zlacker

>>pseudo+(OP)
I don't know enough to agree or disagree, but to me having academics even ask questions on the ethics of their work is the most important thing; if one's work affects the real world then you can't duck responsibility for it.

>>throwa+Fe
That responsibility includes helping the police (and others) do their jobs well. It's just as much about participation as it is non-participation.

>>jariel+is
Well, as a mathematician (or I think, more accurately in the context this article is talking about, a statistician). You do have a responsibility to make sure you work is used honestly and correctly. If someone is taking findings and tools you've developed and misapplying them to make the world less just then you need to take a stand and make sure they're used properly.

Also I think the US has a real problem with valuing personal well being over societal well being somehow being warped into being a virtue. If you cheat on your taxes and manage to save 5$ while depriving the US Government of 20$ then you're a hero - this slippery slope has led acting in a morally grey manner for your own benefit being seen as a strength which makes it much more societally acceptable for people who contribute to systems of oppression (facial recognition and people tracking, supporting the spread of disinformation, helping to erase painful truths from public consciousness) to be viewed as "winners" so long as they walk away with a fat check.

It's hard for me to tell if this has always been a valued virtue, but having grown up in the US it certainly was an apparent virtue that I was imbued with - somehow we need to work at changing that.