this post was submitted on 24 Oct 2025
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[–] bleistift2@sopuli.xyz -4 points 1 month ago (4 children)

Ethics are worthless if you’re not the one calling the shots. Your only options are doing what you’re told or quitting.

[–] mobotsar@sh.itjust.works 20 points 1 month ago

Sure, but it's important to know when to do what you're told, and when to quit.

[–] SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago

If every engineer was too ethical to create nukes we wouldn't have created nukes

[–] palordrolap@fedia.io 7 points 1 month ago (2 children)

There's at least one other option: Making it look like you're doing what you're told.

[–] pohart@programming.dev 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

My first assignment as a professional programmer I balked at. I said it was "Unethical and immoral." And when they told me I "had to do it" I said that I don't and that they shouldn't find someone else. My boss stepped in, chewed me out and told me to she would do it. Instead of putting her foot down there was just always another priority. It never got done in the ten years of the project.

[–] tomenzgg@midwest.social 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] pohart@programming.dev 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Yeah, I'm not sharing that. I'm fairly sure it was legal, though.

[–] tomenzgg@midwest.social 3 points 1 month ago

Heh, fair enough.

[–] squaresinger@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

The KPI approach.

[–] al_Kaholic@lemmynsfw.com 0 points 1 month ago

You could like murder your boss I guess? Old timey union style?