Ethical Considerations 
choose this group, for instance, as an ideal government for any 
country. 
Comfort: If we were in the government’s shoes, we should be 
just as much of a menace to everybody else, in spite of our 
superior knowledge. The error lies in allowing any group in 
society to arrogate to themselves the power which governments 
arrogate to themselves, and which perhaps Muller appeared to 
arrogate to scientists in his paper, perhaps through over- 
confidence. I am not attributing improper motives to govern- 
ments. I am merely saying that they have an impossible task, 
and one which we should encourage them to lay down. 
Hoagland: J cannot altogether agree with Szent-Gyérgyi 
on some of these matters. When one compares the views of 
responsible people in government with those of most intellec- 
tuals one finds much more in common than is apparent super- 
ficially. The stereotypes of military people I have found may 
not be at all characteristic of top-flight people in government 
and in the military establishment. They are well informed and 
deeply concerned about these issues. They may be even more 
frustrated than we are, because tackling these problems at a 
practical level is a daily issue with them. 
In the United States today there are a number of groups 
that are much concerned with ethical issues; for example, there 
is a group called the Institute for Religion in an Age of Science. 
It consists primarily of scientists, philosophers and theologians, 
who get together to discuss some of these matters. ‘There is also 
a new Institute on Ethics being developed in New York which 
plans to send western representatives to India and other 
countries, to meet scholars and discuss problems of common 
human concern. It is surprising, when one meets such people, 
to discover the extensive common ground that is true for all of 
us. The humanitarian viewpoint, regardless of one’s formal 
religion or its lack, seems to permeate increasingly into such 
international discussions. 
There is a deep feeling of alarm and frustration, at all levels 
of society in the United States, in relation to nuclear war. I 
have had occasion to give a number of talks to lay groups, 
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