Anyway, setting aside the ethical concerns, it seems perfectly clear that "setting aside the ethical concerns" is *precisely* the problem.
It is what got us in to this nightmare, and it is what is keeping us in this nightmare.
Please stop pretending that "setting aside the ethical concerns" is anything but a verbal signal indicating one's unwillingness to take personal responsibility for one's actions.
@sakhavi @GeePawHill Among others, people who want to talk about some aspect of a thing that has ethical concerns other than the ethical concerns
(I'm not disputing that "setting aside the ethical concerns" can be abused, but it does have legitimate uses.)
@barbra @sakhavi @GeePawHill First a caveat: I've seen many cases where that kind of response comes from someone who is not actually open to being educated. I hope that's not the case here.
"Setting aside the ethical concerns of the pollution caused by internal combustion engines, they're not an economically efficient way to move people around."
or
"Setting aside the ethical concerns of the loss of privacy that would come from proving P=NP, it would be a huge boon to mathematical research."
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What does "setting aside ethical concerns" mean to you? It might be easy to clear this up by comparing our understandings of the phrase.
I *still* don’t have to set aside ethical concerns! Those examples would be better served by “Cars are economically inefficient … they also …” or “Balancing damage P=NP might do to X with advantages to Y” etc.
The _phrase_ “setting aside ethical concerns” is only needed to normalize setting aside ethical concerns. Using it even when you don’t mean to set them aside gives cover to those who do. In a small way, but the effort of rephrasing is also small.
@clew @diazona @sakhavi @GeePawHill
The worst part about gas-powered vehicles is that at the beginning of the previous century auto manufacturers bought up and closed many bus and streetcar companies and closed them, forcing the public to buy has-powered automobiles. So the auto manufacturers did what became a habit - setting aside ethical concerns to further their own interests.
It's pretty obvious "setting aside ethical concerns" is just an excuse to screw others over.
GeePawHill
Sasha Akhavi
David Zaslavsky
barbra
clew