ETHICS DEBATE #3: Now I Am Become Death :marseyoppenheimer:

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.

EXTREMELY ethical: If Oppenheimer didn't do this, it would be evil

VERY ethical: It was good that Oppenheimer did this, but if he didn't, they wouldn't be evil.

ethical: It was neither good nor evil that Oppenheimer did this. It is acceptable, but not commendable.

unethical: It was evil that Oppenheimer did this

Machiavellian: Who cares? Ethics doesn't exist. War has no ethical value - it's just the powerful imposing their will on the less powerful. Also, where's my fricking crayons? :marseycrayoneater:

I'm not sure/I need more information

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Urboros psy/op :marseypuke:

Author of the Real Puking Novel from "South Park" :marseypuke:

1yr ago #3537215 Edited 1yr ago

How long did Oppenheimer plan that sweet "I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" line?

2 minutes (i.e., the cover story, it just came to him,)

2 weeks (he thought it up on the potty near the end)

2 months (contemplating the project's close, "that would be a pretty sweet thing to say")

2 years

Chat GPT buys Oppenheimer's bullshit.

How long do you think Oppenheimer planned to say "I am death, the destroyer of worlds" to seem cool?

It is likely that Oppenheimer did not plan to say the phrase at all. He was reportedly quoting a line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita, as he witnessed the first successful atomic bomb test in 1945. He was expressing his mixed feelings of awe and horror at the destructive power of nuclear weapons.