Comment by tsumnia | Hacker News Reader

Comment by tsumnia | Hacker News Reader

To play devil's advocate for a second - I don't mind this (that much).

The phrase "Don't Be Evil" seems like a kitschy nod to Google's earlier days when they were just a couple of programmers in a garage. However, that was decades ago and Google has grown into a more matured entity. This statement comes from a time before Google had to meet with Government agencies on a (probably) daily basis or start policing YouTube for terrorist beheading videos and pornography. They are actively trying to do good - but they're no different than IT - you only complain about when things go wrong, never when they go right. Google does plenty of good, they don't need a snide comment about how everyone else doesn't to do that.

To remove this artifact of the past isn't to say "it's time to start being evil!". It's a child putting away their toys as they move to more mature times.

EDIT: As someone mentions, the line is still there. Leaving my post up as it still stands if they took it out tomorrow.

> To remove this artifact of the past ... It's a child putting away their toys as they move to more mature times.

That's just depressing.

By all means, I am still very much a child at heart... but I also know I shouldn't go around telling everyone to "Suck It", like my WWF-watching childhood.

I think we can all agree that a positive ideological statement and goal to strive towards is a little bit different than an immature insult.

Dividing the world into Good and Evil is childish.

Perhaps they should change it to "Do Good," although that might be at odds with their goals of maximizing shareowner profits and dominating the world.

Perhaps they could have a few rules with order of precedence [1] that outline how to "Do Good"?

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Laws_of_Robotics

> This statement comes from a time before Google had to meet with Government agencies ...

I sincerely hope you don't think that meeting with government agencies and/or adhering to regulations means they can't be doing evil.

“don’t be evil” always seemed hopelessly naive, even for college students. I’d have thought that anyone who had considered it, even briefly would understand that being “evil” isn’t really a thing. People do things for various reasons, even things which are clearly socially harmful are often given complex justifications.

To invoke Godwin at an early stage, I doubt Hitler thought he was evil.

So yea, getting rid of it could be seen as a sign of a more nuanced understanding of the world.

Exactly, and since my "Suck It" comment was not well received, you could say its akin to a child arguing they "are an adult" (ala explicitly saying "Don't Be Evil") vs. an adult just behaving like one ("Don't Be Evil" is a understood agreement). I think the issue people are having (to use my analogy) is that people have different options on how an adult (or large-scale corporation) should behave.

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