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Ethics: Are we misusing the terms "master-slave". Do we even have a community / forum in which we can discuss this?

Philip Oakley
The recent world wide considerations of the diversity challenges in our society has highlighted that we in Engineering can be perpetuating some of the derogatory terms implicit within our use of "Master-Slave" for purely inanimate technical control scenarios. [1 - N]


We have policies on slavery that every volunteer, staff member and Trustee must read and abide to, but it appears we haven't noticed, to any significant extent, our own continued use of "slave" in our writings.


Do we even have a community or forum in which we can discuss this ethical, and publishing issue?


Philip Oakley

[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53273923

[2] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3243656.stm

[3] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-53050955

[4 ] http://www.jstor.com/stable/40061475   "Broken Metaphor: The Master-Slave Analogy in Technical Literature"

[5] https://www.theiet.org/involved/volunteering-for-the-iet/volunteer-hub/our-policies/anti-slavery-policy/


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  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member
    Basically Phil, because we are talking about inanimate objects ?


     Wasn't it engineers who ultimately ended slavery in your context - once the engineers succeeded in getting a ton of welsh anthracite out of the ground economically, built the ships to take it to the plantations economically, built the engines to do mechanical work etc economically ie, at a price less than feeding the workforce then slavery was ended.


    Personally speaking, IET should probably be more concerned with the tech transfer that is enabling modern slavery rather than a whole lot of hand wringing because my great, great , great , great grandad was unpleasant to someone else's great, great, great great grandad and we might be thought of as inherently nasty chaps because we use a master- slave description for inanimate objects that is basically true. eg, my car brake slave cylinders are totally bound to the absolute obedience of the braking master cylinder


    Regards


    OMS
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  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member
    Basically Phil, because we are talking about inanimate objects ?


     Wasn't it engineers who ultimately ended slavery in your context - once the engineers succeeded in getting a ton of welsh anthracite out of the ground economically, built the ships to take it to the plantations economically, built the engines to do mechanical work etc economically ie, at a price less than feeding the workforce then slavery was ended.


    Personally speaking, IET should probably be more concerned with the tech transfer that is enabling modern slavery rather than a whole lot of hand wringing because my great, great , great , great grandad was unpleasant to someone else's great, great, great great grandad and we might be thought of as inherently nasty chaps because we use a master- slave description for inanimate objects that is basically true. eg, my car brake slave cylinders are totally bound to the absolute obedience of the braking master cylinder


    Regards


    OMS
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