9 Sept. 2024

I recently received an email suggesting that BOINC "suspend support" for Russian BOINC projects (of which there are several ) in protest of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This email made me reflect, both on this particular issue and more generally on how we act on our beliefs and principles.

I have decided to not change BOINC's treatment of the Russian projects. I explain why below. But first let me weigh in on the more general issue.

When should we act on our principles?

Bad things happen in the world: things that oppress people, or kill them, or brainwash them with hate, or (like climate change) doom people and other life forms to starvation and death decades from now. Some of these are intentional acts, e.g. by extremists and malevolent dictators. Others result from apparently innate human traits like greed and inertia.

We all have principles. If something goes against our principles, we can fight it in various ways: put a bumper sticker on our car, carry a sign in a protest march, boycott a product, take direct action, maybe even engage in violence.

When and how should we act on our principles? This is complex question, with many factors:

• What impact is the action likely to have? If you have 10 free minutes, should you sort your recycling, or work to elect an environmentally progressive candidate?
• What is the cost to you (time, effort, opportunity) of taking the action?
• How certain are your beliefs and principles? For each of my principles, there are plenty of people who have the opposite principle because their information comes from different sources.

I have no particular answers; I'm a computer scientist, not a moral philosopher. I act on some things (mostly by writing essays) and not others. I try to assess the global and long-term effects of my actions, and I try to make sure my information is reasonably complete and accurate.

The Russian BOINC projects

Based on my information sources (e.g. the NY Times), I'm pretty confident that Vladimir Putin is an evil tyrant and the Russian invasion of Ukraine is evil in every way. Both go against my principles. Should I act against them by suspending support for Russian BOINC projects?

First, what does "suspend support" mean in this case? BOINC is an open-source project, and its code is freely available on Github. I can't prevent anyone from creating a BOINC project. All I control is whether projects a) are listed on the BOINC web site; b) appear in the Add Project dialog in the BOINC Manager, and c) are included in Science United.

So the only way I can suspend support for the Russian projects is to remove them from these lists.

I decided not to do this, for several reasons:

• I know the Russian projects and the people who operate them. They do mathematical research, which benefits everyone. They make their results freely available. They have contributed to the BOINC software. As far as I know they have no direct connection to the Putin regime or the invasion of Ukraine.
• De-listing the Russian projects would, it seems to me, have no effect on the Ukraine invasion. It wouldn't save lives or destabilize the Putin regime. The only effects would be negative: slowing the research and shrinking the BOINC ecosystem.
• I'm not sure it would be appropriate for me to de-list the Russian projects based on my personal beliefs. The BOINC project is much larger than me. Lots of people contribute to it. I don't know their views, and I don't speak for them.
• BOINC already provides mechanisms that allow participants to express their values and beliefs. They can boycott the Russian projects if they like, and they can explain why in the BOINC message boards.

Are there situations where I'd de-list a BOINC project? Sure, in extreme cases. I'd de-list projects that design nuclear weapons or fatal viruses, or that develop AI for propaganda purposes. But the current situation, it seems to me, is not of this sort.

David P. Anderson
Director, BOINC
UC Berkeley

PS: If you have thoughts on this matter, I'd like to hear them. Please feel free to email me.