We will have four days in which to discuss a wide range of issues relating to nuclear technology. In less than sixty years nuclear technology has entirely transformed the position of humans in the world. Scientists and engineers who took part in the Manhattan Project still question the ethics of what they did. Several of them were instrumental in the founding of HMC. Surely it remains one of the most important issues before us, today.
P1 --- The Manhattan Project
This was the secret development of atomic bombs for use in WWII. Ultimately, the United States used two of these bombs on Japan. By the end of 1945, it was a very different world. Should scientists and engineers have done this?
P2 --- Weapons Race
Many people, including scientists and engineers, believed that nuclear technology should have been placed in some kind of "international trust" after the war; however, the United States quickly became involved in a "cold war" with the Soviet Union. The US jealously guarded its nuclear secrets and, when the Soviets tested their first atomic weapon, the US escalated its program to develop a thermonuclear bomb. Many people believe this escalation was an outrage.
P3 --- Testing and Fallout
From the very beginnings of nuclear technology onward, people have been at risk to radiation poisoning, usually without their own knowledge. This includes Navajos who mined uranium, medical patients who were exposed by rash experiments, military personnel who were intentionally exposed to atomic explosions for training purposes, and thousands of civilians who absorbed radioactive fallout. Scientists and engineers had roles in all of these situations.
P4 --- Nuclear Power and Wastes
Advocates of nuclear technology have always argued that the long-term non-military uses of nuclear technology will justify the short-term problems and risks to humankind. Medical technologies and nuclear power are the leading examples of long-term programs. Nuclear power development, however, has faced many problems with safety issues. Perhaps one of the worst problems, though, is discussed very little; this is the problem of handling nuclear wastes. One might ask, Does it make sense to continue any research and development in the nuclear industry until the problems of nuclear waste disposal have been adequately solved?
Genetic Technology
While some of the basic ideas in genetics are ancient and while considerable experimental knowledge was developed in the 19th Century, genetic technology as we know it today is equally young as nuclear technology. In particular, the unraveling of DNA and the subsequent development of genetic engineering, based on RNA, have created a large number of issues by virtue of their potential impact on human life.
P5 --- Family Issues
Genetics is immediately relevant to families in a wide variety of ways and the family is the most fundamental institution in any society. Knowledge about an individual's genetic makeup, in the age of genetic technology, has relevance to marriage, family planning, and relationships with one's parents and siblings. What roles should scientists be taking in thinking through these issues?
P6 --- Privacy and Control
Who owns genetic information about an individual? To what degree can/should genetic information be used by governments in law enforcement? Can insurance companies demand genetic screening as a part of qualifying for health insurance? In the end, does genetic technology violate basic principles of human privacy?
P7 --- Behavior and Responsibility
The relationship between psychology and law has already had a substantial impact on our justice system. Genetic technology, seeking to suggest relationships between violent behavior and genetic makeup of individuals, will carry this further. But what are the problems involved in possibly identifying individuals as potential criminals well in advance of any actual criminal behavior?
Animals (and humans) as Objects in Research
Prior to recent extensive use of synthetic materials in rebuilding human hearts, valves were always replaced from sacrificed pigs. Certain animals are regularly sacrificed to medical research on the grounds that they are the best systematic models for human pathology. Rabbits' eyes have typically been used by the cosmetics industry as testing grounds for sensitivity. What we need to ask is something about limits and reasons for limits. Since scientists are so intimately involved, they need to ask these questions seriously.
P8 --- Animal Rights
We should begin with a discussion of our relationship with other animals. Are humans the only animals who possess rights? Or do all animals have rights --- e.g., the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?
P9 --- The Need for Animals
Do we have to use animals in research and medical procedures? If we do not, what are our alternatives?
Environmental Impact of Technology
That which environs us has been in constant change for thousands of years. Through most of that period, the expression of human technology primarily allowed humans to cope with or adjust to those changes as they occured naturally, or spontaneously. In the most recent part of that period, however, humans themselves have been the most predominant forces in causing environmental change through expression of their technologies. Hence, as humans continue to cope with environmental change, we find ourselves more-and-more expressing technological inventions to solve problems posed by earlier technological inventions! The readings in this section will stress population and agriculture. When Malthus popularized the crisis of a human population out of control, his chief argument was that we would quickly overrun our supply of food. In the intervening time, agriculture became "industrialized" (big business) and it is boasted that the food supply can be indefinitely expanded, especially if we irrigate deserts and use more fertilizers and pesticides. The question here is whether or not we have really escaped Malthus' argument or whether we have simply put off the crisis for a brief time.
P10 --- Agri-Business: Water Resources
Where does water for irrigation come from? Do we have enough water resources to manage this indefinitely? Should this be limited?
P11 --- Agri-Business: Toxic Pollution
How does agri-business increase productivity? At what cost to the environment and to human health (farm workers as well as the consuming public)?
P12 --- Agri-Business: Land Resources
Is agricultural land a renewable resource? Where does good land come from? How can it be harmed or even lost? Should agriculture be limited in its use of land?
P13 --- Human Impact: Population
What are the predictions regarding human population growth? What are natural factors that may cause population to grow more slowly? Are there factors that humans themselves might control? Why should population not be allowed to multiply indefinitely?
Computer Ethics
The latest profound technological revolution has been the invention of electronic computing and everything that has developed around this, including new ways of reducing information to digital form, e.g., digital photography. Typical of truly profound revolutions, computing has become pervasive in our lives; however, with the introduction of so much change in so short a time, it is inevitable that a host of new social problems will arise.
P14 --- Software Theft
Software theft is just one type of copyright violation that has become extremely easy in the environment of computing. The WWW alone offers many opportunities to acquire and use for one's own purposes texts, software, and images. Proper crediting of sources, gaining permission for use, and payment of royalties are all very difficult to enforce across the Internet. What should be done?
P15 --- Hacking and Virvuses
Computing and especially networks have provided rich resources for constructive communication; unfortunately, they have also made us all susceptible to malicious activities of hackers and virus makers. What can we do about this?
P16 --- Invasion of Privacy
One of the biggest problems with contemporary computing is the ease with which massive amounts of data can be stored, distributed, and transmitted to others. Since so much of what we do on a daily basis is recorded on computers in one way or another, there is an enormous amount of personal data available on everybody. As this data moves about from one interested party to another, the computing record comes to contain a highly detailed picture of each of us. What are the likely problems with this? And how can we protect personal privacy?
P17 --- Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence, including robotics, is a popular field of investigation; but are there ethical problems with designing computer systems that attempt to replace humans in the workplace?