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Even before the "dudebros", i'd argue most scientists and engineers didn't really care too much about the moral implications of their work. Guns, bombs etc... w

Even before the "dudebros", i'd argue most scientists and engineers didn't really care too much about the moral implications of their work. Guns, bombs etc... were all invented by brilliant minds, we'd like to think we as a society have collectively evolved cause we have small machines in our hands with all the world's knowledge but esp in the usa, looking outside you see that nothing has really changed that much in the way humans think.

neuromantik8086 8y ago
I mean, scientists for the Manhattan Project were remorseful after the fact at least. In general though, scientists are primarily driven by curiosity with little regard for the safety of themselves or others. If IRBs didn't exist, I assure you that some experiment of dubious ethics would be in progress right now without it even occurring to the primary investigator that it might be morally problematic (it's important to note that with some researchers, moral issues just don't click mentally and there's not a question of malice). Even with an IRB, you still get studies like the Facebook mood manipulation fiasco at Cornell [0]. [0] https://www.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2014/jul/01/facebook-cornell-study-emotional-contagion-ethics-breach https://www.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2014/jul/0...
zeveb 8y ago
> most scientists and engineers didn't really care too much about the moral implications of their work Have you considered that they might care very much about the moral implications of their work — and be proud to contribute to their nation's armed might?
- stronglikedan 8y ago
  > to contribute to their nation's armed might I would extend that to the hope for peace through strength (might).
- kareemsabri 8y ago
  Of course not, this is silicon valley.