Scientists Often Ignore Common Sense, Morality And Ethics
When the first controlled atomic chain reaction was set off in Chicago on December 2, 1942, Enrico Fermi, George Weil and the other scientists were pretty sure that they could control the atomic pile and bring it back from critical.
Pretty sure.
When the first atomic bomb was set off in New Mexico on July 16, 1945, Robert Oppenheimer, Enrico Fermi and the other scientists and engineers who developed it were pretty sure that it would not start a chain reaction that would destroy the world.
We can debate to what extent they were “pretty sure”, but when reading their biographies one is struck by how uncertain they were about everything to do with atomic energy. Uncertain or not though, Fermi, Weil and Oppenheimer pushed their “start” buttons. They were more concerned with their ability to do something than to ask the question “Should we do this?”
Today I read that British scientists have received permission to create hybrid human-animal embryos for “research”. Yes, they had a little study counsel to consider the question of “Should we?” but that was only going through the motions. The conclusion was undoubtedly written before the study. If someone disagrees with that statement, perhaps they could provide me with a list of scientific developments that have been considered and rejected on moral, ethical or societal grounds.
Reckless, Amoral Scientists Are Nothing Compared With Politicians…
When I think of all the stupid, wasteful spending and failures that our government has put us through in the past few years, I have to wonder if anyone in the Cabinet ever said, “Wait a minute, friends. I know we can borrow more money, but should we?”
It doesn’t take much imagination to hear some of the big spenders saying, “The money is available. We can do it.”
Did no one disagree? Didn’t any of our elected representatives have the foresight enough to see that trying to hold Cricket World Cup on playing fields thousands of miles apart was madness? Did no one say, “If we’re spending a hundred and fifty million for a new stadium, shouldn’t it have lights?”
Didn’t anyone say, “It is immoral to condemn our next generation to a lifetime of serving this debt for Cricket” ?
How many government guarantees for loans are unrecorded in the nation’s financial records? Do you think that under the BOLT projects, companies are putting that kind of money into Barbados without guarantees from the government?
Lord help our children. Protect them from politicians who never ask “Should we do this?”
Barbados Free Press 