It makes total sense, but who knew that, as mathematician Tom Leinster writes in New Scientist, the NSA claims to be the largest employer of mathematicians in the United States. It may be the largest in the world. In his piece, he calls for mathematicians to get off their butts and begin to discuss no longer cooperating with that giant lawbreaker and snoop of an agency! Good for him! Tom Mathematicians seldom face ethical questions. We enjoy the feeling that what we do is separate from the everyday world. As the number theorist G.H. Hardy wrote in 1940: I have never done anything ‘useful.’ No discovery of mine has made, or is likely to make, directly or indirectly, for good or ill, the least difference to the amenity of the world. That idea is now untenable. Mathematics clearly has practical applications that are highly relevant to the modern world, not least Internet encryption. Our work, then, can be used for both good and ill. Unfortunately for us, it is the latter that is in the public eye. Already unpopular for our role in the banking crash, we now have our largest employer running a system of whole population surveillance that even a judge appointed by George W. Bush called almost Orwellian. So mathematicians must decide: Do we cooperate with the intelligence services or not? slate/articles/health_and_science/new_scientist/2014/04/mathematicians_at_the_nsa_and_gchq_is_it_ethical_to_work_for_spy_agencies.html
Posted on: Mon, 28 Apr 2014 22:12:10 +0000
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