Geeks tend to get very opinionated on various issues. That’s the reason why many geeks have blogs or engage in various fora - to express and discuss said opinions. And there may come a time in the life of your average-variety geek when he or she must sit and ponder on a very real and not quite simple-cut issue:
Where is the balance between my job and my morals/beliefs?
It’s not fair to limit this issue to geeks, but let me channel my attention to a group of people that I can at least claim to have some relation too. I’ll try to keep examples.. non-geeky. There is also another aspect of technology that makes this interesting.
The simpler aspect of this: “I won’t work for Microsoft” vs. “I want to work for Microsoft, they rock!” More or a personal preference than anything, at first sight. So let’s dig deeper. Does Microsoft do evil things? Yes. Would I be a part of them? Yes, directly or not. Can I make them change? Yes, with the right amount of effort. Let’s get in the gray area. Does Google do more evil things than Microsoft or not? Does Apple? Does Facebook? Errm… now the waters are really muddy.
So we must find a balance of things. Some say this is the first step in shedding our rebel-self and getting in tune with the crowd: we compromise on things we thought our stance to be quite definite before this came around. I know I sometimes feel sick in my stomach thinking about this, but heck - I’m growing up (?) Keep being a radical, keep with my guns no matter what, or bury some in the ground?
Beyond the need to put food on the table1 what more do I need to do? This isn’t the under-achiever’s post-failure justification. Since it’s about balance, I must know how much I could give up.
The more complex aspect: how evil? In the shades of gray that the answer brings along, one can weigh in a lot of factors. In the end, it’s about what one’s comfortable with. Some say that since many others are doing it, not going along means you’re simply left behind. That you are missing a great opportunity for what are hopeless ideals. Evil in tech is a funny matter, everything we come up with has potential for misuse. So is Microsoft empowering people and if so, is it worth the price of the lock-in that comes with? Is progress, that way, worth the price? If I join in their ranks and aid with both the good and the bad, how does that stand with me?
I’d like to extend this as a thought-homework for you. Think about your lines - whatever you do, be it animal testing, advertising or politics - think about how far you would go. How much are you willing to give up, and why. What alternatives you have. Where the balance is.
- With which, I can venture a guess, not everyone is painfully familiar with [↩]
