Scientific Progress

[Kevin Gallagher]

Hello Tom,

I do not claim that science is the enemy. It is the opposite. If I believed
science was the enemy I would not be working towards my Ph.D.. I am simply
pointing out that the current system is quite screwed up.

Science is the process by which we discover and understand the truth. In
that form, science is wonderful. However there has been a large switch away
from discovery and towards creating products for wealthy influential
players, at least in the computer science field. The scientific curiosity
has become about what will make money, not what is true.

Additionally, science is not without limits. We, as scientists, cannot
perform experiments that harm people. We also cannot perform experiments
without consent. I would also suggest that our ethics should include
avoiding projects that harm the people, such as creating mass surveillence
systems and facilitating the violation of basic human rights. If we perform
such research, we should also include counter-measures to preserve the
balance of power. Scientific research influences all of society, and should
therefore consider ethics before publication.

In short, science and the scientific process is not truly the enemy.
Currently, however, the system has been corrupted by wealthy players who
abuse it for personal gain.

If you have not read the paper I mentioned in my previous email, I really
do suggest giving it a read. Rogaway argues many different points in the
paper, many of which I haven't covered in my emails.

Kevin Gallagher

On Oct 25, 2016 12:59 AM, "Tom" <tom at vondein.org> wrote:

> On Mon, Oct 24, 2016 at 05:36:30PM -0400, Kevin Gallagher wrote:
> > They are blind enough to believe that their "advances" help society,
> > despite them actually shifting the balance of power away from the people.
>
> The point of science is to find answers to open questions and by doing
> so gain knowledge. Seriously, science is not the enemy. It were not the
> enemy in 1641 and it isn't today.
>
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