Coding morality

Question

I'm at a crossroad, in my mind, with a project I want to create that would be frowned upon by most but is quite an ingenious idea.

It's something that would help the coding community, as it's a project for learners, but it's not conventional because of it's methods.

I need some guidance with this decision. Should I go ahead and do the project which would be benefit some or do I drop it because it might taint my reputation as it would not be accepted by most?

Answer 1

Don't get me wrong, though - I'm not telling you not to do it.

Few years ago, I met this stranger at ITEX which knows his stuff. The one advice from him pertaining projects that I remember till now was to not go easy on your own ideas, no matter if it's a new one, or something you've had on your mind for some time. Hammer it, smite it, polish up the edges, re-evaluate it over and over again, make sure that the foreseeable end product stems from an idea which is unbreakable.

Anyone can come up with special ideas. That itself, as a factor, is not exactly sufficient enough to throw all of yourself into it. Improvise as you move forward, never stop thinking.

P.S. As @Illusive Man pointed out, keep to the law. Don't do drugs. Embrace memes. Don't touch anyone's spaghett (extra warning). You will kno the way. :P

Answer 2

This post translates to :

"I'm going to do something bad but also good. Should I do it?"

It's not going to help if you are going to disclose only this little information. No meaningful answer can be given at this point of time due to the lack of variables and conditions.

Answer 3

Interesting. Well, this is just my personal point of view, but I doubt that it would work. Putting ethics and morality aside (I'm pretty sure you have already assessed its feasibility from that perspective), this reward system is something which can easily be accessed and obtained through other means. This implies that whether or not the individual would have a sense of fulfillment at the time of achieving the goal is questionable. I have seen games which exploit and deploy the same strategy, and yes, it turns out pretty well to have a liiiitle sexual innuendo - However, taking into consideration that programming itself invokes a state of mind which is pretty far from what you get from casual gaming and other entertainment, I'm not sure how well it would blend. Other than that, your idea would sell to a rather small group of users, seeing that users below a certain age (which happens to be the group wherein most learners are in) would most probably not be allowed to access your site.

Is it good? Well, I'm confident that you can come up with something better.

Answer 4

@Gavin Idk. In all honesty, it can always turn out in an opposite way of what you originally suppose it would be. I have an itch reading it because I feel like I have the capacity to evaluate as to whether or not it should be done, and yet was provided with too little information to reason. Sometimes, "ethics and morality", if placed in incorrect context, can simply be lame social norms which should be broken. In other situations, it is the most important thing to hold on to. Differentiating between the two is crucial to your decision.

Answer 5

@Gavin, Idk about the law in yours or others' country, but in my country, the government is trying to reduce (by means of banning) sites that contain sexual content, due to the raise of sexual related crime rate (from sexual abuse, paedophilia, to rapes, to murder), so at least for my country, unlike others, I could say it is illegal.

Apart from that, everybody knows sex sales, but from my POV, I know for sure, I don't do mix up coding and sexual content, so for people like me at least, the rewarding system wouldn't work, sexual content grows a horn, and when that horn grows, it's kinda hard to think straight, something I need in code works, when I focus on code I have less interest for sexual content, vice versa : )

I won't hold you back, nor will I support, I will wait for your prototype and may have change of mind depending on how it would be.

Answer 6

Replace sexual content with Memes!
I'd use that website all day!

Seriously tho, the majority of people love memes.
It's quite a smart plan tho.

People can submit memes and codes. Instead of getting points or coins, they get memes into their inventory, which can be used to get cool backgrounds for their profiles or something similar.

But to get memes you'll need to do challanges and do training.

They can have different categories of memes depending on the Language and difficulty.

I think it's a great idea!

Answer 7

I can't imagine the problem you think of.
but if I were you, I would do it. 😄

Answer 8

Thanks all for your ideas and opinions on this subject. It helps more than you know because sometimes a person can't see something others sees because they may be to close to it.

Your views have been taken into consideration and I think I should go ahead with the project. Try and fail and try again but fail better next time seems to be the way to go.

You guys are awesome! 😉

Answer 9

if you want to use lot sexual content for your project, there is no problem. but if you don't use a warning message that the content containing sexual and only 18+, it will be a problem. many games use sexual content and they give a warning for theirs games, it didn't bring them to the law.
if it will help others to coding, I'll supporting you. otherwise not.
I will wait your project link and I will share my feedback about your project.

Answer 10

just do it.

Answer 11

not family-friendly ? I can guess now

Answer 12

@Gavin just do it. Put "family-friendly" criteria aside, the same with "ethics and morale". If you can and want do that – do that (a long as it is not against the law). If that site will have small audience still do it, who knows maybe it will grow into something bigger. I would even test this site bc from my point of view it is quite original approach, though unexpected one.

Answer 13

@Limitless let the MemeLearn begin!!!
I'm in.

Answer 14

Lol such a funny comment Hatsi 😁 You're right though, not enough information. Giving too much information though is not a good idea as it's not family-friendly.

I can tell you this though, I made up my mind about what I'm going to do. I decided not to do the project because of the social anxiety it induces in me.

Answer 15

Do it. I am working on another project with the same goal (dopamine boosts) but aimed at a different type of learning than usual and without sexual content (not because I'm anyway opposed to it - simply because I didn't come up with the idea). That being said your project is not immoral. The conservatism (nowadays coming not just from the right but leftist feminists as well) against sexuality is irrational, as poeple have ALWAYS depicted sexuality (even in the ancient times). Also if you REALLY are scared of the backlash, just publish it anonymously. I doubt they will try to track you ;) Also I am really happy that your project is actually aimed at a good goal and doesn't hurt anyone (no hacking into someone's mailbox, no security breach/threat, no illegal data use, no aggression or deception). Not everyone will want to try out your program but they don't have to! However, please MAKE a warning that the content is sexual and only 18+. People prefer to be informed. Good luck, don't let society crush your ideas (as long as you're not hurting anyone)

Answer 16

Groot, Groot, Groot.
I see, I go, I conquer

let's try it before it's too late, being

Answer 17

@Gavin if you can do it then stop thinking and do it. Best of luck though.

Answer 18

we can't really give you a good answer since we don't know what kind.of project you are talking about

Answer 19

You should be free to create whatever makes you happy. Your project may solve problems for some and create problems for others. However, you can't make everyone happy.

Answer 20

Do it!👍Good luck!!!