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I don't think the state cared whether scientists cared about the ethics of the project. But I guess Hacker News does, so let's read on! > Scientists whose work

I don't think the state cared whether scientists cared about the ethics of the project. But I guess Hacker News does, so let's read on! > Scientists whose work suddenly raises the red flag — for example, those whose work gets labeled “potential dual-use research of concern” — often balk at the imposition of restrictions and the requirement of deeper reflection. I don't care what kind of obsession you have with a task—if you know the impacts of your research, disapprove, and research anyway, I don't give a flying fuck about your intentions. You're a shitty person who evidently approves of what you enabled. FWIW, I think basically every defense project after this is far more interesting in terms of the morals of every day workers. The bombing of two cities was, possibly, justified by the people who made the bombs. What are the excuses of everyone who trailed this action? The Cold War seemed to set humanity back by a many decades, and I'm more than happy to put this on the workers that fulfilled the vision of nuclear (& chemical, cyber, whatever) warfare. Since the USSR collapsed this regression in technological advancement has become even more pronounced.

Dalewyn 2y ago
>The Cold War seemed to set humanity back by a many decades Landing men on the Moon was just one of many battles fought in the Cold War. If anything, the conclusion of the Cold War combined with all subsequent wars America was involved in just being some form of laundering money to the Military Industrial Complex has by far done the most damage with regards to technological regressions and stagnations. Like it or not, wars are the best drivers of technology.
guappa 2y ago
Rotblat was a decent man.
petercooper 2y ago
It's a lot of "what if"s. Let's say the nuclear bomb didn't exist, where would we be now? Good arguments can be made in every direction. I think the threat of two new nuclear superpowers shocked Europe's non-Russian powers into an uneasy cohesion and resulted in a huge reduction in European warfare that had been rattling on and off for centuries. But I could totally follow and appreciate arguments to the contrary. This is why I think it's both unfair and unproductive to "put" anything on the people of the past. They did what they did, but they're gone. IMHO, no-one was a "shitty" person solely because they felt unease over working in the Manhattan Project.
hoseja 2y ago
>The Cold War seemed to set humanity back by a many decades compared to what, everyong holding hands and singing kumbaya under the watchful eye of the american hegemony? We've been "catching up" since the 90's and, well, look around. The only bad thing about the bomb is people freaking out about atomic power by association.

Dalewyn 2y ago

>The Cold War seemed to set humanity back by a many decades Landing men on the Moon was just one of many battles fought in the Cold War. If anything, the conclusion of the Cold War combined with all subsequent wars America was involved in just being some form of laundering money to the Military Industrial Complex has by far done the most damage with regards to technological regressions and stagnations. Like it or not, wars are the best drivers of technology.

guappa 2y ago

Rotblat was a decent man.

petercooper 2y ago

It's a lot of "what if"s. Let's say the nuclear bomb didn't exist, where would we be now? Good arguments can be made in every direction. I think the threat of two new nuclear superpowers shocked Europe's non-Russian powers into an uneasy cohesion and resulted in a huge reduction in European warfare that had been rattling on and off for centuries. But I could totally follow and appreciate arguments to the contrary. This is why I think it's both unfair and unproductive to "put" anything on the people of the past. They did what they did, but they're gone. IMHO, no-one was a "shitty" person solely because they felt unease over working in the Manhattan Project.

hoseja 2y ago

>The Cold War seemed to set humanity back by a many decades compared to what, everyong holding hands and singing kumbaya under the watchful eye of the american hegemony? We've been "catching up" since the 90's and, well, look around. The only bad thing about the bomb is people freaking out about atomic power by association.