It would also seem that if we actively prohibit this line of enquiry we will never actually learn to accurately measure "competence" or "empathy", let alone ena

It would also seem that if we actively prohibit this line of enquiry we will never actually learn to accurately measure "competence" or "empathy", let alone enable humans to recognize those traits in others. Measurement is key to understanding! About the only "lie" in this debate (in so far as I can tell) is that we are all the same! Sure - at some very high level of abstraction it may be "true". But as engineers, surely we understand that failure stems from false assumptions?