Social problems with Europe’s Plan to Simulate the Entire Planet

A very interesting article was published recently by MIT that outlines a rather ambitious (and apparently well meaning) plan: to create a model of the entire planet in real time.

Link: http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/25126/?a=f

The idea is to “create a kind of Manahattan project to study, understand and tackle these techno-socio-economic-environmental issues. His plan is to gather data about the planet in unheard of detail, use it to simulate the behaviour of entire economies and then to predict and prevent crises from emerging..”

While I certainly support this academic pursuit, which also addresses the need to know how various seemingly disparate events are intertwined by some obvious and some heuristic connections, I am concerned about the effects this “knowledge” could have on our behavior and on the society.

It is what we do with the knowledge that often spells the difference between whether it’s a boon for the civilization or a curse. You might guess where I am going with it: the discovery of atomic bomb. The men and women in lab coats were responsible to study the phenomenon that caused this reaction, which emanated an energy that could be harnessed. And this is where their scientific responsibility ended. Or did it? The fact that their research was used to exterminate millions of innocent humans in Heroshima and Nagasaki, does it in any way make them culpable?

I can’t answer this, except to suggest that there is no single answer. It is for the society to determine this, and unfortunately, the debate often gets raged after a abuse has already happened.

Some readers might remember another study that was published before the Second World War, that discussed the notion of a superior race. Those who had the misfortune to fall outside the circle were considered burden on the society and a strong argument was made that for the human race was to flourish, it may be better off if the “undesirables” did not have a role to play in it.

This, of course, is a distorted logic which goes against our moral and social conscience. But whether we like it or not, whether we realize it or not, whether we speak against it or not, we (the collective “we”) do stand as witness of how this mindset gets applied.

Coming back to the European study: there is no way for scientists to determine how their findings would be used. But I am afraid of that group, maybe some rogue members, or some with vested interests, or with a point to prove, or with a score to settle – maybe someone would convert that knowledge into an action that we’ll all regret.

I sincerely hope that day never arrives.