3 ms·

Nobody intelligent ever thought it was sincere

ineedasername 6y ago
I'm probably not intelligent then. In the early 00's, I did think Google mostly believed in its mission to organize and act as a gateway for the world's information.
- cambalache 6y ago
  You were naive, not dumb, usual thing with young people
  - ineedasername 6y ago
    Yep, though I knew even at the time that most companies' mission statements were BS. Google seemed different. I think at some point they still actually were different, but also were themselves naive about what being successful and transforming into a large corporation would do to them.
davesque 6y ago
Honestly, I think this attitude makes much more sense in the present era than it did before about ten years ago. There was a time when IMHO you weren't just naive for believing that Google was sincere about its "don't be evil" mantra. The current age really is one of cynicism. Of course, in my mind that's a completely separate question from whether or not Google is being evil in this case. As far as that goes, I honestly really don't know the answer.
- s1artibartfast 6y ago
  I suspect very few employees actually think that google is evil. The phrase was noteworthy at the time because it was so hyperbolic. It was only now when nuance has been thrown out the window that everything has to be black and white.
  - gretch 6y ago
    Disclosure: employee I hate that the HN audience put so much significance on google “abandoning” (it didn’t) this mantra. Anyone who actually understands depth in any topic knows that it’s not as simple as “don’t be evil”. Like oh cool thanks man. Yeah now I know exactly what the right moral path is - just don’t be evil duh. It adds no practical value to decision making other to serve as directional inspiration. But you’re not going to be sitting there trying to find the right balance of weights in search ranking in order to keep fairness and equity and just be like “right, don’t be evil”

I'm probably not intelligent then. In the early 00's, I did think Google mostly believed in its mission to organize and act as a gateway for the world's information.

cambalache 6y ago
You were naive, not dumb, usual thing with young people
- ineedasername 6y ago
  Yep, though I knew even at the time that most companies' mission statements were BS. Google seemed different. I think at some point they still actually were different, but also were themselves naive about what being successful and transforming into a large corporation would do to them.

davesque 6y ago

Honestly, I think this attitude makes much more sense in the present era than it did before about ten years ago. There was a time when IMHO you weren't just naive for believing that Google was sincere about its "don't be evil" mantra. The current age really is one of cynicism. Of course, in my mind that's a completely separate question from whether or not Google is being evil in this case. As far as that goes, I honestly really don't know the answer.

s1artibartfast 6y ago
I suspect very few employees actually think that google is evil. The phrase was noteworthy at the time because it was so hyperbolic. It was only now when nuance has been thrown out the window that everything has to be black and white.
- gretch 6y ago
  Disclosure: employee I hate that the HN audience put so much significance on google “abandoning” (it didn’t) this mantra. Anyone who actually understands depth in any topic knows that it’s not as simple as “don’t be evil”. Like oh cool thanks man. Yeah now I know exactly what the right moral path is - just don’t be evil duh. It adds no practical value to decision making other to serve as directional inspiration. But you’re not going to be sitting there trying to find the right balance of weights in search ranking in order to keep fairness and equity and just be like “right, don’t be evil”