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Agreed on taking a collective breath and evaluating. For "real" engineers, is it fair to say their ethical questions are more easily constrained than those in

• bumby 7y ago
  > For "real" engineers, is it fair to say their ethical questions are more easily constrained than those in software? For capital "E" Engineers (i.e., those with a State license), I would say yes. They are required to abide by specific ethics and some states require regular ethics training. If they certifying a design, they are putting their name/license/livelihood on the line that it meets a minimum standard. This standard is usually defined by specific codes. The problem I often see in software is that many codes (if they even exist) are looked at as a "nice to have" not a "must have", unless they are contractually obligated. If I show a code-base doesn't adhere to a specific industry standard, the reaction is often "meh". This is in contrast to other engineering disciplines who tend to begrudgingly acknowledge they have to re-design to meet such a standard. The issue with some of your examples is that much of engineering work happens under an "industrial exemption" meaning they don't have to be a licensed engineer.