Blog 22

                Chapter eight, “Scientific Vices,” of Dr. Pennock’s book is about the importance of a scientist keeping their virtues in balance and not have it in too much or too little of excess in order to not have them become vices. He also discusses what certain virtues becoming vices looks like and the results of having these vices have on the scientific community or on one’s research. The main virtue of Dr. Pennock’s focus is curiosity since it is the pivotal virtue of all other scientific virtues. He shows the destructive effects of when curiosity becomes a vice instead, both mentally for the scientist and on science as a whole. The section that caught my attention the most was “the vice of excess curiosity.” Although the entire reference to Oppenheimer and his reflection on the Gita seemed miss placed in a section about curiosity becoming a vice, it still describes the point that focusing only on one virtue or allowing fulfilling scientific duty to swallow one’s life prevents a scientist from being able to see the consequences of their actions outside of science. Dr. Pennock brings up the idea that it is likely that focusing only on fulfilling one’s curiosity is similar to an addiction such as an eating disorder, which seems probable since for some seeing their consequences and hearing from others that they have an issue does not change their behavior. I also think this addiction to the satisfaction of curiosity can be supplemented if the person believes in the ethical reasoning of deontology. By coupling this ethical logic getting satisfaction of one’s curiosity from doing it, it becomes a complex that is difficult for one to break. Maybe if scientists understand this is idea of addiction to curiosity, they may seek counseling to be able to change if they themselves are like that.

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