Skip to content

Latest commit

 

History

History
26 lines (13 loc) · 2.26 KB

HippocraticOathForIT.md

File metadata and controls

26 lines (13 loc) · 2.26 KB

HIPPOCRATIC OATH, MODERN VERSION FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:

  • I will respect the hard-won scientific and technical gains of the people in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.

  • I will apply, for the benefit of the users and customers, all measures which are required, avoiding those twin traps of over-engineering and technical fatalism.

  • I will remember that there is art to IT as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the most bleeding edge technical solution.

  • I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a users' or customers' benefit.

  • I will respect the privacy of my users and customers, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of security. If it is given me to enhance a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to make a life worse; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.

  • I will remember that I do not work for a bugfix, a codebase, but for humans, whose needs may affect their employees or family and their economic stability, or even the society as whole. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the customers and their users.

  • I will resist jumping in to do a quick fix where a sustainable solution is feasible.

  • I will prevent problems whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.

  • I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those of low technical skill as well as the ones who are technically savvy.

If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of improving things for those who seek my help.

Adapted from the text written in 1964 by Louis Lasagna, Academic Dean of the School of Medicine at Tufts University, which used in many medical schools today.