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This is a collection of cases where someone seemingly had a large incentive to pursue a technology, and did not.
These are cases where incentives to pursue a technology were overcome by concerns about downsides not imminently accruing to the decision-maker (e.g. risks to distant people, ethical concerns). These cases are being collected via the Resisted Technological Temptations Project.
Technology | Key Actors | Time Period | Explanation |
---|---|---|---|
Geoengineering | Global Organizations, Large Countries | 19741) / 20062) to Present | scientists' and environmental groups' opposition inhibit experiments needed before implementation |
Nuclear power | Some Countries | 19643) / 19874) / 20115) to Present | political decisions important; local opposition grows to national movement; warning shots |
Vaccine challenge trials, esp for COVID-19 | Pharmaceutical Companies, IRBs | 19746) to Present | asymmetric justice for IRBs slows medical research |
This is a non-exhaustive list of plausible cases that we have not investigated.
(We have not investigated these cases)