Engineering As Social Experimentaion

• All products of Technology present

some

Dangers

and

potential Engineering

therefore is a risky activity • In order to underscore this fact

and

its

ethical

help in exploring

Engineering should as an experimental

implications, be viewed process

• It is not an experiment conducted controlled

at Lab scale under condition but an

experiment on a social scale involving human subjects • Each Engineering Project may be viewed as an E x p e r i m e n

WHAT •

All

EMERGES

Engg

&

IS

Technological

Developments are Experiments on a large scale •

They always remain a source of

Potential

danger

and

are

inherently risky •

As

Engineering

is

mostly

an

experiment process, we need to explore its Ethical implications

LOUIS MARIE HENRI NAVIER SAYS •

To

undertake

especially a means

a

great

work

work of a Novel Type carrying

out

an

Experiment •

It means taking up a struggle

with

the

without the

forces

of

nature

assurance as a V I C

WHY

EXPERIMENTATION IS RISKY ?

• First, any project is carried out in partial Ignorance • Second, afford relevant

engineers to

wait

facts

to

can’t for

all

emerge

•

Third,

relies

effective

upon

engineering

knowledge

gained

about

products both before & after

they

leave the factory

•

Fourth, monitoring is an essential part of this in

order

successful

to

experimentation check

for

performance

unintended side effects

both &

SIMILARITIES 1

WITH

STD EXPTS

Any Project is carried out in partial Ignorance (

Engineers

success

lies

in

accomplishing the task with only a partial knowledge ) 2

Final outcome are greatly uncertain ( Ex : Reservoir may do harm to the social

) •

Fabric or ecosystem ( dams

Nuclear Reactor Leakage

3 Results

in

gaining

new

knowledge and Insight Gaining means

new

knowledge

it would result in a

lot of learning from the past incidents & projects • Unfortunately not so in many c a s e

NOT LEARNING from THE 1 Accidents at unmanned level PAST crossings 2 Bridge Collapse in Wales ( 1966 ) during construction and occurrence of the same again in Australia by the same builder 3 1979 Nuclear Reactor Accident in Three mile Island and thereafter in Japan 4 2003 & 04 : Tunnel collapse in

CONTRASTS WITH STD EXPTS Undoubtedly,

it

differs

from

std

experimentation on few aspects 1) There compare

is

no

control

group

to

with the exptl results

Compare cinema with drama Cinema allows for correction whereas Drama does not That is, experiments are directly taken to the field, tested & results analysed

2) Engineering is an experiment on a

social scale that focuses

on Human

Beings and not on

inanimate objects ( Similar to Medical Testing ) Hence all Human related aspects come

into

Fundamental

fore Rights,

(

Ethics, Harmful

3) All relevant information shall be disseminated voluntarily ( Risks and Benefits ) whether

needed by

public

or not No information can be withheld ( Drastically different

THIS BEING THE REALITY • A Conscientious Engineer should certain need

understand facts and also the for

Special

RESPONSIBILITIES • An awareness that he does not have any

control over the experiment

once the

product / project is given to

the user

Group / Consumer

• Should strive & obtain an Informed consent by providing all pertinent information to make a reasonable decision

( No vital into with held )