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Anonymous
Unintentional millitary applications of your research
2016-05-03 12:28:16 Post No. 8047288
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Unintentional millitary applications of your research
Anonymous
2016-05-03 12:28:16
Post No. 8047288
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Hello /sci/ i figured this would be the best place to get some insight to something I thought about just now.
I just came off watching an episode of Big Bang Theory (yeah yeah i enjoy the show so hold your laughter for later) and the characters are musing about the problems they have with their new invention being adapted by the military to improve their systems. This isn't the first time I have heard about the internal crisis faced by well meaning scientists when they see their invention co-opted for use either as a weapon or a part of a weaponized system, especially when the inventor only had peacetime applications in mind but instead find their hard work being co-opted into a war machine when word got around.
Now in my own field I am a digital designer, and I've worked on a range of things with a particular interest in interactive entertainment and digital media, but a common theme is that many in my profession would refuse on ethical grounds to do work for tobacco companies or gambling/slot machine makers. I personally dont mind the gambling side but I wouldn't like the idea of working directly or on behalf of a Tobacco company.
Is potential interest by the Military in your research something that the scientist anons among us here actually worry about? Do you think about it beforehand and try to avoid going into areas that may end with you holding meetings with men wearing golden stars or perhaps pursue it intentionally hoping to catch some lucrative patents? I can imagine that if the tech is good the financial windfall would set you up for life, but you would still have to live with the knowledge that something you made for the good of mankind is being used as a component of war and not everyone would be able to reconcile that with themselves.
Of course this sort of question is directed at those who do not work directly for military research facilities since they know what they are getting into.
