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+12 +1
Blacklisted in China—Misbehaving Scientists Poised for “Social” Punishment
When Dr. He Jiankui announced the birth of CRISPR-edited babies last month, the world grappled with how to handle the aftermath. Should journals overlook his dangerous ethical violations and publish the results? Will he now be barred from conducting clinical trials or obtaining funding? What level of punishment is appropriate for what he did—with absolutely no remorse? China’s answer: extensive, life-consuming penalties that extend far past any scientific career.
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+18 +1
Why it is better not to aim at being morally perfect
‘I am glad,’ wrote the acclaimed American philosopher Susan Wolf, ‘that neither I nor those about whom I care most’ are ‘moral saints’. This declaration is one of the opening remarks of a landmark essay in which Wolf imagines what it would be like to be morally perfect. If you engage with Wolf’s thought experiment, and the conclusions she draws from it, then you will find that it offers liberation from the trap of moral perfection.
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+9 +1
The Miseducation of Sheryl Sandberg
Harvard Business School invented the “leadership” industry—and produced a generation of corporate monsters. No wonder Sandberg, one of the school’s most prominent graduates, lacks a functioning moral compass.
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+22 +1
Company selling ‘dangerous junk science’ voice analysis claims Apple as client
AC Global Risk, a startup which has been described as selling ‘dangerous junk science,’ claims Apple is one of its clients … The Intercept reports that the firm claims that simply analysing yes/no answers to questions can, in ten minutes, determine someone’s level of risk – whether that’s as an employee or an asylum seeker.
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+16 +1
Airlines face crack down on use of ‘exploitative’ algorithm that splits up families on flights
Algorithms used by airlines to split up those travelling together unless they pay more to sit next to each other have been called “exploitative” by a government minister. Speaking to a parliamentary communications committee, Digital Minister Margot James described the software as “a very cynical, exploitative means… to hoodwink the general public”.
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+17 +1
Our lack of interest in data ethics will come back to haunt us
When was the last time you saw a creepy ad on Facebook, which seemed to know about a product you were discussing with a coworker? Or when was the last time you noticed that your Google search had been modified to suit variables like your current location and personal interests? These micro-events happen on a daily basis for most of us, and are reminders of how valuable and how ubiquitous our data really is.
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+17 +1
The Victorian Occultist Accused of Killing Men With Her Mind
Pioneering feminist and animal rights campaigner Anna Kingsford was one of the 19th century's most remarkable women. Then she was charged with using black magic to murder two vivisectionists. By Dee Cunning.
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+14 +1
Cars without drivers still need a moral compass. But what kind?
Loved by some philosophers, loathed by others, the so-called trolley problem is the quintessential moral puzzle. A runaway train is heading towards five people tied to a track. You can change a signal, diverting the train down a spur, so saving five lives. Unfortunately, one person is on the spur, and would die. What should you do? Most people – young and old, rich and poor – believe you should divert the train.
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+12 +1
Opinion | Who Will Teach Silicon Valley To Be Ethical?
I think we can all agree that Silicon Valley needs more adult supervision right about now. Is the solution for its companies to hire a chief ethics officer? While some tech companies like Google have top compliance officers and others turn to legal teams to police themselves, no big tech companies that I know of have yet taken this step. But a lot of them seem to be talking about it, and I’ve discussed the idea with several chief executives recently. Why? Because slowly, then all at once, it feels like too many digital leaders have lost their minds.
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+24 +1
Veganism, abortion, & our tragic lack of moral empathy
Consider two familiar moments at a family reunion. Our host, Uncle Bill, is taking pride in his barbequing skills. But his niece Becky says that she now refuses to eat meat. A groan goes round the table; the family mostly think of this as an annoying picky preference. But if it were viewed as a moral position rather than personal preference – as they might if instead Becky were avoiding meat on religious grounds – it would usually receive a very different reaction.
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+12 +1
Running Windows 95 in an “app” is a dumb stunt that makes a good point
A silly new app has been doing the rounds this week: Windows 95 as a standalone application. Running on Windows, macOS, and Linux, the Windows 95 "app" combines Electron (a framework for building desktop applications using JavaScript and other Web technology) with an existing x86 emulator written in JavaScript. The emulator can run a bunch of operating systems: for the app, it's preloaded with Windows 95.
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+3 +1
The Genetics, and Ethics, of Making Humans Fit for Mars
We could make people less stinky, more resistant to radiation, even less dependent on food and oxygen. But would the new creature be human? By Jason Pontin.
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+3 +1
To Doxx a Racist
How a dead white supremacist sparked a debate over the tactics used against the extreme right. By Vegas Tenold.
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+5 +1
The Best Man (1964)
Franklin J. Schaffner, screenplay by Gore Vidal
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+27 +1
Physics Needs Philosophy / Philosophy Needs Physics
Philosophy has always played an essential role in the development of science, physics in particular, and is likely to continue to do so. By Carlo Rovelli.
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+8 +1
4 obstacles to ethical AI (and how to address them)
Data bias, opacity, data monopoly, and job loss are issues that plague the field of artificial intelligence. Here are some simple solutions to these problems.
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+7 +1
Looking for Calley
How a young journalist untangled the riddle of My Lai. By Seymour M. Hersh.
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+16 +1
It Can Happen Here
Many accounts of the Nazi period depict a barely imaginable series of events, a nation gone mad. That makes it easy to take comfort in the thought that it can’t happen again. But some depictions of Hitler’s rise are more intimate and personal. They focus less on well-known leaders, significant events, state propaganda, murders, and war, and more on the details of individual lives. They help explain how people can not only participate in dreadful things but also stand by quietly and live fairly ordinary days in the midst of them. By Cass R. Sunstein.
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+13 +1
What can Aristotle teach us about the routes to happiness?
In the Western world, only since the mid-18th century has it been possible to discuss ethical questions publicly without referring to Christianity. Modern thinking about morality, which assumes that gods do not exist, or at least do not intervene, is in its infancy. But the ancient Greeks and Romans elaborated robust philosophical schools of ethical thought for more than a millennium, from the first professed agnostics such as Protagoras (fifth century BCE) to the last pagan thinkers. The Platonists’ Academy at Athens was not finally closed down until 529 CE, by the Emperor Justinian.
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+7 +1
Niccolò Machiavelli
BBC
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