Alphabet/Google Isn’t Evil but Genetically Modifying Mosquitos Might Be

Blah blah don’t be evil blah blah blah. At some point, Google’s unofficial motto became like the message printed inside a stick of British seaside rock (see here for details, international readers). It’s a glib thing and chewing down on it too hard is apt to rot your teeth or perhaps your brain.

Google isn’t evil, anymore than any other corporation is evil. Watch the documentary, ‘The Corporation’ and you’ll hear a compelling argument that companies behave in a manner that is similar to sociopaths, but the individuals within Google/Alphabet genuinely do believe they are engaged in important, world-changing work – even the ones shovelling ads at your eyeballs.

But there’s a problem with people convinced they are engaged with a noble purpose. The old cliché that everyone is the hero of their own story and that no villain truly sees themselves as one is worth thinking about when it comes to boundary-pushing science.

In science fiction, we’re often confronted with inventors and experimenters who do something horrific because they thought they were acting in the interests of the greater...