Ethics in Scientific Research

call -151 writes: "There is an interesting NYT article `When Science Inadvertently Aids an Enemy' discussing how some of the "encryption should be free for everyone" attitudes are changing with the WTC attacks. The article makes some interesting points and it is good to see discussions like these in more of the mainstream, even if the tone has definitely changed recently." Well, the questions are being asked again, but most of the researchers dealing with these issues have already answered the questions for themselves.

Comments

Science should not be scared.

[Si]

Scientists should not hold back news of a discovery for fear that one day it may be used by the bad guys -- let the sociologists deal with that. All scientific discoveries have the potential to uplift the human condition. Perhaps one day we will no longer have a need to strong crypto, but until then Hellmann and others should not feel ashamed or guilty about their discoveries and contributions. The ones who should feel ashamed are those who let their personal agendas get in the way of progress, who would rather see us back in age where the privileged few have all the power and the masses are huddled together in the dark looking to superstition for salvation.

Love Big Brother?

[sharkey]

One nanotechnology expert, Glenn H. Reynolds, a law professor at the University of Tennessee, said that someday it might even be used to make tiny robots that would lodge in people's brains and make them truly love Big Brother.

Well, they'd have to. That show fucking sucked.