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:schopenmarsey: :marseybigbrain: ETHICS DEBATE #3: Now I Am Become Death :marseyoppenheimer: :marseynukegoggles:

Alright, no more discussion of the limits of free trade. Let's talk about technology. I saw a lively debate on here between @TheTroubleWithPibbles, @August, @Geralt_of_Uganda, etc, about whether it is ethical to develop technologies...

Scenario

This, of course, actually happened

J. Robert Oppenheimer was a brilliant scientist.

being so brilliant, he was able to conceive of, and help build, the greatest weapon known to mankind - the atomic bomb.

Oppenheimer, of course, didn't know the long term consequences of developing such a weapon - but he understood the sheer destructive potential of such a device.

Your question is: Was Oppenheimer acting ethically by assisting to develop the atomic bomb?

NOTE: In this hypothetical, history is at a crossroads. You don't know what will happen in the future - whether the device you created will be used to end life on earth or to usher in a new golden age.

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If it wasn't him it'd be someone else.

Adm. Rickover, the father of the nuclear Navy, expressed some regret later in life.

Rickover deserves his own effectpost, he would personally interview every officer for nuke school and would go out on every new nuclear submarine. He would make candidates stand in a closet for hours if they answered a question wrong during the interview and if they gave him pitted grapes on a sub he'd spit them out on the floor.

He's worth a Google if you've got time to kill and his first name is Hyman.

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