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We computer professionals think we'll be or are part of that aristocracy, so it's okay.
by task_queue 12y ago
We computer professionals think we'll be or are part of that aristocracy, so it's okay.
- logfromblammo 12y agoWe will probably become collared pets once "gene hacking" becomes a thing. The real aristocracy will use the law to make unauthorized genetic modifications a crime punished more harshly than unauthorized computer access, which is already sometimes punished more harshly than crimes like armed robbery. Consider the ethical implications of the job they pay you to do. Always. Who will be benefiting from my work? Who might be harmed by it? Can I trust my employer to protect--or even just accurately represent--my own interests? Do not take jobs that grant more power to the powerful at the expense of the weak. My litmus test for human gene-mod technology will be whether I will ever be able to repair my phi-GULO pseudogene, to restore the mammalian ability to synthesize ascorbates (vitamin C) in the liver, without needing to get permission from anyone to do it, and without paying more than a year's salary or using more than one garage of space on the equipment. If I can do that, this particular genie cannot be re-bottled. And you can bet I'd be selling CKGGRAKDC-GG-D(KLAKLAK)2 under the table, too.