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It's not unusual for people to compromise their morals for pay. Actions speak louder than words.

Lio 8y ago
Actually, we know from the Milgram Experiment[1] that most people just compromise their morals for authority figures regardless of pay. Most people aren't bad inherently they just do what they are told and then alter their world view to justify what they've done because internally we generally don't think of ourselves as bad people. So if you do nasty things to someone because someone else in authority tells you to, you tend to dehumanise them after the fact not before. Next time you have to do something nasty you'll find it easier because you've dehumanised the victim previously. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment
- almost_usual 8y ago
  This is a good point, however, I think this would apply more to workers who have already been employed for awhile. Anyone joining should have the sense they'll be subjected to dubious practices.
  - Lio 8y ago
    You'd think that but that isn't what the experiment showed. None of the subjects had been through the experiment before. They were all commanded by an authority figer (man in a white coat with a clipboard) to shock an unseen but heard fellow subject with increasingly large voltages. The "victim" was an actor who begs for mercy with each shock and then suddenly goes quiet. The experiment goes on with the subject shocking the "dead" actor when it finishes. Most did what they were told with no complaints. Some complained that what they were doing was wrong but still did it anyway. Only a very few said "no I won't do that, it's wrong" and left the experiment. There's no reason to think that the people working for Facebook or Google are any different to those test subjects. They'll spread fake news, dodge taxes or compile massive amounts of data on people just because they're told to by their boss. Just like most other people would.

Lio 8y ago

Actually, we know from the Milgram Experiment[1] that most people just compromise their morals for authority figures regardless of pay. Most people aren't bad inherently they just do what they are told and then alter their world view to justify what they've done because internally we generally don't think of ourselves as bad people. So if you do nasty things to someone because someone else in authority tells you to, you tend to dehumanise them after the fact not before. Next time you have to do something nasty you'll find it easier because you've dehumanised the victim previously. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment

almost_usual 8y ago
This is a good point, however, I think this would apply more to workers who have already been employed for awhile. Anyone joining should have the sense they'll be subjected to dubious practices.
- Lio 8y ago
  You'd think that but that isn't what the experiment showed. None of the subjects had been through the experiment before. They were all commanded by an authority figer (man in a white coat with a clipboard) to shock an unseen but heard fellow subject with increasingly large voltages. The "victim" was an actor who begs for mercy with each shock and then suddenly goes quiet. The experiment goes on with the subject shocking the "dead" actor when it finishes. Most did what they were told with no complaints. Some complained that what they were doing was wrong but still did it anyway. Only a very few said "no I won't do that, it's wrong" and left the experiment. There's no reason to think that the people working for Facebook or Google are any different to those test subjects. They'll spread fake news, dodge taxes or compile massive amounts of data on people just because they're told to by their boss. Just like most other people would.