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. But does this mean it has reached people? Does this mean we
can discount the dangers before us?
Knowing is not a rationale for not acting. Can we doubt that knowledge has
become a weapon we wield against ourselves?
The experiences of the atomic scientists clearly show the need to take personal
responsibility, the danger that things will move too fast, and the way in which a
process can take on a life of its own. We can, as they did, create insurmountable
problems in almost no time flat. We must do more thinking up front if we are not
to be similarly surprised and shocked by the consequences of our inventions.
My continuing professional work is on improving the reliability of software.
Software is a tool, and as a toolbuilder I must struggle with the uses to which the
tools I make are put. I have always believed that making software more reliable,
given its many uses, will make the world a safer and better place; if I were to
come to believe the opposite, then I would be morally obligated to stop this work.
I can now imagine such a day may come.
This all leaves me not angry but at least a bit melancholic. Henceforth, for me,
progress will be somewhat bittersweet.
Do you remember the beautiful penultimate scene in Manhattan where Woody
Allen is lying on his couch and talking into a tape recorder? He is writing a short
story about people who are creating unnecessary, neurotic problems for
themselves, because it keeps them from dealing with more unsolvable, terrifying
problems about the universe
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