Optimism, Pessimism, Risk, the Precautionary Principle and Trust in Nanotechnology

1
Optimism, Pessimism, Risk, the Precautionary
Principle and Trust in Nanotechnology

• John Weckert
• Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics
• Charles Sturt University
• Australia

2
Hindrances to Scientific/Technological Progress

• Loss of trust
• Trust in science and technology has diminished
  (Onora ONeill)
• Technological disasters (Armin Grunwald)

3
Hindrances to Scientific/Technological Progress

• Ethicists overly negative
• Scientists/technologists overly positive (eg.
  Gannon)

4
Risk

• All technologies have risks
• Calls for completely risk-free technology silly
• How should they be assessed?
• Different sorts of risks
• Nanoparticles, privacy, grey goo

5
The Precautionary Principle

• Where an activity raises threats of harm to the
  environment or human health, precautionary
  measures should be taken even if some cause and
  effect relationships are not full established
  scientifically (Wingspread, 1998)
• If action A has some possibility P of causing
  harmful effect E then apply remedy R

6
The Precautionary Principle in Nanotechnology

• The use of nanoparticles in products will
  possibly damage health.
• Developments in nanoelectronics will endanger
  personal privacy.
• Nanotechnology research will lead to the grey goo
  problem.

7
Two examples

• If (A) the creation of self-replicating nanobots
  has (P) a reasonable chance of (E) leading to the
  grey goo problem then (R) stop the research
• If (A) the development of nanoparticles has (P)
  a reasonable chance of (E) seriously harming
  health then (R) stop the research

8
A Problem

• When should it be applied?
• Early
• Benefits lost
• Harms may not be real
• Late
• Harms may not be avoidable

9
Asbestos

• The evil effects of asbestos dust have also
  instigated a microscopic examination of the
  mineral dust by HM Medical Inspector. Clearly
  revealed was the sharp glass-like jagged nature
  of the particles, and where they are allowed to
  rise and to remain suspended in the air of the
  room in any quantity, the effects have been found
  to be injurious as might have been expected.
• (in a report 1898)

10
The Collingridge Dilemma

• Either a technology is in a relatively early
  stage of development when it is unknown what
  changes should be made, or a technology is in a
  relatively late stage of development when change
  is expensive, difficult and time-consuming.
• If the former, then control is not possible.
• If the latter, then control is not feasible.
• Therefore, either controlling technology is not
  possible, or controlling technology is not
  feasible

11
Another Problem

• To what should it be applied?
• Research
• Publication of results
• Development of the technology
• Use of the technology

12
Trust and the Precautionary Principle

• Not applying it in time can erode trust in
  science/technology
• Calling for it early and often can erode trust in
  those calling for it

13
Trust Relationships

• Scientists and ethicists
• Scientists and public
• Ethicists and public

14
Scientists and Ethicists

• Many developments in nanotechnology will have a
  positive impact
• There is a duty to do good as well as a duty to
  avoid doing harm
• Ethicists should not always be negative

15
Scientists and Public

• Technology optimists also a hindrance to
  scientific and technological progress (Grunwald)
• Public is sceptical about optimistic claims from
  people with vested interests

16
Ethicists and the Public

• Are ethicists being used by scientists to help
  avoid the GMO disaster?
• This perception must be avoided
• The aim of social and ethical examination is not
  (should not be) to help the public to accept it

17
Why is Trust Important?

• Trust as social capital - the ability of people
  to work together for common purposes, in this
  context Like other forms of capital, social
  capital is productive, making possible the
  achievement of certain ends that would not be
  attainable in its absence. ... For example, a
  group whose members manifest trustworthiness and
  place extensive trust in one another will be able
  to accomplish much more than a comparable group
  lacking that trustworthiness and trust (Coleman)

18
Why is Trust Important?

• People who do not trust one another will end up
  cooperating only under a system of formal rules
  and regulations This legal apparatus, serving
  as a substitute for trust, entails what
  economists call transaction costs. Widespread
  distrust in a society, in other words, imposes a
  kind of tax on all forms of economic activity, a
  tax that high-trust societies do not have to pay
  (Fukuyama).

19
Conclusion

• early and open discussion of possible
  technological risks contributestowards upholding
  and strengthening confidence in science and
  technology (Grunwald)
• This will contribute to maximising the benefits
  to society of nanotechnologies