Thursday, March 30, 2006
Sorry... Not my problem.
Last week I listened to a lecture on moral responsibility in my ethics class (yes, I know it would seem that my last few entries have been about university, but this one just uses the lecture as a springboard. Promise...)
You see, they're trying to teach us all kinds of useful skills in ethics that we'll need when we become real-life engineers: when to say what to whom that you might escape blame (or that you may even be hailed as a hero), what's the least you can do and still get away with...
We were told of a case where a farmer built himself a dam, but unbeknownst to him, an old mine connected his dam to another man's land. When he filled his dam, the other man's land flooded, destroying whatever he had growing there. The courts (yes, they involved the bloody courts!) ruled that the man who built the dam was responsible for the damage, even though he had no way of knowing that there was an ancient connection between his land and the other man's.
I know I'm not the only human being on the planet who feels this way, but lately I've been wondering what's happened to people's sense of honour.
What did they need the courts for?
Whatever happened to: “Listen, I'm sorry man, I had no idea that the water could get to your land.”
“I understand, but listen: The crops I had planted there are ruined. Could you help me drain the land, plant new crops and maybe help me out with food til I can get back on my feet?”
“Yeah, sure.”
It's that bloody simple! But instead, it would seem, the modern translation to the last sentence is: “It's not my problem.”
Why is it that so many people nowadays need to be told what they are and are not responsible for? I can understand that the world will always have their one or two people that don't feel obligated to fix their own mistakes, but from where I'm sitting, the great majority of people need codes, documents, standards and authorities to tell them when they need to fix what they broke and when they're allowed to get away with it.
You see, they're trying to teach us all kinds of useful skills in ethics that we'll need when we become real-life engineers: when to say what to whom that you might escape blame (or that you may even be hailed as a hero), what's the least you can do and still get away with...
We were told of a case where a farmer built himself a dam, but unbeknownst to him, an old mine connected his dam to another man's land. When he filled his dam, the other man's land flooded, destroying whatever he had growing there. The courts (yes, they involved the bloody courts!) ruled that the man who built the dam was responsible for the damage, even though he had no way of knowing that there was an ancient connection between his land and the other man's.
I know I'm not the only human being on the planet who feels this way, but lately I've been wondering what's happened to people's sense of honour.
What did they need the courts for?
Whatever happened to: “Listen, I'm sorry man, I had no idea that the water could get to your land.”
“I understand, but listen: The crops I had planted there are ruined. Could you help me drain the land, plant new crops and maybe help me out with food til I can get back on my feet?”
“Yeah, sure.”
It's that bloody simple! But instead, it would seem, the modern translation to the last sentence is: “It's not my problem.”
Why is it that so many people nowadays need to be told what they are and are not responsible for? I can understand that the world will always have their one or two people that don't feel obligated to fix their own mistakes, but from where I'm sitting, the great majority of people need codes, documents, standards and authorities to tell them when they need to fix what they broke and when they're allowed to get away with it.
