3 ms·

> besides, if we don't do it, someone else will, and we're the good guys here". It's funny that people justify themselves that way considering it's the literal

> besides, if we don't do it, someone else will, and we're the good guys here". It's funny that people justify themselves that way considering it's the literal phrase is discussed in every ethics 101 course... and not because a bunch of good people were saying it...

bluefirebrand 8mo ago
If the comments on this website are any indication I'd wager a great many people in tech haven't spent even a single minute of their lives seriously thinking about ethics, nevermind studying ethics in a classroom
- bdangubic 8mo ago
  - first 10 years of my career, ethics was last thing on my mind - second 10 years of my career, started seriously thinking about ethics - last 10 years of my career (including now) - would not work for Big Tech etc if they gave me 9-digit / year compensation package
  - bluefirebrand 8mo ago
    I guess that's why I'm always angry when I'm reading comments here I know I don't have all the answers, but I minored in philosophy in school. I studied ethics quite a lot and being ethical has always been very important to me I never had 20 years of "let's burn down everything in my way as long as it pays well"
    - user2722 8mo ago
      Do you have privatized healthcare in your country?
      - bluefirebrand 8mo ago
        No, I live in a first world country
  - user2722 8mo ago
    That has probably more to do with you bank account digits. I'm on the inverse moral ladder currently, specially as more and more services are privatized (public health here is on fast-track to be americanized).
    - watwut 8mo ago
      I see so many rich people act in awfull manner just to get mote money ... so no. People who make ethical decisions end up with less money on average. But that is it, poor people and low paid people and average paid techies make ethical decisions all the time.
    - bdangubic 8mo ago
      It really did not have anything to do with money. Obviously I make more money now than in my “junior” days. I just did not give a F. I worked for Monsanto, I mean as evil of a company as you’d find (during that time, nothing compared to today’s Big Tech evil). I just honestly did not give a F at all.
      - godelski 8mo ago
        I'm glad you got better (I don't think this is said often enough. People change, and I'm glad you changed in this direction rather than the other). If you write about your path I'd read it.
9dev 8mo ago
Yep. From Putin to Kim Yong Un, everyone is convinced to be the good guy doing bad things for the right reasons.
- godelski 8mo ago
  I really believe the biggest lie everyone believes is that evil is only created by those that are evil. That evil is easy to identify. It's that love for simplicity that makes it persist. Were it so easy to identify, as so many claim, then it seems only one of two situations seems likely: most people are evil or most people are unwilling to let evil persist (which may not make them evil, but surely does not make them good). Were evil easy to identify and most people not evil (good or neutral), then surely evil would be easy to eliminate and we wouldn't have a cliché about the road to hell bring paved with good intentions. Evil persists because we believe we'd be evil were we to let it to. The same mechanism for self defense is used even by the worst. For the greater good, right? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47269344 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47269344

bluefirebrand 8mo ago

If the comments on this website are any indication I'd wager a great many people in tech haven't spent even a single minute of their lives seriously thinking about ethics, nevermind studying ethics in a classroom

bdangubic 8mo ago
- first 10 years of my career, ethics was last thing on my mind - second 10 years of my career, started seriously thinking about ethics - last 10 years of my career (including now) - would not work for Big Tech etc if they gave me 9-digit / year compensation package
- bluefirebrand 8mo ago
  I guess that's why I'm always angry when I'm reading comments here I know I don't have all the answers, but I minored in philosophy in school. I studied ethics quite a lot and being ethical has always been very important to me I never had 20 years of "let's burn down everything in my way as long as it pays well"
  - user2722 8mo ago
    Do you have privatized healthcare in your country?
    - bluefirebrand 8mo ago
      No, I live in a first world country
- user2722 8mo ago
  That has probably more to do with you bank account digits. I'm on the inverse moral ladder currently, specially as more and more services are privatized (public health here is on fast-track to be americanized).
  - watwut 8mo ago
    I see so many rich people act in awfull manner just to get mote money ... so no. People who make ethical decisions end up with less money on average. But that is it, poor people and low paid people and average paid techies make ethical decisions all the time.
  - bdangubic 8mo ago
    It really did not have anything to do with money. Obviously I make more money now than in my “junior” days. I just did not give a F. I worked for Monsanto, I mean as evil of a company as you’d find (during that time, nothing compared to today’s Big Tech evil). I just honestly did not give a F at all.
    - godelski 8mo ago
      I'm glad you got better (I don't think this is said often enough. People change, and I'm glad you changed in this direction rather than the other). If you write about your path I'd read it.

9dev 8mo ago

Yep. From Putin to Kim Yong Un, everyone is convinced to be the good guy doing bad things for the right reasons.

godelski 8mo ago
I really believe the biggest lie everyone believes is that evil is only created by those that are evil. That evil is easy to identify. It's that love for simplicity that makes it persist. Were it so easy to identify, as so many claim, then it seems only one of two situations seems likely: most people are evil or most people are unwilling to let evil persist (which may not make them evil, but surely does not make them good). Were evil easy to identify and most people not evil (good or neutral), then surely evil would be easy to eliminate and we wouldn't have a cliché about the road to hell bring paved with good intentions. Evil persists because we believe we'd be evil were we to let it to. The same mechanism for self defense is used even by the worst. For the greater good, right? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47269344 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47269344