People can wave their hands around and say it's good, or that it's bad, but we simply don't know.
Hmm,
It's funny but if someone said to me, "hey we're going to do this experiment on people, it might hurt them and it might harm them, would you like us to it on you or would you rather watch while we do it on Bob here", you know, I'd say "do it on Bob if you must and I'll watch and see if seems like a good idea..."
It's not presented as an experiment, even though it could be described as such. It wasn't even constructed as an experiment. It was built to allow people to do something that they want to do, but the way that it happens and the scale at which it happens are things that no one really considers. Humans have a hard time grasping the scale of things once they reach a large enough size. Similar to things like the over-hunting of the American Bison or the over-fishing of various waters around the world. "There's tons of Bison on the open plains. It's impossible for humans to put a dent in their numbers! Why should I feel bad about killing so many."
In that sense, everything we do, especially when we produce something new, is an experiment since we rarely can predict many of the consequences. Most of the people responsible for the creation of the automobile, and most who bought the early ones, would probably have preferred to keep shoveling horse manure if they could have foreseen many of the social and cultural changes the auto has brought about.
However, I would posit that, for most people to be willing to experiment and to be ready to enjoy the process, there has to be a pretty strong limit to the downside.
Being put into a position where "hey, anything can happen to you" is probably only appealing to the very small, very entrepreneurial segment of the population.
Moreover, sharing all of your intimate details with the world is much more like the situation where you have a lot to lose and mostly likely only a small amount to gain - except if you're a celebrity.
Hmm,
It's funny but if someone said to me, "hey we're going to do this experiment on people, it might hurt them and it might harm them, would you like us to it on you or would you rather watch while we do it on Bob here", you know, I'd say "do it on Bob if you must and I'll watch and see if seems like a good idea..."