takes place without their experiencing any geographic changes.

It is therefore necessary for a sociologist to take into consideration that the world is not as it seems and that he or she must work towards unravelling the truth concerning the issues which are normally taken for granted. It is the duty of a sociologist, for example, to make a critical study of the society so that he can find out the various underlying conflicts that exist within it and after doing so come up with theories and perspectives concerning how the said society deals with these conflicts. A sociologist should realise that the society is not always what it seems and that while there may be peace within it, this does not necessarily mean that all is well especially when one considers that in every society, there are always class divisions as well as other underlying conflicts which are normally taken for granted by its members and never addressed (Muller, 51). One would take the example of France before the Revolution where the nobility took the peasant suffering for granted believing that it was in the latter’s lot to suffer as well as to serve them. They did not realise that the peasants were at the time becoming tired of the continuous heavy taxation by the nobility as well as their daily suffering. The result of such ignorance was the abrupt beginning of the French Revolution which would eventually change the lives of all the French people at the time from what they had previously known into what was then unexplored social territory in Europe.

It is a fact that most individuals take the various aspects of their lives for granted and this is a failing in the society because of the fact that such ignorance may lead to the development of situations that may be beyond their control. One of the aspects of society that are often taken for granted are its political aspects and this can be seen through the belief that the American political system if the best and that any decision take by political leaders, especially the president, concerning international matters, is done for the good of the American people. This, it has come to be realised, may not necessarily be true because most of the decisions made by the presidents of the United States for the past decade, especially on matters concerning the Middle East have brought more harm than good for the Americans. When the former president George Bush declared war on Iraq a decade ago, it was justified through the belief that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, which turned out to be a lie. The righteousness of this decision came into question by the American public which came to the realisation that it had supported military action over false allegations and that this had created an atmosphere of extreme dislike, and even hatred, for the Americans in the Middle East.

The Effectiveness of Security Frameworks in the Modern World

In this age where the use of computers and networks related to them has become commonplace, there has developed problems concerning security framework; security framework is an important factor to be considered if one is to be able to protect oneself from malicious people and software from the internet. Most computer network threats come from the internet and are done intentionally because they are developed by people for malicious intentions. Security framework is, therefore, an endeavor by individuals as well as organizations to protect their information and other digital assets from assaults from the internet. Security framework measures will involve various steps, the most important of these steps being an individual’s understanding of the different forms of cyber-attacks that they are likely to encounter (Ma, Schmidt and Pearson, 58). Once one has knowledge of this, then it is his or her responsibility to ensure that they have put in place the best security system they can get their hands on. There exist diverse types of hazards and these can be regarded as to be of unstable levels and risks to an individual’s personal information in their computers. The higher the possibility of an attack, the more progressive the security system, that is to be put in place to ensure that the threat is minimized.

Security framework activities involve measures to prevent threats ranging from malicious codes, also known as malware and spyware, to computer viruses. Some of these viruses are so serious that they have the ability to erase entire operating systems of computers. These viruses also facilitate hackers to have right of entry to all the data stored in the infected computers, ensuring that they have access to information, which can be used for their own gain. It is necessary for individuals and companies to avoid such invasion into their computer systems by having the best security framework systems (Serrhini and Moussa, 159). Measures taken involve the acquisition of antivirus software that is reliable, frequent checking of software to ensure that they are secure from attacks. The computer software should be updated frequently to assure they are working in full capacity. Thus, it vital for organizations to ensure all departments are conscious of their security framework because it is not known when a threat is likely to be encountered.

Borders have relevance in tackling security framework, and looking at borders, domains of various countries interact because they do not have borders, therefore, the domains of a nation will be related to the nation’s willingness to assert sovereignty in the domains. With the detection of threats at the various nation states, it is possible to retain legitimate response actions by the state and this will be an important actor of the border in ensuring they continue being relevant. In cyber space, the territorial borders broadly define sovereignty of a specific nation irrespective of the domain and ability to locate domains physically. Despite the borders becoming insignificant when carrying out legal commerce, they are highly significant when carrying out policing actions of transnational threats.

In China, there is a severe internet information security because there is a leakage of information and this requires protection of privacy and other personal data should be strengthened because internet abuse has become unscrupulous. Sufficient protection of private data in China is lacking and this is because of the existence of loopholes in the safety of public information because of ineffective management mechanism (Veiga and Eloff, 361). The reasons behind mismanagement of public information are lack of emphasis on information security is incompleteness of the institutions and legal systems. Strategies for information security are insufficient and, therefore, the country should carry out further developments on internet technologies. It is barely satisfactory to carry out general public education but an incorporation of international cooperation is needed.

It is vital for all networks to be concerned with security framework defensive mechanisms through a reactive approach which focuses on vulnerabilities and actual threats. This means one has to wait until happens on the internet and then go for the person who is the bad guy. This is easy to manage although it does not guarantee protection of a government’s infrastructure. For instance, if there is a breach of city’s water supply and the amount of chlorine put on the water becomes excess, the best defensive mechanism has to be put in place to prevent people from succumbing to the poisonous water.

Organizations should carry on with their operational roles while following guidance on response to cyber incidents. Even though this thought may be good, cyber threats are often not kinetic in nature as compared to other threats taking place in the United States. Therefore, the response by the Defense Department of the United States does not work on incidents of cyber arena. The reason behind the threat not working is that there are difficulties of locating the place and the person committing the offense making it difficult to determine the agency that is responsible for various incidents (Trim, 493). If investigations are carried out, lines would be crossed because duplication may occur while information may not be shared, let alone communication, thus there is the need to have clearly defined roles for various government agencies for security framework.

With the presence of 17 infrastructure sectors and each sector with its own federal agency chairs council knowledgeable about its specific sector. Security framework should not be treated as a separate issue; therefore, the agency itself should be left to defend themselves against cyber threats by using the best possible strategy. The benefits of this alternative are scarce and the argument for this is that the organizations are already established hence they can manage security framework internally. There can be strong claims for this argument but what has been put in place is not effective in defending cyber threats, besides this benefits that accrue from continuing with the current infrastructure are few. The setbacks of this alternative are the presence of biasness; lack of coordination, no leadership is present and low security framework prioritization. Most organizations have established their ways which have often not been designed to defend against cyber threats, these organizations have low probability of altering their structures and haw they carry their operations (Nissenbaum, 61). Each and every organization has its own visions and missions and they will protect their networks and not those of other organizations, this shows the lack of coordination between organizations. Security framework leadership within organizations in the United States is missing, there must be leadership accountability in all federal governments, coordination attempts for various agencies has failed due to poor resource management. In conclusion, security framework has not been a priority in many individual agencies because most agencies are created to be able to accomplish their own missions making security framework to be viewed as a back burner; there should be a budget for tackling security threats.

It is, therefore, necessary for individuals and companies to prevent any intrusion into their computer systems by having the best security frameworks. These involve the getting hold of of the best software that is reliable as well as regularly checking this software to ensure that they are thwarting attacks. The software has to be repeatedly updated so that there is an guarantee that it is functioning at its full capacity, and this ensures that there is additional security against attack. It is important to ensure that individuals as well as organizations are conscious of their security frameworks because it is not known when a threat is likely to be encountered. The use of such security frameworks is essential for the development of and preservation of the diverse databases that have come to be heavily relied on all over the world.