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Discussion on: What should be in the software developers 'Hippocratic Oath'?

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omawhite profile image
Omar White

This seems like an interesting idea, but I’m not sure if it would be viable. Like how would you set this up and then hold people to it.

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ardennl profile image
Arden de Raaij • Edited

To be honest, I don't think it's viable either. There's a fundamental difference between the medical field and the technical. Nobody wants their surgeon to be an autodidact who mostly learned by watching youtube video's and crashing a few of their first startups. Or can you image your physician being hired because they had some really interesting side-projects? We want all the insurances and credentials we can get with whoever treats us.

In development there's no oath that could be invoked or no license that could be revoked. It's a different situation.

But nonetheless, I think the idea is nice. If a doctor is asked to do something unethical by their boss, like subscribing too much addictive pills, they are supposed to speak up. If a developer is asked to make highly addictive notifications, shouldn't they speak up as well? (this might be a bad analogy...).

Anyway, it's more of a thought exercise than anything else. So let's say it would be viable, do you have any ideas on what should be in it?

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omawhite profile image
Omar White

I don’t think I could have put this better myself. Though I can’t think of too many specifics off the top of my head. I think securing and respecting user data/privacy would be an important part of the oath.

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bgadrian profile image
Adrian B.G.

To be honest, I don't think it's viable either. There's a fundamental difference between the medical field and the technical. Nobody wants their surgeon to be an autodidact who mostly learned by watching youtube video's and crashing a few of their first startups. Or can you image your physician being hired because they had some really interesting side-projects?

Nobody wants but if the employer would have a choice or the laws would restrict it for practicing until he got a license it would be possible.

Even nowday you can compare a street "dentist" from India to an US private office dentist, they both repair teeth, probably just one of them went to a proper school, only one of them would be hired by a hospital.