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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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I'ma go with ethical on this one.
I'll leave out the ethics of using the bomb entirely because that's a whole different quagmire. Oppenheimer absolutely 100% knew what they were going to use the bomb for. I agree with the meme image that he shouldn't have signed up for the task if he had an ethical problem with it, and he shouldn't pretend he was surprised by the outcome.
However, if he hadn't participated someone else would have. The atom bomb was inevitable. Thus, his participation was ethically neutral, aside from being an annoying cute twink about it afterwards.
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