Re:Realizing scientists are the real superheroes
by godelski on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @02:44PM
(#32569328)
A lot of comments here are extremely dehumanizing.
There's both a lot of good and bad that scientists have done for the world. In fact, single men have killed millions and saved billions. The world is too complex to put people into bins of "good" and "evil." Even with a singular person it is almost impossible to do this. It is also easier to put people into the evil bin rather than the saint bin. But there are no saints nor devils. People are people, and often a product of their times. Look at those that worked on the Manhattan Project. Many thought they were doing the right thing (it is still even arguable if dropping the bombs saved more or killed more). The majority of them regret their work and feel a lot of guilt for their actions. Even though those actions were influenced from extremely limited knowledge, fear monger, and propaganda. Things we all as normal people face. We can only really do the best that we can. Should one be judged for what someone else does with their invention? There's no easy answer.
I don't think calling scientists "superheros" is really trying to say that they are saints. Rather I read it as saying that by doing science you can have large impacts on the world and society. Obviously that can be wielded for good or evil, and often it is used for both. Those that wield the power that science brings also often isn't the scientists themselves. You often see scientists advocating for how to use their work properly (we see this frequently in the ML/AI community today while we also see rampant abuse). But calling them superheros is with the intent to inspire the newer generations to pursue science. It is to give hope. But the good vs evil is orthogonal to this because that can either be individual or out of the hands of the creator.
It is just too easy to bin people and paint with a wide brush. But at the root of this is dehumanization. You aren't seeing individuals. You are representing a non-homogeneous group with biased samples (the extreme cases). Obviously this problem is rampant in more than how we classify scientists. This absolute pessimism is not criticism and does not allow us to grow and redeem ourselves. This is no way to move forward as a society and will only lead us down a darker path. It will only lead to self-fulfilling prophesies.
There's both a lot of good and bad that scientists have done for the world. In fact, single men have killed millions and saved billions. The world is too complex to put people into bins of "good" and "evil." Even with a singular person it is almost impossible to do this. It is also easier to put people into the evil bin rather than the saint bin. But there are no saints nor devils. People are people, and often a product of their times. Look at those that worked on the Manhattan Project. Many thought they were doing the right thing (it is still even arguable if dropping the bombs saved more or killed more). The majority of them regret their work and feel a lot of guilt for their actions. Even though those actions were influenced from extremely limited knowledge, fear monger, and propaganda. Things we all as normal people face. We can only really do the best that we can. Should one be judged for what someone else does with their invention? There's no easy answer.
I don't think calling scientists "superheros" is really trying to say that they are saints. Rather I read it as saying that by doing science you can have large impacts on the world and society. Obviously that can be wielded for good or evil, and often it is used for both. Those that wield the power that science brings also often isn't the scientists themselves. You often see scientists advocating for how to use their work properly (we see this frequently in the ML/AI community today while we also see rampant abuse). But calling them superheros is with the intent to inspire the newer generations to pursue science. It is to give hope. But the good vs evil is orthogonal to this because that can either be individual or out of the hands of the creator.
It is just too easy to bin people and paint with a wide brush. But at the root of this is dehumanization. You aren't seeing individuals. You are representing a non-homogeneous group with biased samples (the extreme cases). Obviously this problem is rampant in more than how we classify scientists. This absolute pessimism is not criticism and does not allow us to grow and redeem ourselves. This is no way to move forward as a society and will only lead us down a darker path. It will only lead to self-fulfilling prophesies.