Science and Ethics

-
At TED 2019 in Vancouver, I facilitated a dinner conversation on science and ethics. A few years ago, I attended a class on bioethics at Stanford and that came handy at the dinner table.  Following are my observations from the dinner:


I started the conversation by asking everyone to solve the trolley problem which is a thought experiment in ethics. Surprisingly, some participants refused to answer the trolley problem question because there is no good answer and that is the whole point. Ethics are hard. 

Then, I asked the participants to define science and explain why they thought it was important to society. Everybody had a different idea about what science is and some were offended by the second part of the question i.e. why is science important. They could not explain it because "it is obvious".
Source: Wikipedia


After we had agreed on what science is and what ethics are, we had a very interesting and wide ranging discussion on CRISPR, gene editing, designer babies, the role of governments in science, etc. The summary is that participants agreed on subtraction with gene editing i.e. in the unborn child, parents can eliminate genes that can cause harm, prevent diseases, etc. The participants also agreed that addition with gene editing should not be allowed i.e. in the unborn child, parents can not make changes in genes that cause the child to be seven-foot tall, have blue eyes and blonde hair, etc. 

If you dig deeper into addition and subtraction with gene editing, it would be difficult to know where to draw the line. Do we trust our governments enough to know where to draw the line? 


Popular posts from this blog

Marry the best who will have you and other wisdom from Munger and Buffett

-
I spent the last weekend in Omaha, Nebraska with two of the my heroes- Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett . After attending the Berkshire Hathaway (BH) for a few years, I still get amazed how a shareholder meeting attracts 40,000+ people and the meeting is about two guys having fun. Everyone else  enjoys watching them have fun. The format is six hours of open Q&A. There is no preparation by Munger and Buffett. Anyone can ask anything about anything expect what BH is going to buy/sell next. You will see it in the notes  that a wide variety of topics are covered. Notes from previous years are available here . The David Sokol issue was covered by Buffett and that part of the meeting has been recorded so I have not covered it in my notes. You can see it here. Munger talked more this year compared to previous years. I just love this man. He is brilliant! Following are my random notes from the meeting: Buffett does two things in his job- 1) keep operating manag...
Read more

Obituary: Charles T. Munger

-
Image
My hero, Charlie Munger , passed away on November 28th, 2023. He was 99 years old.  I met Munger in 2007 at my first Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting . It was admiration at first few words. I liked his depth of understanding in multiple domains, his honesty, and his willingness to share his wisdom. Since then I have read all his available writings and seen him many times in Omaha or Los Angeles at various shareholder meetings. He profoundly influenced Warren Buffett and the entire investing and business world. The world has lost a great leader, thinker, and teacher.  Munger's response to my letter      Since meeting Munger, I continue to learn from him and share what I am learning.  Following are a few Munger teachings that have become my habits:  1. Inversion: When you want to solve a problem, start with inverting the problem. For example, if you have to figure out how to keep the airplanes safe, work on figuring out how they can crash...
Read more

Systems Thinking as taught by Ackoff

-
One of my heroes is Dr. Russell Ackoff . I have read a few books he has written and have learned Systems Thinking from him. I am surprised that the field of Systems Thinking is not well understood. Following is my attempt to share what I learned from one of Ackoff's recent lectures. Albert Einstein once said, "You can't solve a problem with the same mind that created it." According to Dr. Russell Ackoff most managers agree with Einstein's statement but not many know what it means. It is easy to agree with something whose meaning is vague. In the Renaissance era, when the science as we know it today was born, a scientific inquiry method called Analysis was developed. Analysis comes naturally to us. Just watch kids breaking new things and being curious about the parts. The understanding of something follows a three step process in analytical thinking: 1. Take it apart 2. Understand (function, role, behavior) what the parts do 3. Assemble the understanding of the pa...
Read more