Freethinkers' Forum: Should there be ethical limits on science and technology?

Discussion prompt:
From the first stone tools to modern gene editing, human progress has always depended on science and technology. As secular humanists, we tend to celebrate curiosity, discovery, and innovation — but we also recognize that not every scientific advance leads to human flourishing.

Today, emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, and neurotechnology promise to reshape life itself. At the same time, they raise urgent ethical questions about privacy, inequality, and what it means to be human. Even scientific research, when applied to topics like population genetics or intelligence, can have troubling social and political implications.

This a challenge for humanists: Are there ethical limits that should be imposed on the pursuit of science and technology?
Related questions:

• Who decides where those boundaries lie — scientists, policymakers, or society at large?
• Is restricting certain lines of research an act of moral responsibility, or a threat to intellectual freedom?
• Can science truly be “neutral,” or is every experiment shaped by human values and biases?
• What principles — compassion, equity, minimizing harm — should guide decisions about what science should or should not pursue?
• How do secular humanists balance our commitment to knowledge with our concern for the ethical use of that knowledge?

Let’s examine together how a humanist perspective can illuminate the promises and perils of scientific progress — and what moral responsibilities come with the power to shape the future.

You can bring dinner! We are allowed to have food and drink inside the community room at the library (we just can't have heat sources). Since we are meeting around dinner time, we invite people to bring take-out dinner or snacks. We also have the space from 6 pm, so welcome people to come early to socialize before we begin the discussion.

***All participants are asked to familiarize themselves with and agree to follow our code of conduct.

About the group:
The Freethinkers' Forum is a monthly gathering facilitated by the Secular Humanist of the Lowcountry to discuss topics of interest to freethinkers, atheists, agnostics and other non-religious people. The purpose of these gatherings is to foster respectful dialogue of interesting and intellectually stimulating topics. The focus is discussion and so we will not have speakers. We may have brief presentations to introduce topics, but those will be restricted to 15 minutes or less. There may be optional readings or television or film recommendations to stimulate discussion.