Re:Complete and Voluntary Starvation of 50 days
by Someone on Wednesday March 07, 2018 @03:41AM
(#16535107)
The existence of the study may entice participants to fast for a long period in exchange for attention or (relative) fame, while they wouldn’t have done so without it.
It also may put pressure on them to continue where they normally would have stopped because they feel pressure because “those scientists invested so much time in it”.
And of course, they may suffer long term health effects, even if they fast for a period that typically doesn’t have any on subjects.
You can see these kinds of ethical issues clearer by exaggerating. Replace “fasting” by “being hit in the face”, for example. What’s wrong with looking for volunteers who want to be hit in the face every hour for weeks?
It also may put pressure on them to continue where they normally would have stopped because they feel pressure because “those scientists invested so much time in it”.
And of course, they may suffer long term health effects, even if they fast for a period that typically doesn’t have any on subjects.
You can see these kinds of ethical issues clearer by exaggerating. Replace “fasting” by “being hit in the face”, for example. What’s wrong with looking for volunteers who want to be hit in the face every hour for weeks?