4 ms·
apart from what dkarl said, the geeks tend to take the moral high ground (at least the good onces). They cannot and will not be able to have that military appro
by rick_2047 16y ago
apart from what dkarl said, the geeks tend to take the moral high ground (at least the good onces). They cannot and will not be able to have that military approach towards this.
I am just saying if you were told that your algorithm will be used to kill a few hundred people, most of the geeks will be caught in a moral jam b/w their patriotic duties and there self righteousness.
- anigbrowl 16y agoOn the other hand, deploying a virus to bring Iran's nuclear enrichment effort to an undignified halt sounds enormously preferable to the alternatives of bombing it or getting into a shooting war. From a historical perspective I can see why Iran would have a chip on its shoulder, a violent distrust of the west, and the belief that nuclear weapons are the only credible path to long-term security. I see no point in antagonizing them for another generation or two. On the other hand, theocratic dictatorships have a bad track record, and the regime's political autonomy has came at the expense of its citizens'. Impeding their progress at no cost in human life or political capital is a win in my view, both strategically and ethically. I agree that many situations are far more ambiguous. If you asked me to shut down a hospital on the premise that it would destabilize a rotten corrupt regime, I would be skeptical of whether the hoped-for benefit outweighed the certainty of harm. Geopolitics is not an idealists' pursuit, but we can do better than select optimistic expediency as our guiding strategy.