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This is like saying the giant that could have squashed me into nothing has only stepped on a couple of my neighbors. In the end, Google has unchecked power whi

This is like saying the giant that could have squashed me into nothing has only stepped on a couple of my neighbors. In the end, Google has unchecked power which it has used to sway politics, which is something its own employees have protested. You can say either for good or bad, that it lets government authorities snoop and pry on emails and communications. Many people remain convinced that Google is not all bad and I am in agreement. But also, Google is not your friend. If you get torn to shreds in the gears of its business logic, Google couldn't possibly care any less. Maybe this doesn't mean to you evil, per se, but I find any institution that is so large that it cares over its own good much and beyond that of its negative effects on society is evil. There is a saying that "You Either Die A Hero, Or You Live Long Enough To See Yourself Become The Villain". Google has lived long enough to see itself become the villain. Where once it was certain they worked for the active benefit of people, at this stage, this can most certainly be cast into doubt.

ForHackernews 7y ago
> which it has used to sway politics Do you have any actual evidence to support this assertion? Certainly Google could easily swing an election, if it chose to (which is sort of frightening in itself) but I haven't seen anything to suggest that it has done so.
- not_a_cop75 7y ago
  Listen, if you saw the hearings about Google and search ratings, you know that a search should be a million different things to a million different people. By making a search engine you have to make A choice as to what is right, and you WILL make political decisions along with many others as to what people want to see. Just like the cloud is "Just someone elses's computer", Google is "Just someone else's yellow pages". Someone rates the importance, and there will ALWAYS be a bias because bias ALWAYS exists. Edit: I should correct and say someone has to create and curate the algorithms. Even if not a single person rates a single page personally, keywords can and will boost or lower popularity. Trigger words that in the US that mean "racism" but in other countries do not harbor racial aggression will bleed through search engine results, even if Google has a dedicated team in each country to resolving such things. These types of things, like it or not are very political in nature, and thus US politics is invasive in a sense, simply by being native to Google. This has the end goal (I think) of evangelizing a brand of politics to others. You can argue again whether this is good or bad. I would say parts of this are definitely bad. The major country that performs most poorly in many of its ways is exporting its bad culture to other places.
Golof17 7y ago
> something its own employees have protested I imagine what those individuals have talked about publicly is only a fraction of what actually goes on. Over time, more and more has been revealed that is unsettling but not too surprising. I also imagine that many of the employees who decide to manipulate politics also see themselves as the good guy, using the tools at their disposal to enact positive change. To them, the ends justify the means.

ForHackernews 7y ago

> which it has used to sway politics Do you have any actual evidence to support this assertion? Certainly Google could easily swing an election, if it chose to (which is sort of frightening in itself) but I haven't seen anything to suggest that it has done so.

not_a_cop75 7y ago
Listen, if you saw the hearings about Google and search ratings, you know that a search should be a million different things to a million different people. By making a search engine you have to make A choice as to what is right, and you WILL make political decisions along with many others as to what people want to see. Just like the cloud is "Just someone elses's computer", Google is "Just someone else's yellow pages". Someone rates the importance, and there will ALWAYS be a bias because bias ALWAYS exists. Edit: I should correct and say someone has to create and curate the algorithms. Even if not a single person rates a single page personally, keywords can and will boost or lower popularity. Trigger words that in the US that mean "racism" but in other countries do not harbor racial aggression will bleed through search engine results, even if Google has a dedicated team in each country to resolving such things. These types of things, like it or not are very political in nature, and thus US politics is invasive in a sense, simply by being native to Google. This has the end goal (I think) of evangelizing a brand of politics to others. You can argue again whether this is good or bad. I would say parts of this are definitely bad. The major country that performs most poorly in many of its ways is exporting its bad culture to other places.

Golof17 7y ago

> something its own employees have protested I imagine what those individuals have talked about publicly is only a fraction of what actually goes on. Over time, more and more has been revealed that is unsettling but not too surprising. I also imagine that many of the employees who decide to manipulate politics also see themselves as the good guy, using the tools at their disposal to enact positive change. To them, the ends justify the means.