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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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Very ethical. Developing technology is on average a benefit towards humanity, it also will happen regardless of your actions. Your personal involvement only effects when a technology is invented, not if it is invented, so any arguments concerning existential threats and infinite evil don't really apply.
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They do apply because you are clinging to the
But it is not really a shield for doing things that are not acceptable. We would say a very different thing if it was the enemies who made the bomb first, and they used it to put us in our place. In that case, we would not say itβs so inevitable. It would be a case of crying and wailing at how this technology was developed which benefits nobody, only destroys. And we would need proportional revenge.
They are only considered to be on average a benefit to humanity if we do not consider that the enemies are a piece of humanity. Which is fair, I guess, but I see that as practically identical to the genocide mindset
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No, it doesn't matter who develops the bomb. It is still an ethical act assuming the same conditions we applied here. Remember, you don't know what the bomb will do.
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