In the 2018 eleven minute TED talk video attached below, Dolly Chugh talks about “bounded rationality.” Ms. Chugh suggests that, like our minds subconsciously processing eleven million pieces of information at once, we make many of our ethical decisions subconsciously.
Ms. Chugh explains that it is often our unwillingness to accept that we have room to grow toward being a better person that keeps us from it. Arguably, Ms. Chugh hits on why it is important to study ethics. It is the thinking about why we do what we do that is most likely to help us to be better people and help others think about why they do what they do. For this week’s discussion, watch the video and think about a decision a public safety administrator might have to make, either doing the job or performing an administrative act, which could have a component of ethics associated with it. Discuss what an unconscious decision might (could) look like and what might drive one to that decision. Discuss what choices might be available and apply at least two ethical theories, preferably from this week’s readings, to the decision and explain what those theories might suggest as the “right” course of action. Finally, explain what you think about Ms. Chugh’s point.
