The Good Life

Hi, my name is Richard, and I’m here today to talk to you about what is best in life.

(SLOW DOWN)

A bit about my background: I started out at university studying mechanical engineering, which I hated. I switched to studying philosophy, which I loved. Now it's more than ten years later, and my official job title is front end engineer. Go figure.

So I'm a front-end engineer these days, but I usually refer to myself as a developer. I've always felt a bit uncomfortable with the title of engineer, though I couldn't really put my finger on why. Maybe it felt a bit like I was claiming some sort of prestige that I hadn't earned?

I didn't complete my engineering degree or study computer science: I'm mostly self-taught. I like to think I’m pretty good at my job, but I still feel like I'm hacking stuff together a lot of the time.

#ObligatorySpaceJam

#StickySituation

#TooSoon

“What is best?”: Both spaces AND tabs, on alternating lines
“What is the good life?”: Spending the entire sprint refactoring your teammates' code
“How should I live?”: Outsource your job to India and spend all day on TikTok
“How should I behave towards other people?”: Interrupt them when they have their headphones on
“What is the purpose of life?”: Replacing everything with JavaScript

Ethics can provide a moral framework

Moral issues can get us pretty worked up: Think of abortion and euthanasia, for starters. Because these are such emotional issues, we often let our hearts do the arguing, while our brains just go with the flow.

But there are other ways of tackling these issues, and that's where philosophers can come in. They offer us ethical rules and principles, that enable us to take a cooler view of moral problems.

So, much like React provides us with a framework to help us handle DOM interactions, ethics provides us with a moral framework that we can use to find our way through difficult issues.

And just as we have many different competing JavaScript frameworks like Vue, Angular, or Svelte, there are many different moral theories like consequentialism, deontology, or virtue ethics.

Learning about these different frameworks can help you better understand the way you think about morality, but it's not necessary for us to go into them in-depth in order to be able to tell right from wrong.

🛠

9 out of 10 people would
throw the switch,

🙅‍♂️

but only 1 in 10 people would
push the large man.

moralmachine.mit.edu

"Dogs > Criminals > Cats" - MIT

😿

"Male Doctor > Female Doctor" - MIT

Volkswagen modified 11 million cars with software that would detect when they were being tested, and change performance to pass emissions tests.

As a result, these engines emitted nitrogen oxide pollutants up to 40 times above what is allowed by US emissions standards.

Air pollution causes 40,000 early deaths per year in the UK alone.

In August 2017, a former Volkswagen engineer was sentenced to three years in prison and fined $200,000 for his part in the scandal. Several others are still facing charges.

GOOD

‘“Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down? That's not my department,” says Wernher von Braun.’ — Tom Lehrer

Nobody is exempt from having to behave ethically

Use reminders
to help developers make
ethical decisions

Establish
codes of ethics

Code of Ethics of the American Society of Civil Engineers

Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public and shall strive to comply with the principles of sustainable development in the performance of their professional duties.

Engineers shall perform services only in areas of their competence.

Engineers shall issue public statements only in an objective and truthful manner.

Engineers shall act in professional matters for each employer or client as faithful agents or trustees, and shall avoid conflicts of interest.

Engineers shall build their professional reputation on the merit of their services and shall not compete unfairly with others.

Engineers shall act in such a manner as to uphold and enhance the honor, integrity, and dignity of the engineering profession and shall act with zero-tolerance for bribery, fraud, and corruption.

Engineers shall continue their professional development throughout their careers, and shall provide opportunities for the professional development of those engineers under their supervision.

Computing codes of ethics:

Association for Computer Machinery
Australian Computer Society
British Computer Society
Computer Ethics Institute

Source: Patricia Realini - JSConf EU 2018

Communicate expectations

Empower developers
to feel able to say no

A few years ago, I was working for a consultancy, who assigned me to a website project for a client I didn't approve of. But I got so invested in solving the technical aspects of the project, that I didn't stop to think about whether I was morally okay with working for this client, until I was already deeply invested. I moaned about the client to some colleagues, and they told me, if you didn't want to work for this client, that's fine, but you should have said something at the start of this project.

It made me realise that it was okay to say no to client projects, but also that the appropriate time to do that is before you start work. The later you leave it, the harder it is to say no.

The next time a dodgy client came along, I felt more comfortable expressing my concerns up-front, and we ended up turning down the client.

Whistleblowing

On a related note: If you speak up about ethically dubious practices at your workplace and your employer doesn't listen, you may have a duty to report it to the authorities or otherwise make it public!

A basic dilemma in engineering ethics is that an engineer has a duty to their client or employer, but an even greater duty to report a possible risk to others from a client or employer failing to follow the engineer's directions.

A classic example of this is the Challenger Space Shuttle Disaster. NASA engineers raised warnings about faulty O-rings in the boosters, and the dangers posed by the low temperatures on the morning of the launch, but managers disregarded these warnings, and failed to adequately report these technical concerns to their superiors.

It was later argued that in these circumstances, the engineers had had a duty to circumvent their managers and shout about the dangers until they were heard.

Ethics checks

🐒

Would you be happy for everyone to know
the decision you’ve made?

🤖

Do you think the consequences are acceptable?

🤔

Would you recommend the same course
of action to others?

So you've got the first one here, which I think is quite a monkey brain question, it's a good one for triggering emotional reactions like shame.

So for example, if you're considering being lazy about making your website accessible, imagine there's a disabled person sitting next to you, and think about whether you'd feel comfortable explaining your code choices to them.

The second one seems designed to trigger more of a consequentialist response. It's maybe a bit of a rationalist, robot-brained approach?

The last one reminds of Immanuel Kant's categorical imperative, that you should only do something if you'd be okay with it being a universal law. So that's cool too, if Kant's your thing.

I think these are a great start, but feel free to build off them or tailor them to your own work.

Encourage developers
to meet users

This is just the beginning

Thanks!

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