Thread by @AcademicAutism

All this #StopSpectrum10K talk has brought up some feelings I've had doing research.

A thread🧵...

Research is tricky because most, if not all, of it can lead to terrible things if put into the wrong hands.
But the question is: how bad are the things that could happen and can they outweigh the good?
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In the case of #Spectrum10K, I believe the bad is too great to continue this work. Collecting generic information about where autism comes from has a clear connection to eugenics--something autism has already seen plenty of in the past (see: Asperger's work; anti-vaxxers)
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Oppenheimer is also famously known for deeply regretting his work on the Manhattan Project. He saw what his research can do, did it anyway, and regretted it in the end
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But I wonder often about the work where people don't see the bad use cases right away or it is not high-profile enough for people to notice and point things out
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Or if you can see the negative use cases (like in military-funded research), do you continue on--not so much for the sake "of knowledge" but so that you get funding for your work--knowing that the military or whatever has direct access to this?
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I just saw The Wind Rises, which actually started to address this and then didn't give a conclusion.
(For those who haven't seen it, it's a movie about an engineer who is passionate about making airplanes. He ends up making them for the military for use in WWII)
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He furthered aviation, which has so many positive uses, but they were directly used for bombing people. But if he didn't work with the military, he would've never have made planes. Was his decision correct? Were those innocent lives worth it so that we can travel the world?
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Probably not. But also where would we be without his work? (This was a real guy BTW)
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Anyway, I don't see any directly terrible consequences of my own personal research, but the military has funded my work (mostly for training people but they wouldn't be able to use it any time soon anyway).
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I can keep talking about this, but the main points I think I want to make is that:
1) it is vitality important that we as researcher consider how our work can be used for evil (many don't think about it)
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And 2) We need more resources devoted to research so we're not always relying on questionable sources and whatever uses they have in mind.

I don't have all the answers, but I'm happy to talk more about this.
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*genetic information 😖

Update. I spoke to my spouse about this and they said I can tweet this great point:
3) If the research is going to happen anyway, it's best to have a careful, conscientious team who you know is going to do it *right*.