Comments on: Not Taking Responsibility

By: clm

clm — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 22:10:53 +0000

@Jacob Stein: Actually, it didn’t work as well as people like to paint it. We simply know more today, interact with a larger portion of the population, etc, etc. Regardless, the world has moved on and trying to turn us back to a time (when it was also near-acceptable to beat your wife) is like asking a bullet-train to make a U-turn. The momentum of human society is not something that is very well controlled, much less reversed.

Besides, this is a science blog, we should be talking about scientific solutions, not authoritarian or subjectively moral solutions

By: dh

dh — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 04:24:06 +0000

“the postcard approach makes me feel like we as a society are saying that it is ok for people to disregard personal responsibility.”

This really shouldn’t be surprising. More and more as a society we are disregarding personal responsibility and accountability about everything. We can thank the lawyers and the gov’t (probably more the democrats but certainly not exclusively) for that. It’s very unfortunate and sad but, unless we somehow fundamentally change the entitlement and victim mentality of our society, it’s only going to get worse.

By: Jacob Stein

Jacob Stein — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:22:57 +0000

How about telling people not to have sex unless they’re married? That seemed to work pretty well up until about 1960.

By: Corey J Feldman

Corey J Feldman — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 13:55:44 +0000

I think it is a complicated issue but basically I am for it. It reminds me of Sex Ed. While I can see why many parents do not want it taught in school, it is more important that our children aren’t harmed by ignorance. Same thing with STD’s. The longer an STD goes untreated/detected, the more damage and possible other infections can occur. I wish we lived in a world where people owned up to their responsibilities. While I do think the stigma of STDs is an added factor in people’s reluctance to directly contact people they may have infected, I don’t think it is the only issue. Some people fear confrontation, some just can’t take ownership for their actions. Unfortunately people don’t always do the right thing. Think of how many people scratch or dent a car in a parking lot and drive off without leaving a note or how many people flee the scene of a traffic accident. I do think we need to take a look at our sexual mores and associated stigmas as a society. But more importantly we need to create a society that values taking responsibility for your actions. While anonymous notifications systems enable people avoid personal responsibility, I would rather have that and save the lives and/or reproductive futures.

By: Jeremy Langley

Jeremy Langley — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:41:19 +0000

Are you asking about a moral value system which doesn’t come from the individual’s desires?

By: alloycowboy

alloycowboy — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:03:45 +0000

Oh wow you really opened a can of worms.

Never mind the post card. The problem is worse then that. The aids virus is 10 microns in diameter. The average pour in a latex condom is 80 microns. It’s like throwing a BB through a chain link fence. In the real world Condoms have a failure rate between 10-20%. So basicly it’s like playing russian roulette with latex. On top of that alot of STD’s are transmitted by skin to skin contact which condoms have no effect on what so ever. In 2001 the CDC estimated that 1-5 people 19-35 had at least one STD. However various reports on HPV (Human papillomavirus) expect the infection to top out at about 80% of the population. So if that is any indicator where infection rates are head for other STD’s it is going to get real ugly.

So the question is how ethical is it to tell the world condoms will keep you safe from STD’s when the statisics show other wise?

By: Jim Dittmer

Jim Dittmer — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:01:54 +0000

The classic conflict between morality and efficacy. Do we push for personal responsibly and “moral” behavior at the risk of endangering another person? Do schools teach “abstinence only” even as teenage birthrates climb? Do cities abandon needle exchange and free condom programs at the risk of spreading HIV? Isn’t the question really, what is the responsibility of organizations in the implementation of moral behavior? We need to encourage individuals to act in a socially/morally responsible way; institutions need to act in an efficient, effective, and expedient manner.

By: Podblack

Podblack — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:53:20 +0000

… and a hundred thousand postmasters go home with a very graphically good idea of who is up to what and getting wergrhrhhh!! with who…

By: EP of the Intraweb

EP of the Intraweb — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:17:20 +0000

We should be open and honest about sex and health, but for a variety of reasons some people will be reluctant to deliver the news to old partners. The intent of the postcards is quite noble, but it gives rise to the problems that accompany anonymity.

Here are some quick ideas for misuse:

- Send an erroneous notice to an Ex you are want vengeance on
-Send a notice to someone from an email address that is not yours
- Send the notice to the wrong email address

There are no controls in place to ensure that the one sending the postcard has a bonafide STD to warn others of, that the others one warns were sexual partners, or that you are who you say you are. Receiving an (errant) notice will be seen by a current partner as evidence of a sexual relationship that may never have taken place. Imagine if a spouse of 10 years finds such a message in the other spouse’s Inbox.

Its a nice idea, but relationships and sex being the matter it is, we could see some interesting misuse.

I swear, I did not have sex with Miss Lewinsky!

By: Serafina

Serafina — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 19:58:06 +0000

“we as a society are saying that it is ok for people to disregard personal responsibility.”

I think the postcard approach is promoting responsibility. Especially since the alternative for most people using the service would be to not inform their partners at all.

Why does anonymity negate responsibility?

Of course, ideally, people would be comfortable talking about these things face to face, but it’s a baby step in the right direction, I think.