Boundary Ethics

Civilization is built on an intricate set of protocols that define behavior when money changes hands. When a businessman crosses a boundary with their clients the response could be unpleasant and unproductive. More of this is discussed under the subject of "taking liberties." An example of this might be seen as follows. A computer repair person is given a computer to fix. His initial assessment is that there is a software problem. But without notifying the owner he replaces the entire hard drive. The repairman has crossed a boundary here. He made a choice that was an expensive one for the owner. The repair person could have simply reformatted the hard drive. Even though the hardrive had problems it was still usable. But, in business, it is common to "beg forgiveness than to ask permission." It is a profitable, but unethical practice to cross boundaries.

Making decisions for customers can lead to crossing boundaries. Since asking permission all the time would be time consuming repairmen of all descriptions take liberties. But, when taking liberties is highly profitable there is a conflict of interest here that requires the computer owner to be notified prior to fixing the computer.

Service Industry

When service people work inside their client's house there are many boundaries to be observed. You would not expect a workman to open the homeowner's refrigerator but you would expect then to have access to the bathroom. When a remodeling project is in the process many construction workers are walking all around house. This gives rise to another boundary problem; aggressively peeking into the lives of the homeowners. For instance, leafing through papers, magazines, picking up things lying around and the like are all intrusions into the client’s space. The problem with businesses’ that do not strictly defining the behavior of workmen when in a clients’ house is that lax oversight encourages crime to flourish in the shadows. Aggressive peeking can escalate into theft. Employees who start peeking sooner or later discover that they can seal small valuable objects without getting caught because the object will not be immediately discovered. A poorly managed construction company in a sense enables certain crimes and boundary crossing that surly are unethical.

From the Evolution of Ethics: An Introduction to Cybernetic Ethics. www.evolutionaryethics.com

Cultural Boundaries

Customs and personal etiquette define the nature of social propriety. They define the lines of conduct that are acceptable or unacceptable for people to cross. People do not ordinarily learn where the lines of propriety are from a book, rather they learn it from experience. When people cross boundaries of acceptable behavior that imprudent action can trigger a visceral reaction in the lives of other people to counteract the intrusion. Violent and mean remarks can be the result of inappropriate actions and can trigger a series of escalating responses leading to injury or even death. In cybernetic terms this is known as "positive feedback" that leads to systemic breakdown or failure .

It important to understand the important role visceral morality plays as a cybernetic trigger that sustains the positive effects of social fission. There is a relationship between the inappropriate crossing of boundaries and the triggering of emotions that triggers a whole series of powerful cybernetic feedbacks.

The idea that visceral morality can exists runs counter to the conventional teachings of ethics, in general, deny that moral knowledge can exist. However, visceral morality can be considered a form of moral knowledge, however inaccurate it may be at times. Moral knowledge will not simply appear, it must be painfully extracted by a methodical process. Scientists could begin by designing a study to determine its existence of cybernetic triggers of all descriptions by categorizing and analyzing the hidden boundaries of social intercourse. Since there is not a lot of factual evidence, examples will have to do in the interim. An illustration of this might be two sorority sisters conversing in a video rental store about their night on the town. A middle-aged man who has no interest in the academic life is drawn to the conversation. He has an urge to interrupt the conversation because of some sexual attraction to the women or because he is immature and simply blurts out something, thus interrupting the conversation. On the one hand are the culturally and intellectually refined women who encounter a less refined man who, lacking sensitivity and experience, lets his emotions decide his actions. The reaction of the women might be sharp and distasteful to the intruding man. In ordinary social life, when the quiet enjoyment of people is violated, the harmony of their life is temporally shattered. This triggers a visceral response or informational feedback that can be gentle or outright poisonous.

Transgressing boundaries has a productive side to it. Human beings are also biological machines that have wired-in reactive tendencies. A person's acculturation or genetic make up illustrate this wired in aspect of humans. A living society generates an immense amount of interpersonal feedback to the point of social fission. A small example of social fission might be seen in the evolution of vibrant business areas of a city. When social fission occurs a small definable area takes on a life of its own creating an ambiance that is sought out by people from distant parts of a community. Fission might be thought of as controlled chaos in ana area where their is danger, adventure, intrigue and unusual sights to see. Here the overstepping of boundaries is somewhat liberalized. But, the principles are the same as more formal and sedate settings of life. Everyone learns boundaries by experience by overstepping boundaries, pulling back from them, and dealing with transgressions in a civilized way. It is not the violation of any particular boundary that is so important as how it is done and what it brings to the positive energy of an encounter. An immature or sexually desirous male who is aggressive in refined circumstances will generate a more negative response to his actions than a more worldly and diplomatic man interrupting the women. If the interruption of someone "brings to the table: an increase in harmony, understanding and enjoyment the situation can work. This again can be described mathematically in the electronic term known as impedance matching. Codes of etiquette help facilitate or "match" people and situations to maximized social interaction and minimize friction and conflict in the process.
There is a protocol for every possible social situation. The refined execution of the protocol can be analyzed in terms of it decorum. Knowledge which is learned by experience allows a person to successfully enter and leave conversations with many types of people. Protocols and appropriate decorum reflect the need to keep "social systems integral." Thus, the two women referred to above ideally should be able to exist insulated from intrusion from the outer world to maximize their quiet enjoyment at the video store. Societies can grow and prospers given that their subsystems are integral. In a large city there are thousands of integral and insulated subsystems at work in any given area of town.

• Constructive Taking
• Overpowering the Client