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Comment by ryandrake | Hacker News Reader

> Most developers feel that management is ultimately most accountable for unethical results of code. Just under 20% of respondents said that a developer who writes code used for unethical purposes is most responsible.

This kind of surprised me. On the one hand, we complain about being considered code monkeys and mere "implementors," but on the other hand, if we're asked to code something unethical, well "we're just following orders." I personally think we, as a profession, need to kind of grow a backbone and step up our responsibility to no do harm. Ask doctors this survey question and see the wildly different results.

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Human beings have a tendency to overestimate our innate ethical abilities. The Milgram[1] and Stanford Prison[2] experiments are usual examples of how quickly and easily humans devolve into despicable behavior. We really only need a small nudge and most of us end up capable of being Holocaust interment camp guards. Recognizing your own enormous ability for evil is important or else you might easily end up acting on it.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_prison_experiment

You should certainly report it to the appropriate managers. But, ultimately, ethics is highly subjective: and it's not your choice. You've sold your time to the company and have to produce the products it makes: even if you don't like their ads or product. You can say no, they can fire you and hire someone just like you and the product would still get made.

Being a doctor or developer is entirely different. The doctor has much more freedom in deciding a course of action. As a developer you have very little power to decide what get's produced, because it's not your job function: that's what product managers are for.

I think that one result is a bit misleading.

79.6% said they consider the ethical implications of what they are asked to do.

82.3% said they would report ethical concerns in some form.

58.5% said they would refuse to write code they thought was not ethical (36.6% said they are unsure).

Good point. I was also puzzled by that result, given the responses to the question I mentioned. The picture it paints is that software professionals feel their duty is to consider, complain, and (less so) refuse, but ultimately responsibility lies elsewhere.

>>I personally think we, as a profession, need to kind of grow a backbone and step up our responsibility to no do harm.

Not possible in most companies where your career depends being a yes man to the management. You would be surprised how often doing the right thing gets people fired. Of course you could say 'grow spine' or whatever. But you can't suffer for ever in a ecosystem where everything is stacked against you.

At some point in putting food on the table takes precedence.

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