To say a scientist is not at all responsible is wrong. But to say that someone who invents a piece of knowledge or technology is responsible for all future uses is ridiculous. It doesn't have to be that binary.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Scientists surely have a special responsibility. It is their ideas that form the basis of new technology. They should not be indifferent to the fruits of their ideas. They should forgo experiments that are risky or unethical.
Others think it the responsibility of scientists to coerce the rest of society, because they have the power that derives from special knowledge.
Though neglectful of their responsibility to protect science, scientists are increasingly aware of their responsibility to society.
Just because scientists have the knowledge to do it, the technology to do it, and some may even have a financial motive or other incentive to do it, does not make it right.
I love technology, and I love science. It's just always all in the way you use it. So there's no - you can't really blame anything on the technology. It's just the way people use it, and it always has been.
I've reached the age of self-knowledge, so I don't know anything. People who claim that they know something are responsible for most of the fuss in the world.
Perhaps it is better to be irresponsible and right, than to be responsible and wrong.
There is not much that even the most socially responsible scientists can do as individuals, or even as a group, about the social consequences of their activities.
I think it's important for scientists to be a bit less arrogant, a bit more humble, recognising we are capable of making mistakes and being fallacious - which is increasingly serious in a society where our work may have unpredictable consequences.
Science, as everyone knows, is responsible, moderate, unsentimental, and otherwise good.