4 ms·

As much debate as I've heard recently over what qualifies a person as an "engineer", one of the key features has always been a very strict adherence to a code o

by Zikes 11y ago

As much debate as I've heard recently over what qualifies a person as an "engineer", one of the key features has always been a very strict adherence to a code of ethics. I'm starting to wonder if the title is even worth arguing over anymore.

pjc50 11y ago
In a highly competitive job market, it's hard to have ethics that result in your unemployment. And any actual "whistleblowing" that costs businesses money can be career-destroying, life-ruining, or (in the case of Snowden) force you to flee the country. Look at how nobody's broken omerta on what actually happened in VW.
cpncrunch 11y ago
Would the people designing these products even be engineers?
the8472 11y ago
The low-level employees can act ethically and still design unethical solutions: - development cooks up 20 different solutions, some of them containing plastic microbeads - plastic microbeads work better than no additive - plastic microbeads have the same performance as <alternative> - report concludes: "we clearly should pick <alternative>, due to similar performance and lower pollution" - management massages report: "we clearly should pick plasic microbeads since it performs equal to <alternative> and is cheaper"
smsm42 11y ago
Which code of ethics? You're saying it as if there is and always been an objective code which says what is good and what is bad, and the choice is only to adhere to it or to be evil. I think in fact it's more like there are a tons of claims around, some true, some not, some important, some pretentious bullshit, some outright fraudulent - and one would have to navigate all this mess which also earning a living and maybe also working on stuff that is interesting. If you're unlucky, post-factum it may turn out the stuff you've worked on has horrible consequences - but I wouldn't say it is unethical unless you had full knowledge of what is going to happen. Which most people just don't. E.g. read about Thomas Midgley, Jr., who worked on both CFCs and TEL. Both proved horrible in the hindsight.

by Zikes 11y ago

pjc50 11y ago

In a highly competitive job market, it's hard to have ethics that result in your unemployment. And any actual "whistleblowing" that costs businesses money can be career-destroying, life-ruining, or (in the case of Snowden) force you to flee the country. Look at how nobody's broken omerta on what actually happened in VW.

cpncrunch 11y ago

Would the people designing these products even be engineers?

the8472 11y ago

The low-level employees can act ethically and still design unethical solutions: - development cooks up 20 different solutions, some of them containing plastic microbeads - plastic microbeads work better than no additive - plastic microbeads have the same performance as <alternative> - report concludes: "we clearly should pick <alternative>, due to similar performance and lower pollution" - management massages report: "we clearly should pick plasic microbeads since it performs equal to <alternative> and is cheaper"

smsm42 11y ago

Which code of ethics? You're saying it as if there is and always been an objective code which says what is good and what is bad, and the choice is only to adhere to it or to be evil. I think in fact it's more like there are a tons of claims around, some true, some not, some important, some pretentious bullshit, some outright fraudulent - and one would have to navigate all this mess which also earning a living and maybe also working on stuff that is interesting. If you're unlucky, post-factum it may turn out the stuff you've worked on has horrible consequences - but I wouldn't say it is unethical unless you had full knowledge of what is going to happen. Which most people just don't. E.g. read about Thomas Midgley, Jr., who worked on both CFCs and TEL. Both proved horrible in the hindsight.