I think in general it's depressing that a non-trivial number of very capable people are spending years in companies like Google not really benefiting humankind.

I think in general it's depressing that a non-trivial number of very capable people are spending years in companies like Google not really benefiting humankind. It's like reading the intellectual history of pre-renaissance Europe and realising how many of the smartest people of their time spent huge numbers of hours (and mental energy) on obscure and ultimately pointless theological matters.