A series of individually innocent actions can combine into a morally outrageous act

Evidence

A science fiction reader reminded me of Asimov’s fa-mous laws governing the conduct of robots. Obviously, in a thoughtful society, one would build a prohibition against killing a human being into the governing program of a robot. In one disconcerting short story, I recall that the author figured out a way that robots could bring about the death of a human being. The programmer simply created a series of apparently innocent steps that brought about a human’s death. For instance, one robot puts rat poison in a container in the tool shed, another robot is told to move the container from the shed to a kitchen shelf, the third robot is told to put a spoon of “sugar” from the container into the victim’s coffee. To return from the fanciful, the general point is that a series of subroutines, each not morally outrageous, can sum to an outrageous act. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4045 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Terror and confusion, not malice, produce the act that makes one a perpetrator. — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide: The Social…, 644; A seemingly innocent act can lead to devastating consequences. — Lynch, Thomas, The undertaking-life studies from the…, 204; A chain of innocent-seeming steps can jointly produce evil — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4045 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• A chain of innocent-seeming steps can jointly produce evil #expands (0.97) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4045