Case studies · Path Ethics

# Case studies Use three questions to look at a changing system *The three questions support a reasoned description. They do not produce a score or a final ranking.* ## The river *Biological* Water, banks, soil and living beings form a changing system. The river connects different habitats. **Autonomy: how far can the system shape its own development?:** The river’s course is shaped by slope, water supply and its interaction with the riverbed. An analysis must clarify in what sense these processes form an organisation of their own. **Connectivity: which relationships support or limit it?:** The river connects habitats and carries materials between them. An intervention at one point can therefore affect places far away. **Persistence: how can it continue through change?:** A river can change its bed while continuing as a connected system. The question is which processes support its further development. **Risk:** Interventions can change water flow, the movement of living beings and the development of the banks. ## Fungal network (mycelium) *Biological* Mycelium is a network of fungal threads. It grows through its surroundings and, depending on the species, relates to other living beings in different ways. **Autonomy: how far can the system shape its own development?:** Growth and metabolism are organised within this living system. Its dependencies must be examined for the particular fungus, rather than assumed for every species. **Connectivity: which relationships support or limit it?:** Connections can enable exchange and affect other living beings. Their effects cannot be inferred simply from how many connections there are. **Persistence: how can it continue through change?:** The network can change and renew itself. Which parts matter for its continuation depends on the species and its environmental conditions. **Risk:** Changes to the soil can affect the conditions that sustain the network and its relationships. ## Coral reef *Biological* A coral reef develops through interactions among living beings and their environment. It provides habitat while depending on particular conditions itself. **Autonomy: how far can the system shape its own development?:** Many interconnected living processes sustain the reef. Its own organisation remains dependent on environmental conditions. **Connectivity: which relationships support or limit it?:** Different species find food, shelter and habitat there. An analysis asks which relationships support this connected system. **Persistence: how can it continue through change?:** The reef can continue only if building and renewal remain possible. Its age alone tells us little about how it can respond to new pressures. **Risk:** Changing environmental conditions can damage relationships that support the reef. ## Bitcoin network *Technical* Many computers maintain a distributed record of transactions under shared rules. The network needs technology, energy and participants. **Autonomy: how far can the system shape its own development?:** Rules are implemented in technology and sustained by participants. The analysis asks who can bring about changes and how influence is distributed. **Connectivity: which relationships support or limit it?:** The network connects participants with technical and economic systems. Burdens outside the network also belong in the analysis. **Persistence: how can it continue through change?:** The record continues while the necessary processes and resources remain available. It is also important to examine how the network can respond to changed conditions. **Risk:** Dependencies on energy, technical infrastructure and the distribution of influence can shape its further development. ## Automated factory *Technical* Machines, controls and working routines operate together. A factory can respond independently on site while depending on long supply chains. **Autonomy: how far can the system shape its own development?:** Which disruptions can the factory handle itself, and when must people intervene? Managing a task independently is different from setting purposes of its own. **Connectivity: which relationships support or limit it?:** Suppliers, workers, customers and energy provision support the factory. The quality of these relationships must be examined alongside its internal operations. **Persistence: how can it continue through change?:** Maintenance, knowledge and the possibility of reorganisation help determine whether the factory can continue when requirements change. **Risk:** Supplier failures, lost repair knowledge or outdated equipment can disrupt its operation. ## The internet *Technical* Many networks are connected through shared technical rules. People and institutions use them for communication, knowledge and other activities. **Autonomy: how far can the system shape its own development?:** Many operators and institutions take part. The analysis asks where decisions and dependencies are concentrated, rather than assuming there is no central control anywhere. **Connectivity: which relationships support or limit it?:** The internet supports connections between very different paths. Who has access, and under which rules, is an essential part of its assessment. **Persistence: how can it continue through change?:** Distributed structures can provide alternative routes. Continuation nevertheless requires maintenance, energy, cooperation and the further development of shared rules. **Risk:** Outages, restrictions on access and concentrated control can change what people and systems are able to do. ## Person using a medical implant *Hybrid* An implant can support bodily functions. Its use connects a person’s possibilities for action with technical conditions. **Autonomy: how far can the system shape its own development?:** Does the technology extend the person’s room to act? Who can change its settings, and which decisions remain with the person? **Connectivity: which relationships support or limit it?:** The connection includes care, maintenance and manufacturers. These relationships can provide support and create dependencies at the same time. **Persistence: how can it continue through change?:** Continuation depends on biological and technical conditions. What a failure would mean depends on the particular device and the function it serves. **Risk:** Maintenance, reliability and control over the device can be crucial for the person using it. ## Connected city *Hybrid* Sensors and software connect activities such as transport, services and administration. Their use changes how people can use and help shape the city. **Autonomy: how far can the system shape its own development?:** Who sets the rules, who can object and who can intervene? Technical self-regulation and residents’ participation must be examined separately. **Connectivity: which relationships support or limit it?:** Connections can make everyday operations easier and create new dependencies. Efficiency alone does not describe the quality of these relationships. **Persistence: how can it continue through change?:** The city needs knowledge, reliable operation and ways to correct decisions. Can it remain capable of acting without a particular provider? **Risk:** Misuse of data, technical failures and decisions that are difficult to challenge can limit people’s possibilities. ## Data-informed medicine *Hybrid* Medical decisions can draw on different kinds of data about a person. The analysis examines how treatment, knowledge and technology work together. **Autonomy: how far can the system shape its own development?:** Which decisions can patients and clinicians make on an informed basis? Technical support must be distinguished from responsibility for a decision. **Connectivity: which relationships support or limit it?:** Using data connects care, research and technical services. Access, consent and the effects of these relationships belong in the analysis. **Persistence: how can it continue through change?:** Knowledge and care need to remain available when equipment or providers change. Long-term responsibilities matter for this continuity. **Risk:** Unsuitable data, biased analysis or lost confidentiality can harm the people concerned. ## KIKOLAUS *Hybrid* Nikolaus Reinelt and AI work together on texts and analyses. Human purposes, review and responsibility are combined with technical capabilities. **Autonomy: how far can the system shape its own development?:** Nikolaus determines the direction and takes responsibility for release. The analysis asks whether the collaboration strengthens independent judgment or replaces it. **Connectivity: which relationships support or limit it?:** The work connects sources, drafts and critical questions. Useful connections need reasons that others can examine and check. **Persistence: how can it continue through change?:** Documentation, retained knowledge and tools that can be replaced support continuation beyond individual sessions. **Risk:** Dependence on providers and insufficiently checked results can weaken the work. ## Language *Social* People speak, understand and change a language. Rules and meanings are passed on without one authority determining every use. **Autonomy: how far can the system shape its own development?:** The language community sustains and changes usage. Institutions and power relations also influence which forms are recognised. **Connectivity: which relationships support or limit it?:** Language enables shared activities and the passing on of experience. Who can participate and who is excluded belongs in the analysis. **Persistence: how can it continue through change?:** New words and meanings can support continuity. Records preserve traces; continued use carries the language’s further development. **Risk:** Declining use and transmission can lead to the loss of ways of expressing experience and sharing knowledge. ## University *Social* Research, teaching and shared procedures for checking claims sustain a university. Its continuation also depends on passing on knowledge and addressing errors. **Autonomy: how far can the system shape its own development?:** How freely can research questions be chosen and findings examined? Formal independence must be compared with the actual conditions of work. **Connectivity: which relationships support or limit it?:** Teaching, research and public life depend on varied relationships. Their quality includes whether criticism can have a real effect. **Persistence: how can it continue through change?:** A university’s name can survive while its capacities weaken. Passing on knowledge and renewing its work therefore matter alongside its outward survival. **Risk:** One-sided dependencies or the loss of knowledge and freedom can weaken these capacities. ## Wikipedia *Social* Many participants write, check and revise a shared reference work. Rules and procedures help them handle contributions and disagreements. **Autonomy: how far can the system shape its own development?:** Who can help shape the rules and challenge decisions? The distribution of influence belongs to the question of how the project organises itself. **Connectivity: which relationships support or limit it?:** The project connects contributions and sources for many readers. Openness also requires ways of dealing with errors and disagreements. **Persistence: how can it continue through change?:** Continuation needs active maintenance, knowledge, technical resources and new contributors. The existing collection alone does not secure these conditions. **Risk:** Too few contributors, unequal participation and difficulties checking claims can weaken the quality of the work.