Wooo-Hoo! I gots me a major gig!

[mburbank]

My position is ever more entrenched. I worry more for colleagues who's positions can be seen as 'redundant'.

Whatever shape my play takes, I'm sure they don't want me to answer the questions of science ethics, but more make the audience concider those questions, particularly on the grand scale.

Brilliant theoretical discoveries often lead to world altering consequences, some very good, some downright horrible. If I made a discovery about the realtionship of gravity to energy that if practically applied could lead to space travel but also the total annihilation of all life on earth, what is teh nature of my responsability? Do I publish?

On a smaller scale, perhaps my discovery in genetic engineering could cure some forms of cancer, but is could also be a valuable stepping stone on the road toward genetically targeted biological weapons. I know other scientists are working on similar problems. Perhaps it's only a matter of time in any case. If Einstein hadn't formulated E=mc2 (I can't make my keyboard do the square sign) at some point someone else almost certainly would have eventually. Does the fact that other's will almost certainly make my discovery soon enough absolve me of responsability?

The Gypsy Moth was one mans attempt to breed a more hearty silk worm. Anyone who's ever lived through a new England gypsy Moth infestation year will tell you how that worked out, and their silk is shit all worthless in the bargain.

Disocevery has consequences. What is the relationship between the discoverer and the consequences.

And OAO, don't just say there is no relationship, because A.) I was not hired to deliver a message, I was hired to examine a question and B.) There's damn little story in that conclusion.