It should be noted that no ethically-trained software engineer would ever consent to write a “DestroyBaghdad” procedure. Basic professional ethics would instead require him to write a “DestroyCity” procedure, to which “Baghdad” could be given as a parameter.
Nathaniel Borenstein (b. 1957) American research scientist, programmer, writer
“Computational Mail as Network Infrastructure for Computer-Supported Cooperative Work,” Footnote 1 (1992)
Quotations by:
Borenstein, Nathaniel
The most likely way for the world to be destroyed, most experts agree, is by accident. That’s where we come in; we’re computer professionals. We cause accidents.
Nathaniel Borenstein (b. 1957) American research scientist, programmer, writer
Programming As If People Mattered (1991)
Originally a classroom comment, c. 1985, while teaching at Carnegie-Mellon University.