Andrew Gray wrote:
2008/10/2 Newyorkbrad (Wikipedia)
<newyorkbrad(a)gmail.com>om>:
There is, or certainly should be, at a minimum, a
policy and spirit of "do
no UNNECESSARY or UNJUSTIFIED harm." And I believe that in fact, there is.
Of course, it's the question of what is unnecessary or unjustified that
raises the most serious ethical quandaries.
"Do no harm for the sake of doing harm" covers it, I suppose.
But then, that falls under the all-time number-one guideline in this
field: "don't be a dick"...
Actually, historically, "don't be such a cunt" trumps that
easily. We really don't need to get into measurement
contests, nor irritation contests, nor "bon mot" contests.
Really that furthers nothing. And I explicitly include here
contests on who can be more aggrieved or insulted by
verbiage on the mailing lists. Come on, be adults.
Yours,
Jussi-Ville Heiskanen