> Well, exactly. It's kind of funny because it reminds me of the early ages of industrialization, the stories from the factories were pretty horrific. ... A lot

> Well, exactly. It's kind of funny because it reminds me of the early ages of industrialization, the stories from the factories were pretty horrific. ... A lot of large scale tragedies, because there really wasn't any concept of worker safety, because it was all new. As a civilization, we didn't really quite know how to handle that yet. You could argue that it was hard enough just to make the machines work without having to also make them safe. You could also argue that workers hadn't yet figured out how to organize (unions) against their bosses, and that consumers hadn't yet figured out how to organize (boycott) against producers. But at some basic level it's because the factory owners just didn't care enough to make the machines safe. All of which are true today as well. Different point: As technologists we are implementing someone's vision. It might be ours or someone else's, but it's either contributing to society or it's not. It can be building power for the powerless, or lining the pockets of the already rich. We as technologists can choose whether to take this job or that job, or whether we continue working on a project once we know the ethical implications of it. Unfortunately the ethical choice is usually less lucrative.