Egocentric Bias and Doubt in Cognitive Agents

Modeling social interactions based on individual behavior has always been an area of interest, but prior literature generally presumes rational behavior. Thus, such models may miss out on capturing the effects of biases humans are susceptible to. This work presents a method to model egocentric bias, the real-life tendency to emphasize one's own opinion heavily when presented with multiple opinions. We use a symmetric distribution, centered at an agent's own opinion, as opposed to the Bounded Confidence (BC) model used in prior work. We consider a game of iterated interactions where an agent cooperates based on its opinion about an opponent. Our model also includes the concept of domain-based self-doubt, which varies as the interaction succeeds or not. An increase in doubt makes an agent reduce its egocentricity in subsequent interactions, thus enabling the agent to learn reactively. The agent system is modeled with factions not having a single leader, to overcome some of the issues associated with leader-follower factions. We find that agents belonging to factions perform better than individual agents. We observe that an intermediate level of egocentricity helps the agent perform at its best, which concurs with conventional wisdom that neither overconfidence nor low self-esteem brings benefits

Toward an Analysis of the Abductive Moral Argument for God’s Existence: Assessing the Evidential Quality of Moral Phenomena and the Evidential Virtuosity of Christian Theological Models

The moral argument for God’s existence is perhaps the oldest and most salient of the arguments from natural theology. In contemporary literature, there has been a focus on the abductive version of the moral argument. Although the mode of reasoning, abduction, has been articulated, there has not been a robust articulation of the individual components of the argument. Such an articulation would include the data quality of moral phenomena, the theoretical virtuosity of theological models that explain the moral phenomena, and how both contribute to the likelihood of moral arguments. The goal of this paper is to provide such an articulation. Our method is to catalog the phenomena, sort them by their location on the emergent hierarchy of sciences, then describe how the ecumenical Christian theological model exemplifies evidential virtues in explaining them. Our results show that moral arguments are neither of the highest or lowest quality yet can be assented to on a principled level of investigation, especially given existential considerations

Enhancing auditors fraud risk assessment by using throughput model as a decision aid

Following the recommendations in the current standards (e.g., Canadian Institute of chartered accountants, IAASB, AICPA (SAS No. 82 and 99)), along with the fraud triangle factors, in this work, a decomposition approach that employs SAS No. 99 factors is proposed, whereby these are decomposed in a Throughput model (TP) that serves as a decision aid. Auditors’ task of assessing fraud risk is a critical step that affects auditing planning and procedures, especially in the light of the recent major financial scandals. Authors of several prior studies suggest that a decision aid is an effective way to improve fraud risk assessment and make the best use of professional skepticism. Throughput model breaks up the decision making into four main dominant concepts: Perception (P), Information (I), Judgment (J), and Decision Choice (D). This decision aid is expected to be beneficial in the performance of comprehensive fraud risk assessments, and direct the auditor’s attention to wide classes of problems, especially those associated with the SAS No. 99/ ISA 240 requirements. This work is intended to test the decomposition of the categorized fraud risk factors into processes comprising the thinking model. In the present study, an experimental setting comprising of 42 auditors from different audit positions was adopted, and the model was tested using Partial Equation Modeling PLS. A comparison analysis was subsequently performed to compare auditors characterized by high and low skepticism in two fraud risk conditions (high and low). The results suggest that, when the SAS No. 99 factors were decomposed into the dominant concepts of the Throughput model, an effect was found between these dominant concepts. In addition, study findings reveal no significant differences between high and low skepticism when auditors follow the process of thinking model to assess fraud risk. These findings suggest that the requirement and recommendation under SAS No. 99 can effectively increase auditors’ sensitivity to high risk factors when the situation suggests high fraud risk

Purchasers’ perception of online business ethics: A case of (B2B) (SMEs) IT Firms in the North West, UK

The purpose of this study was to produce empirical research to examine the ethical concerns related to B2B (IT) in North West, UK. the Internet has fundamentally transformed the nature and the related businesses and customers maintain; while online purchasing Has experienced significant growth recently, customers worry frequently about the ethical issues of online increasingly. For retailers, internet usage has been a cause for concern and posed to be a challenge. Concerns of virtuous behaviour and security can derail customers from actively online purchasers’. To foster further growth, marketers must realize these critical ethical challenges in the online retailing environment and be cautious not to create dissatisfaction or distrust Most of the research was conceptual and limited in scope. In an online context, this study proposes and tests a conceptual model that will discover the relationships between online providers’ websites and ethical factors (e.g. privacy, security, fulfilment, non-deception, information quality, website credibility, and customer support) and customer satisfaction. It also explores the mediating role of trust and commitment on the link between PPSE and purchasers’ satisfaction. An empirical study was conducted to validate a proposed conceptual framework and test the research hypotheses. A quantitative methodology was applied using a hand delivered self-administered questionnaire as the data collection technique. Two hundred twenty-three (223) completed questionnaires were distributed randomly, a total of 193 questionnaires were returned. In this context based on the analysis of 180 valid questionnaires, targeting key businesses in information technology to SMEs (B2B) IT in North west, UK. Currently, there is no recorded contribution that focuses on the relationship between the purchaser’s perceptions of the seller’s ethics (PPSE) of the purchaser’s satisfaction Trust and commitment mediate. This gap in the literature is the main of the current thesis. Therefore, this thesis makes a novel contribution to the literature by providing empirical evidence regarding the potential impact of purchasers’ perception of sellers’ ethics and their satisfaction. To achieve this aim, the author has developed a conceptual framework that helps in the empirical examination of the relationship between these two concepts. This is considered significant due to the present contradictions in the literature regarding the incorporation of the purchasers’ perception of the seller’s ethics and its impact on their satisfaction Commitment and trust mediate the relationship between PPSE and satisfaction. A multivariate analysis was undertaken using the variance-based statistical technique known as Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling. The findings of this study have both theoretical and practical implications show significant support for the proposed conceptual framework. As predicted, purchase perceptions of seller’s ethics is a second-order construct with seven dimensions (i.e., privacy, non-deception, security, reliability, information quality, website credibility, and customer support) commitment and trust mediate the relationship between PPSE and satisfaction

A framework for B2C and B2B E-commerce ethics and its effect on customer satisfaction: a comparison study between the UK and Egypt

Internet is fundamentally transforming the nature of the relationship that businesses have with consumers and the public. While e-commerce has witnessed extensive growth in recent years, consumers concerns regarding ethical issues surrounding online shopping also continue to increase. With increasing acceptance of the internet as a source for retail, ethical issues concerning internet usage have prompted serious concerns to consumers and created new challenges for practitioners. These growing concerns about safety and ethical behaviour in online retailing can harm and restrain internet retail growth and deter consumers from online activities. Marketers must understand how these ethical challenges relate to dissatisfaction and distrust in the online retailing environment to foster further growth. The vast majority of earlier research on this area is conceptual in nature and limited in scope by focusing on consumers’ privacy issues. In an online context, this study proposes and tests a conceptual model that will discover the relationships between ethical factors associated to online providers’ web sites (e.g. security, privacy, non-deception, fulfilment, service recovery, shared value, and communication) and customer satisfaction to online providers’ web sites. It also explores a mediating role of trust and commitment on the link between ethical factors and customer satisfaction. Furthermore, the current study examines the differences between e-commerce ethics between the UK and Egypt in the context of B2C and B2B e-commerce. The conceptual model is then tested with a total of 980 completed questionnaires collected from two sample countries; namely, Egypt and the UK. These were analysed through a multivariate analysis using a variance-based statistical technique known as Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling. The findings of this study show significant support for the proposed model. As predicted, BPSE is a second-order construct composed of seven dimensions (i.e., security, privacy, fulfilment, non-deception, service recovery, communication, and shared value). Trust and commitment mediate the relationship between BPSE and satisfaction. In addition, II reliability/fulfilment and non-deception are the most effective dimensions in BPSE. Byer’s perceptions regarding sellers’ ethics (BPSE) has a significant influence on consumer satisfaction. No major differences between the two country models were found. These findings have both theoretical and practical implications in that the results have provided empirical evidence on the indirect impact of BPSE on customer satisfaction and can serve as an indication in practice for both online service providers managers and policy makers in understanding consumers’ perceptions about e-commerce ethics and its effects on customer satisfaction. Ke

KRNC: New Foundations for Permissionless Byzantine Consensus and Global Monetary Stability

This paper applies biomimetic engineering to the problem of permissionless Byzantine consensus and achieves results that surpass the prior state of the art by four orders of magnitude. It introduces a biologically inspired asymmetric Sybil-resistance mechanism, Proof-of-Balance, which can replace symmetric Proof-of-Work and Proof-of-Stake weighting schemes. The biomimetic mechanism is incorporated into a permissionless blockchain protocol, Key Retroactivity Network Consensus ("KRNC"), which delivers ~40,000 times the security and speed of today's decentralized ledgers. KRNC allows the fiat money that the public already owns to be upgraded with cryptographic inflation protection, eliminating the problems inherent in bootstrapping new currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. The paper includes two independently significant contributions to the literature. First, it replaces the non-structural axioms invoked in prior work with a new formal method for reasoning about trust, liveness, and safety from first principles. Second, it demonstrates how two previously overlooked exploits, book-prize attacks and pseudo-transfer attacks, collectively undermine the security guarantees of all prior permissionless ledgers.Comment: 104 page

The moral milieu of information technology: using domain and affordance theory to explain situational and technological effects on ethical IT decision making

Unethical behavior in the use of IT may result in significant negative impacts on the productivity, profitability, and reputation of the organization. IT exacerbates moral problems through its constant evolution, multi-faceted nature and encroachment into our personal and professional lives. People have difficulty recognizing moral characteristics, applying moral decision-making heuristics, and anticipating consequences of ethical problems when IT is present. These qualities highlight the moral milieu of ethical IT problems in organizations. The dissertation investigates this phenomenon through three perspectives. First, while moral development in childhood and adolescence predispose people toward particular moral reasoning, situational and contextual factors of ethical IT dilemmas may unearth other different moral reasoning patterns. The deviation of people's situational moral reasoning from broader moral dispositions is explored. Second, the scenario-specific situational moral reasoning is further framed into patterns of decision-making heuristics using the domain theory of moral development. Third, research in IT ethics has largely ignored the properties and characteristics of IT artifacts in ethical decision-making. Using affordance theory from ecological psychology, the dissertation proposes a framework of moral affordances, including ownership, anonymity, reproducibility, etc. that shapes ethical IT decision-making, intentions and behaviors. The study surveys 321 individuals across three ethical IT dilemmas of varying moral character and technology use. Ethical intentions and decisions deviated significantly from when situational moral judgments were considered, emphasizing utilitarian and relativist judgments. These decision-making models are transformed when ethical IT dilemmas were attributed to different domains of morality, exhibiting not only different patterns of moral reasoning but also an entirely different moral character. Finally, the salience of IT moral affordances varied between ethical dilemmas and demonstrated some influence on ethical IT decisions and intentions; however, these moral affordances lacked predictive efficacy within the broader ethical IT decision-making model

Critical thinking structures for business ethics.

This dissertation is an original synthesis of the critical thinking system developed by Richard Paul (“Paulian CT”) and business ethics classroom teaching in the discipline of Philosophy. The project offers a full textbook for a 16-week college course in business ethics taught through the lends of Philosophy. This textbook is intended to teach business ethics in a critical manner, something often claimed by Philosophy textbooks but, according to this dissertation\u27s literature review, never delivered upon. This textbook is the first business ethics textbook structured for criticality, to teach in ways that are supported by critical approaches, which set up the conditions for readers to teach themselves to think through the material to arrive at original, evidence-based conclusions, as opposed to didactic approaches, which merely tell the reader what to think. The goal of my text is to teach readers to identify and reason through ethical issues in business. The textbook is also deeply interdisciplinary and teaches its readers to reason in an interdisciplinary way. Of the critical structures in the textbook, many are made explicit to maximize a student thinking through the content. Others are hidden, however, since the student is meant to focus upon the content of the course, while getting much of the critical thinking accomplished along the way by doing the work requested of the textbook. These hidden critical structures are brought out in the dissertation, which analyzes the structural features of the text to provide a key for using it with maximum effectiveness for criticality. The dissertation also justifies the textbook\u27s existence with a literature review of recent textbooks and scholarly articles published in Philosophy, Economics, and Critical Thinking, and it helps readers understand the shift from didactic to critical educational paradigms for teachers