The Atomic Bomb? Weapons in general. Nuclear power with no solution for radioactive byproducts? Nerve gases? Biological weapons? Human cloning? Vivisection? Mistreatment of test subjects? Etc. Etc. Obviously research - as with many other activities - can be harmful. Implication: society must set limits on what researchers can do. "Academic freedom" has always been bounded. Limits have been set; many think no where near enough; they will continue to be set.

Dear Erik,

Yes, it can. If it later leads to harmful political, public administration or economical decision (based on this research), it can be harmful. For instance, a decision, which worships economical efficiency against environmental protection, economical/versus/social, etc. Also it can have ideological implications, which in their turn can affect certain moral-psychological values.

About freedom? What freedom and for what?

Dear Eric Nkansah Opoku,

The answer to the question if research can be harmful will depend upon the purpose of the research, i.e it depends on for what purpose the research is conducted.

Best Regards

Desalegn Abraha

@Arvydas Guogis

By academic freedom, I mean the freedom to teach, study, and pursue knowledge and research in a professionally appropriate manner without unreasonable interference or restriction from law, institutional regulations, or public pressure etc

The thing is, Eric, that folks differ over what constitutes unreasonable interference or restriction. Thus, inevitably, both will be the outcome of political processes through which people deal with their differences. Indeed, it is often the case that perfectly logical reasons are offered on both sides of debates about "interference or restrictions", in which case the issues are settled not on logical but on political grounds, based on the values underlying the politics involved. Think, for example, about the debate over the use of stem cells from aborted fetal tissue. Those scientists who wish to have access to such cells have one set of logical arguments about their value in developing new understandings and cures for illnesses; those opposed have another set based on their opposition to abortion, which is, in turned, based on proclaimed religious values. They differences are not on the basis of logic but on underlying values and priorities among values.

Firstly, some researches have harms associated with them. Researching among criminals is inherently dangerous, as the researcher can be injured or even killed. Secondly, some researches are for very unethical or unhealthy purpose, because they are targeted towards dehumanizing and disparaging some people. Such needs to be sanctioned though it limits knowledge freedom. For example, researches on nuclear, biological, chemical, and radiological (NBC-R) weapons are sanctioned.

I have already attempted to answer the question that reads as follows. As such research can not be harmful. What can be harmful is how we conduct the research process, the conclusions that it leads to and how we apply the research results. However, I don't think that research can be harmrul.

Best Regards

Desalegn Abraha

Dear Eric Nkansah Opoku this is certainly a very important question of general interest. One can write entire books when trying to fully answer this question. In my opinion research itself is not inherently harmful, unless is is knowingly intended to be dangerous to humans. In our area of research, this relates e.g. to the deliberate development of chemical warfare agents. This began in World War I with the use of chlorine gas. Another prominent example is the German chemist Gerhard Schrader who is often called the ""father of the nerve agents." He developed the infamous nerve gases Tabun, Soman, and Sarin. For more information please see this article entitled "The Nazi origins of deadly nerve gases":

https://cen.acs.org/articles/94/i41/Nazi-origins-deadly-nerve-gases.html

Depends upon your topic and research interests and how you end up justifying your Objectives and significanice.

Usually research aims to do welfare of the society. It has been fulfilling this purpose of research since years.

Research hardly makes harm of the society.

But it has been found that many good researchled habe been misused making them harmful.

I don't think that research by itself can be harmful. But what can be harmful is how and for what purpose we use research results in our daily life. The same result of research can be used differently by different people.

Best Regards

Desalegn Abraha

Yes it could be if its used for wicked purposes

Whether research results can be harmful or not depends on the user of the results and for what purposes and not on the research results.

Best Regrads

Desalegn Abraha

In my opinion, it can be harmful as nuclear energy research was seen in the second nuclear war. Also as genetic studies were conceived in Hitler's Germany. In my view, research should be designed for the good of humanity, that is, to improve its standard of living.

@Desakegb While whether research results are harmful DOES depend on what one does with them, their possible uses are often quite foreseeable (indeed often intended and specified) and may be sufficient to warrant NOT pursuing the research. For the most part, what research is actually carried out is a function of funding - a great deal of modern research requires millions of dollars of investment to even get started. The control of funding is in the hands of those with sufficient money. When that money is in private hands, e.g., corporations (such as big pharma), its allocation is much more likely to be determined by anticipated profits rather than by public welfare (as demonstrated recently in the opioid crisis). When that money is in the hands of governments its allocation is a political process - subject to conflicting interests, e.g., corporate interests in making money off government contracts and subsidies versus public interests. Both the military-industrial and health-industrial complexes amply illustrate how research money has been allocated for purposes antithetical to the welfare of the general public. All of which is to say that the "uses" of research are rarely random and sufficiently foreseeable to warrant judgement as to whether pursuing a given line of research is a good idea, or not.

The question seemed to be simple at the beginning however it became more and more interesting as the discussion continued as different views are being presented by different people. I would like to thank you all for the constructive discussion.

Best Regards

Desalegn Abraha

Eric Nkansah Opoku

Dear Researcher,

It is a brilliant topic for a discussion. I have no shame in admitting that this topic of discussion never came to my mind.

You have asked whether research can be harmful or not. It depends on the application of research. It depends on us who are spending their lives by deriving derivatives from researches.

Just imagine that if I tell you that a research has been pursued on how to pick up purses from other's pockets in a crowded train or bus, what would be your reaction? You would probably say that the researcher involved with this research is insane. And then if I tell you that this research is being pursued with the objective of helping forensic scientists and police personnel reduce the number of these types of thefts, then you will say that this is one of the noblest topics of research. So research does not create an advantage or disadvantage. It is the human mind that creates these. It is our vision, our psychological state, our aims and objectives that defines researches.

To sum up, it can be said that research is not harmful. But if we, as users, use it for something harmful, then it can yield harmful consequences. We are very important. Everything is in our hands.

Thank you.

Best regards,

Anamitra.

I agree with Frank T. Edelmann

Dear G.V.P. Samaranayake,

Thank you for your views about the ineresting question above.

Best Regards

Desalegn Abraha

Thank you everyone for your insightful contributions to this discussion.

I also would like to thank you all the same as Eric Nkansah Opoku for your valuable contributions in the very important question which is being discussed by the various people.

Best Regards

Desalegn Abraha

Dear Eric Nkansah Opoku,

Can research be harmful and if so, what does this mean for academic freedom? I don't dear to say that research is harmuful in general but there can be instances in which research can be harmful. It depends on the purpose of the research, the researcher and how the results are used. It depends on the circumstances and how the research is conducted and for what purposes the results achieved are used can be the general answer to the question above.

Best Regards

Desalegn Abraha

Dear Michael A. Cretacci,

Thanks for your answer above.

Best Regards

Desalegn Abraha