> Is long-range vision vs. short-term gains a moral issue subject to moral restraint and control? It may be unwise to steal resurces from the future, but is it immoral? Is it any less immoral to delay beneficial technologies at the expense of the present?
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> I agree that we should look toward long-range effects of our technology, but until that technology is in place, it is essentially impossible to predict the effects.

I agree that the development of technology is non-linear, very complex, and has ramifications beyond any one person's individual comprehension.

But I don't believe it's so confusing to excuse responsibility on these grounds. Let's face it. The folks that cloned that sheep knew exactly what they were doing. The people who developed the technology they used to do it are hardly at fault. They themselves are hardly at fault for further developing that technology. Technology in itself is not inherently bad. It's how it gets put to use that requires a moral judgment one way or another. They cloned a sheep. That was probably not a very wise move. They should be accountable for that moral decision.

I really, honestly don't think this issue is as complex as is being implied in this thread. The development of technology is a complex process, but if each individual were accountable for the moral validity of its application, we'd have no problems. But the real problem, of course, is that there appears to be no practical or effective way to *hold* people accountable for the uses they employ technologies for -- not to mention that different people are going to have different ideas about what uses of technology are acceptable and what uses are not.