Got into a discussion with members at AID about Genetic Engineering; it was about whether one should support it or not. There were several aspects that were discussed; the question according to me is not about GE but about issues that NGOs have to pick up in general.
I will re-state a few salient aspects as points:
1. Science is often mis-aligned for profit. Science needs to have experimental
rigor and business ethics should be sound.
2. Science should have solutions that are reversible. Think harmful
gas leaks without medication in neighboring hospitals (Dow/Bhopal, industrial
effluents, Agent Orange).
3. Historically, when technology or a line of thought removes choice,
it is harmful.
This is not just about science. Its effects are more easily
understood in social problems. Think Mangalore - removal of choices for women etc.
4. No amount of testing is sufficient testing. Errors happen, and that is
acceptable. Hence, technologies must balance 1, 2, and 3 so as to
allow correctable and gradual acceptance.
As users of advanced technology, and more because we are NOGs, we have to
be aware of these aspects, and be clear about why a certain technology should,
or should not be supported. We cannot have ad-hoc approaches to each problem.
Generally, I am not against a particular technology, and that includes GE. But I would be most comfortable with a technology that supports these tenets.
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Beg to differ. Please don't mix up 'science' with 'applications'.
Science is merely a system of observation and understanding without bias. Science only results in Theories. Not products.
However, as soon as something is discovered, it is man's greed that results in run-away exploitation. That isn't science's fault. GE is 'application' (Engineering is application of Science). GE is not science by itself. They might make minor discoveries here and there during their course of action, but GE is ultimately an engineering task springing from greed. GE is based on a more fundamental Scientific discovery (Genetics) whose purpose was merely to understand the origin and diversity of species.
That said, I do agree with you that 'ethics' needs to be part of businesses. Unfortunately, it is not. It will not be. A corporation is a legal 'person'. However, its a person not bounded by the ethics of a living human being. A corporation can pollute and use force to even control people. If a real person did it, he'd be called a tyrant. (I highly recommend the documentary movie "The Corporation")
Suffering has been happening since centuries. What caused the suffering arising from the Caste system? What about the blinded disconnect from man's environment produced by the various religions of the world using the promise of heaven for conformance and threat of hell for critical thinking (and thereby non-conformance)?
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