Ask HN: Why would weapons research be a bad thing? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Why would weapons research be a bad thing?

3 pointssillysaurus35 comments

In the thread about YC's investment of Helion, there was an interesting sub-topic: the fear that the founding team might pivot into weapons research. People have expressed concern that it might be risky for an investment firm to be investing in weapons research because it might harm their halo effect.

I don't understand why weapons research would even slightly diminish an investment firm's halo effect. More than that, I don't understand how weapons research could ever be anything but a positive thing. Societies with fierce weapons are empirically safer than those with outdated weapons.

I thought this would be an interesting topic for discussion, and since it's offtopic for the original thread, I figured I'd make an Ask HN about it. I'm quite open to being persuaded.

>Societies with fierce weapons are empirically safer than those with outdated weapons.

I think weapons are only relevant to safety when they're used, or when the threat of their use is plausible. More modern weapons with their greater killing power make the society using them safer, but only when they're being used against other societies, with a certain distance. Used domestically, and with the possibility of retaliation, not so much.

"Societies with fierce weapons are empirically safer than those with outdated weapons."

Here is a gedanken experiment:

Assume that YC decides to invest in SunniTech, a startup that does research into sustainable, ecologically friendly, easy to make, pastel coloured, child friendly and highly lethal briefcase H-bombs for use by Hamas.

Describe in 10 words or less, the impact of this hypothetical decision on :

1. your view of YC

2. the political fall out

3. the regulatory and legal ramifications.

For me, it's a matter of ethics. I would be spending time/money on figuring out better ways to destroy things or kill people. I'm not sure I could sleep well knowing that.

"Societies with fierce weapons are empirically safer than those with outdated weapons" - correlation does not imply causation.

c.f. the old Heinlein canard about how 'an armed society is a polite society'.

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