Incidents like this are starting to make me feel that software engineers should have a code of ethics, similar to the Hippocratic Oath. So technologies aren't abused to marginalize individuals/groups.
Yes. Modern society says that as long as your actions don't harm me, you should be able to do what you wish.
There are some edge-cases, caveats, and exceptions - but that is the essence of modern liberalism.
> How are we supposed to have a stable society when there are no standards by which to live
You are assuming stability is a good thing. Progress is made through instability.
You also assume that stability occurred back when society had standards. A quick look through history doesn't show any evidence of that.
You also assume that stability doesn't harm people. It clearly does. When a society says no deviation is acceptable, the deviants are punished for the "crime" of existing.
> Why shouldn't we discriminate against bad behavior and provide positive feedback for good behavior?
Who decides what is good behaviour and what is bad? Allowing women to receive an education was considered bad behaviour in many societies. But society changes.
Why should my behaviour be punished if it doesn't hurt anyone? Who I love is none of your concern.
No, modern law may strive for this ideal, but society doesn't. Society itself has a social aspect that goes beyond some modern liberalistic ideal. Since people are social and tribal, society will always have standards by which we live by. For example, people walking down the street naked will always be interpreted as crazy, regardless of any harm committed against other people.
> Progress is made through instability.
This depends entirely upon your definition of "progress." I personally don't think of the complete degradation of social standards as a good thing.
> You also assume that stability doesn't harm people. It clearly does.
Real life has winners and losers. Life is a system of inputs and outputs, and social pressure guides people into frameworks that lead to productive behavior in our society. Can they be taken too far? Sure. That, however, does not mean that _all_ social pressures are bad. For example, if a person is shamed for constant novelty-seeking through drinking, partying, and obnoxious behavior, a sense of shame may guide them into a mindset that allows for longer-term planning and goal seeking instead.
I mean sure someone can say this but you can build an ethical existence around things that we believe to be right.
This will exclude certain people. For example it might exclude arms manufacturers. It might exclude the Weinsteins of the world. But that's the point!
If your ethical standard doesn't exclude behavior it's hard for it to have much teeth
As far tech goes I think best would be to follow Stallmann's ethics. They are directly relevant to our work.
This is nonsense. Attorneys, doctors, accountants, and other professions have long had ethical codes. This isn't some impossible task, programmers just don't want the responsibility.
Just its existence is not enough to guarantee that anyone knows or cares about it.
[1]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_harvesting_from_Falun_...
Why are you assuming people's positions on those topics? I've seen people bring them up.
Also, unlike doctors, who are explicitly trusted with human health, programmers are not in any way different from anybody else and it's silly to try to impose a special moral code on them.
There's an argument to be made that modern weapons help keep the peace, exactly like MAD did between the USSR and USA.
Recent history continually shows that advances in military technology causes improvements in combatant/non-combatant casualty ratio. The smarter the bombs and missiles are, the less civilians they kill. Also, operators who only risk drones and not their own lives aren't nearly as trigger happy as pilots. And finally, a conflict between two countries is always more prolonged and bloody when the gap between their technological development and military prowess is smaller. Not to mention that MAD doctrine have prevented cold war from going hot.
So yes, working on all these technologies helps you mention helps humanity and saves lives.