Are We Unethical? Probably.

Look at your life.

You have two exams next week. Your boyfriend just broke up with you because he didn’t like that lipstick that you use (but really because you know that that he’s eying that girl in his “Justice” section). Your friends think you’re an alcoholic.

Now look to the person to the next on you. He’s on Facebook—and he does not care about your plight (or so says a recent Harvard study).

Basically, people who use the internet are inconsiderate, according to a study conducted by Harvard professor Howard E. Gardner '65. After all, did you think about the musician and the product he created when you decided to torrent all his music? This question is one asked by Carrie James, Research Director at the Harvard School of Education, in a presentation she made on Tuesday at The Mashable & 92Y Social Good Summit 2010.

In the presentation, which can be viewed at Mashable.com, James calls on the wasteful and digitally-addicted youth “move on beyond clicks onto deep, social issues.” She warns of a "scarcity of ethical thinking"—what she defines as the capacity to think disinterestedly—online.

James did say that there is a constructive presence online, using the example of Wikipedia.org, which she recognized as a place of knowledge creation.

"But with great power, comes great responsibility," James said, explicitly quoting "Spiderman."

(Because Spiderman totally followed Uncle Ben's advice directly after when he said that.)

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.