What ought one to do when...

[Gracchus]

Let us suppose a scientist discovers a cure for cancer. Does he have an obligation to publish it? How about if the same technology that provides the cure could be used to turn cancer into a highly contagious disease? Should the scientist publish anyway?

 

[Blackmarch]

Let us suppose a scientist discovers a cure for cancer. Does he have an obligation to publish it? How about if the same technology that provides the cure could be used to turn cancer into a highly contagious disease? Should the scientist publish anyway?

The nuclear genie was let out of the bottle.. and we're still here to tell about it. I'd vote yes, the potential good outweighs the potential harm.

 

[jayem]

In the information age, major scientific advances can't be kept under wraps. They will get out.

 

[Blackmarch]

In the information age, major scientific advances can't be kept under wraps. They will get out.

well it is possible... it just takes an extraordinary amount of effort. The USAF's F-117 program is a good example of that.

Altho if you don't want something getting out at all you have to go even further destroy all such related work.

 

[Zebra1552]

Let us suppose a scientist discovers a cure for cancer. Does he have an obligation to publish it? How about if the same technology that provides the cure could be used to turn cancer into a highly contagious disease? Should the scientist publish anyway?

Someone's been reading too much Ted Dekker. Um... when you say 'could be used', do you mean that simple people like myself can use it in such a way, or does it require intimate knowledge that can only be acquired by being involved in its creation? If the latter, gag the people involved and go for it.

 

[Verv]

They should probably not consider publishing it but should present their findings to their local government, if it is a moral government, so that they can take steps to insure the secrecy of the deadly aspects of the information and maximization of sharing the portions which can fight cancer.

 

[Gracchus]

Someone's been reading too much Ted Dekker.

Uh...actually...Never heard of him.

Um... when you say 'could be used', do you mean that simple people like myself can use it in such a way, or does it require intimate knowledge that can only be acquired by being involved in its creation? If the latter, gag the people involved and go for it.

Today's "Top Secret" is tomorrow's web page. The interesting thing about bio-war is that it can be done comparatively cheaply. Start with a virus, like influenza, insert some carcinogenes, and voila! Contagious cancer!

They should probably not consider publishing it but should present their findings to their local government, if it is a moral government, so that they can take steps to insure the secrecy of the deadly aspects of the information and maximization of sharing the portions which can fight cancer.

It has been my observation that there is no such thing as a "moral government". Every technological advance has, whenever possible, been weaponized. In fact, I believe it most likely that such a discovery would be classified, weaponized, and the therapeutic uses ignored, except for special cases like politicians and their families.

Keeping secrets is nearly impossible in the long run, and admittedly, whatever idea has occurred to one will eventually occurred to someone else, but the healing arts can only prolong life. Does that make the effort useless?

This forum is about "Ethics & Morality". I am interested in opinions on these matters, hence the thread title: "What Ought One to Do When..."

 

[Zebra1552]

Uh...actually...Never heard of him.

Pity. He wrote a trilogy where that exact same thing happened... except it was a cure for a bunch of different things, including aids.

Today's "Top Secret" is tomorrow's web page. The interesting thing about bio-war is that it can be done comparatively cheaply. Start with a virus, like influenza, insert some carcinogenes, and voila! Contagious cancer!

I hesitate to believe that. Cover-ups can be done quite effectively... of course, the methods of the cover up I have in mind might be a tad *ahem* questionable...