If and when it makes sense to halt or ban R&D, the ban should be either narrow or temporary.
I think the counterexample of nuclear engineering is instructive. It was not halted, but remains heavily regulated internationally, and for that reason, progress in nuclear power has been greatly slowed - but so has proliferation.
2jasoncrawford2yIt was halted de facto if not de jure, at least in the US.
I think if it had not been stunted, we'd have lots of cheap, reliable, clean
nuclear power, and I doubt that nuclear proliferation would have been
significantly accelerated—do you think it would have been?
I think the counterexample of nuclear engineering is instructive. It was not halted, but remains heavily regulated internationally, and for that reason, progress in nuclear power has been greatly slowed - but so has proliferation.