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> In the interim, we can and should encourage people to be heroes. In reality it's just not black and white like that. I expect a lot of engineers aren't sure
by bicubic 9y ago
> In the interim, we can and should encourage people to be heroes.
In reality it's just not black and white like that. I expect a lot of engineers aren't sure if they should be blowing the whistle about a particular thing. And they have no one to turn to for advice, especially not with the NDAs they will typically sign.
So the position they'll find themselves is this: blow the whistle on a morally gray issue which may or may not justify doing so, and guarantee that you will be fired while not at all guaranteeing that the morally gray project will stop. A probable outcome is that the engineer gets fired, the ethics issues don't get escalated, and someone else is hired to continue the project.
Everything is stacked against the engineer. Telling them to fall on their swords for a maybe outcome is neither realistic nor ethical in itself.
- unityByFreedom 9y ago> In reality it's just not black and white like that. I made it clear in the last paragraph it isn't black and white. Everyone has their own situation. I can still support people to come out before they actually do it.
- llukas 9y agoIf you're bit older than a graduate then you have much more to lose and nothing to gain. Mortgages, kids and ageism when looking for new job are not your allies. So support - OK - support as in how? "like" on facebook? That is not enough to make it work.
- unityByFreedom 9y agoSupport as in donate to non profits that do this kind of work such as the ACLU, and suggest this opportunity to help to others. Raising awareness can and does help make it work. If you don't believe communication is effective then I don't know the point of this conversation.