Facing up to Complexity: Implications for Our Social Experiments.
SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING ETHICS 2016;
22:775-814. [PMID:
26062747 DOI:
10.1007/s11948-015-9657-x]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2014] [Accepted: 05/21/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Biological systems are highly complex, and for this reason there is a considerable degree of uncertainty as to the consequences of making significant interventions into their workings. Since a number of new technologies are already impinging on living systems, including our bodies, many of us have become participants in large-scale "social experiments". I will discuss biological complexity and its relevance to the technologies that brought us BSE/vCJD and the controversy over GM foods. Then I will consider some of the complexities of our social dynamics, and argue for making a shift from using the precautionary principle to employing the approach of evaluating the introduction of new technologies by conceiving of them as social experiments.
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