Morality is a muscle. In some it never gets a chance to develop – atrophied from birth by spineless role models. In others it develops through childhood and the idealistic days of youth, but withers in the face of the so-called pragmatics of life, leaving us unable to exert any moral force at all when the situation desperately calls for it (refer, Deus Ex Machina and Speaking Truth to Power). We allow immoral things to happen and, in so doing, contribute to evil. We allow the present moment, that instant in time when we can choose to act, to be corrupted by our memory of what has been and our desire for what might be. We allow fear of consequence to cloud our morality. Continue reading…
Ethics
What to do when people are put in harm’s way because solid, technical advice on designing, deploying and operating complex systems is ignored by decision makers not competent in the target technology? Does the ethical responsibility for the consequences pass to the decision maker somehow absolving the advisor? Or should engineers forswear company loyalty for their higher duty to preserve human safety? At what point should deference to the boss or the client be replaced by mutiny – action outside the chain of command to prevent an accident? Continue reading…
