Electricity + Control May 2016

COMMENT

I have been inundated with feedback relating to the April comment. I followed it up, with a bit of a foray into the life and times of South Africa, on FaceValue. It is simply no longer possible to navigate busi- ness, and even social discourse, without measuring every decision and comment on the correct state of our nation. By this I imply the real state of the nation. A conversation I have with my children re- lates to how bad things were. We tend to view the past through rose-tinted spectacles… I doubt, for instance, that politicians were ever all-honourable and law-abiding; I doubt that service delivery was ever adequate in most places; I doubt that state- owned companies were squeaky clean and only made wise decisions that the entire population applauded.You get the point? Some of the issues plaguing our society today remind me of interactions I have had, over many years, with researchers, professionals and educa- tors. These conversations relate to ethics; in the profession, in research, in science, and even in one’s personal life. Conversations that speak to some kind of an internal moral compass. People in question today try to justify their action or inaction with ’the law’ – what the law says, or what they think it says – or does not say. I was mystified to hear a formal comment that, as there is no rule, there is no need to modify behaviour – and there are many cases of that in every country you care to imagine. This completely misses the point. The point is that we need to be guided by ethics.When I engage educators in the context of the ethics of scientific investigation, I begin my discussion by ensuring that we all agree on what ethics are. I like to think of ethics as the principles that guide our actions in the absence of rules. In other words, even if there is no rule, no law, nothing written down, how should I behave in a given set of circumstances? I have encountered many people who have no moral com- pass at all (and that is why we need to have rules); and equally, I know those who need no written rules – as their personal rules are without reproach. Two things come to the fore: The need to be seen to act beyond reproach; and the need to appreciate that the more influential you become as an indi- vidual, the more your ethics must hold sway (and be seen to hold sway) over mere rules. Rules are put in place by society for those who do not see the obvious behavioural traits that make a society great.

I find myself, as a result of these thoughts, watching behaviour and thinking through the eth- ics versus rules debate. You see, you would apply your own ethics whether or not anyone else was watching; and certainly whether or not you would be caught for not following them. In fact, you have a personal leeway. You cannot tell the truth all the time – sometimes it is possible to do less harm by not being entirely truthful (perhaps you can think of an example?). But in the case of rules, your ethics may dictate how you treat the rules. I know of many people, some in fairly responsible roles, whose only con- sideration of the rule is if they are found to have broken it – and must face the consequence. Until this point, the rule simply holds no sway. People in similar positions to myself take advice from lawyers on a regular basis. At no time can we allow our ethics to be violated simply because no rule exists for the matter in hand. If something seems unjust or wrong, or even inappropriate to us, then we are bound to act accordingly. If the rules suggest that we have nothing to worry about, we need tomake a personal choice as to how to behave. Most of the truly great folk I know (and know of) are guided by their personal moral compass.

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Watching how others behave allows us a true view of their own moral compass.

Electricity+Control is supported by:

Ian Jandrell Pr Eng, BSc (Eng) GDE PhD, FSAIEE SMIEEE

The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher, the editor, SAAEs, SAEE, CESA, IESSA or the Copper Development Association Africa

May ‘16 Electricity+Control

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