"You live by morals, you make decisions based on ethics, you adhere to or abide by laws/policies/guidelines/rules." -- Michael Carroll (Sept. 27, 2006)
Last Wednesday night in my Information Security Foundations class, we had a discussion about information security ethics. This (of course) went on way longer than planned or was needed for the professor to get his points across. Yet and still it was a GREAT discussion because it made me think about the more broad issue of morals and ethics in general, not simply as it pertains to information security.
While sitting in class I wrote the quote above down in my notes because (at this point in my life) that's really how I feel.
Morals are instilled in you as a child and most likely come from your parents or other authority figures in your life. Well, at least they did for me. A lot of you may put the church or religion in there, but I didn't grow up in the church so for me it came from my mother, grandparents, and stepfather.
Ethics are what you use to make a decision at the point when you have to choose between right and wrong. They are based on your morals, relative to culture, and enforced by laws/rules. In our classroom discussion I did not get the opportunity to mention that ethics in a business environment are arguably a reflection of the business's culture. For example, if I work in a place that's highly "secure", itmay not be allowed for me to log onto a co-workers machine "real quick" just to visit a website. This could be unallowed because of the business culture (inherently) or because there are specific policies that forbid this action. The culture of my organization may dictate that this is not the "way we do things around here". Whereas in a place like my current job, nobody really cares if you do that or not. So am I really being unethical if I hop on my co-worker's computer to view a file real quick or visit a URL b/c the IT people are working on my machine, is it really unethical? My point is, ethics in both the business environment and in general may very well be based on the business culture or your culture.
In any given situation, you can make an ethical decision or a non-ethical decision. For example, if you are at work and someone drops a $50 while walking down the hall in front of you, do you stop and pick it up and keep it for yourself? Or do you get his/her attention, and let them know they dropped their money? If your morals say "do not steal" then you will make the "ethical" decision of not stealing.
Ethics are cultivated and enforced through the creation of laws and rules. The things considered unethical in this country may very well be ethical in other places. For example, when's the last time you heard of an American committing a suicide attack? Whereas, in other countries this may be honorable. Or are we talking about morals here? Life and death and the taking of another's life or your own tends to denote morals, right?
The debate between what are morals and what are ethics will go on forever. I don't know if I have the right hold on this stuff or if anyone does. It's all relative. What's does "right" really mean? Right based on what? What does "wrong" really mean? Wrong based on what?
So in the end, what I try to do is what is right for me and what's right based on how I was raised. Usually that works for me and it keeps me from hurting myself or anyone else. What about you? Just some food for thought.
3 comments:
I totally agree. Morals and the sense of right and wrong are something that you pick up from what's around you. Ethics are basically, "how things are done around here." So in theory, if you are a very moral person, that worked in a very secure environment you'd find it difficult to work with someone who wants to "check something right quick" on your computer.
You pointed out a very interesting thing about morals and ethics; they sort of balance each other. At least when it comes to working, you ultimately find a place that has a business culture and ethical practices that are in-line with your moral standards. You'll feel better about the work that you're doing and more comfortable in daily practices.
I bet that was an awesome in-class discussion.
Thanks for taking the time to read this Lauren. I thought that the discussion was a great one because it maeks you think outside of the IT box about your morals and ethics in general. I honestly didn't want to have the discussion though b/c we were on track to get out of class early and having a discussion about morals and ethics always drags on. It's like having a discussion about black men and black women. Never will it end quickly.
By the way, how are the 25 days of 25 going?
25 Days of 25 are awesome! I'm excited about my party next week... not so much the birthday (12th). I update the e-vite everyday with a summary of they day's happenings, so go back and check it. And here's a teaser... I'm planning the next extravaganza.
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