We were discussing this topic with my literature teacher. She was saying that it is not ethical to hide your knowledge from the community because all the knowledge belongs to humankind and has to be universal -open to every person- But I think that people should be do whatever they want with their knowledge. We can keep our knowledge to ourselves or share it with others. And both attitude should be ethical.
-Also it is funny for our teacher to defend that idea while giving her knowledge for money-
QuoteBut if you have knowledge that could help the community,
why would you keep it to yourself?
Let me give you an example;
Think that you are an alchemist and you have spent all of your life to find the formula of elixir of life and finally you have suceeded. But you are already 90 years old and your physical condition is awful. The elixir of life does not make you younger It just makes you live forever. Would you give the formula of this elixir to the community who did nothing to deserve it?
Note: This was just an example. I don't think living forever is a good idea.... :scared2: It is a dreadful idea. But people like it.
No you do that working for yourself. Just to know that you can do it.
What would happen if you tell it to community? Again, nothing...
Quote from: DakmorQuoteBut if you have knowledge that could help the community,
why would you keep it to yourself?
Let me give you an example;
Think that you are an alchemist and you have spent all of your life to find the formula of elixir of life and finally you have suceeded. But you are already 90 years old and your physical condition is awful. The elixir of life does not make you younger It just makes you live forever. Would you give the formula of this elixir to the community who did nothing to deserve it?
Note: This was just an example. I don't think living forever is a good idea.... :scared2: It is a dreadful idea. But people like it.
No i wouldn't.Human bodies are not supposed to last forever
That was not my point but still a good reason...
Yes it can be useful for some people but the original question was not is it beneficial for you or for the community the question was is it ethical to hide it from the community. But ethics is a subjective thing...
Knowledge is potential power , if you no something important that others don't it will give you a strong sense of self importance, how you then harness this knowledge might have ethical connatations, it depends on your own character and beliefs, and what it is you know and where you are in the world.
It could be a great technological advance you have developed where ethics are probably not as important as finding sensitive information, if you know someone else's secrets which you believe is ethicaly wrong and is in the public interest for you to reveal.
There is broad spectrum of knowledge that community's don't even understand or want to know
i'm sure your teachers got knowledge on members of the cummunity that she would'nt want to reveal!!
According to the Bush administration, it's absolutely OK not to share any knowledge of important facts. :lol:
haha
"Knowledge is potential power , if you no something important that others don't it will give you a strong sense of self importance."
but of course knowledge should not be distributed just for the sake of personal gain.
I think it all depends on what kind of knowledge you are on about. If it's silly things such as the latest news and views then i guess it wouldn't' matter if you chose to keep it to yourself or if you chose to tell others. However, if the knowledge is something such as the answer to all existence and the meaning of life, then you may choose to tell others of this knowledge but it is most likely they will reject it and ridicule you for it.
Knowledge is potential power , if you no something important that others don't it will give you a strong sense of self importance, how you then harness this knowledge might have ethical connatations, it depends on your own character and beliefs, and what it is you know and where you are in the world.
If someone has knowledge of a new astral projection technique there more than likely to post it into the public domain like on this site, though some would write and sell a book.
If i had knowledge of a terrorist group operating in my town i would call the police, of course it depend's on the type of knowledge!
"However, if the knowledge is something such as the answer to all existence and the meaning of life, then you may choose to tell others of this knowledge but it is most likely they will reject it and ridicule you for it".
I don't think we have examples of this.
Even if someone has made a personal gain in the past the knowledge is ever increasingly transparent and open to the public under the freedom of information act.
ubiq
icub4
i apologize for lack of an example. Though since i typed that last post it did get me thinking.
For example, it was at first ridiculed when it was said that the world is not flat though later on in time it became a well known fact.
Allow me to rephrase what i previously said...they will ridicule you and it may just destroy what physical life you have, though in the future your knowledge will be greatly appreciated but you will not be around to reap the rewards. I guess informing others of great knowledge is a kind of selfless service to humanity and the loss of reputation is seen as a sacrifice on your part. Your own soul thrives from such acts and consequently you are spiritually greatly rewarded.
So i guess any knowledge you have, for the greater good tell anyone you can for it may well be invaluable in the future and you will be doing yourself a deal of good in the long run.
hey,
no apologies needed, though if you were not apologising you would be telling me the meaning of life!, right?
I know what you're saying but the idea that you would be sustaining you're legacy beyond death is related to my original post of the self importance factor for example: if you were to give valuable knowledge away for free and later found that someone else was gathering acclaim for it would you mind? it is the ego that drives individual to create therefore obtaining knowledge, praise and addulation many seek.
To be thought of as a prophet can be a worse path than making a profit.
personally if i ever attained such a great knowledge that it would change the whole perspective of mankind, I would not wish for any reward or recognition. As you said to be thought of as a prophet can be a worse path than making profit.
"if you were to give valuable knowledge away for free and later found that someone else was gathering acclaim for it would you mind?"
I would welcome such a thing. If somebody was recieving all the praise and recognition it would draw attention away from myself and I would be left to live out my life. I believe knowledge should be given for the good of mankind not for the good of ones ego.
Well loppoppy,
i commend you on your beliefs, the problem for me is trust and the people that govern mankind.
I have done some good research in a scientific field and never was upset that the work i had created would be published by an academic who never touched the equiptment that created such results, i knew i had provided the results and the detail, that was enough for me so i agree with you in that sense.
ub
I am glad we have agreed on something. Through this discussion we have come to understand eachother more which is what i aim for in a discussion. I also can have that same problem with some of the people that govern mankind, but at least such a problem teaches us to be careful with what we know and what we do with it.
Humans want "to know" things. It is what drives us and what we seek all day long, everyday. And moreover, we LOVE "to share" our knowledge. That is why we post on forums!! :grin:
Dakmor, was there a particular context for his/her statement? What were you discussing at the time in addition to knowledge?
Just based upon what you said, I would have to agree that it would be unethical to withhold knowledge, if and only if, the knowledge had ethical implications.
In other words, no one cares that I now know how to install a window air conditioner--the hard way :shock: --which I just gained all by myself, thank you very much!!:lol:
But--I may possess information that people would want/need to know.
In addition to my knowledge of how 'not to be Bob Vila', I also happen to possess certain knowledge that will definately have a serious impact on the ethical norms of the world in which we live. Therefore it is "my ethical responsibility" to share that knowledge with whoever wants to know. This responsibility is a very heavy burden to carry, but I take it on willingly (most of the time anyway!) and therefore take the responsibility seriously.
Regarding another issue that you brought up:
Right now you can have access to the knowledge that I possess for free, but when I put the knowledge into print form, I certainly hope to make money from it--primarily so I can continue to make it available in print, but, so what if the sales make more than it costs to produce? I will have made money to cover the countless hours of my time investment and the mental effort to do the research, not to mention the cost of my education that gave me the skills to possess it to begin with. In fact, it would take my selling a lot of copies for me just to break even at this point!
In essence, I have saved my readers a tremendous amount of time, money and effort, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that.
Likewise, I have been more than willing to pay for other people's research so that I can possess the knowledge that they are making available to me.
~Beth