Principles, Parenting & Purpose

Don’t Be Evil

December 27, 2020

Long ago, Google’s motto was “Don’t be evil.”

But, what is evil?

How about: Lies. Deceit. Theft. Violation. Murder. Or, operating in a way that leads to lies, deception, theft, violation or murder.

Generally stated from these ideas: Evil is thought, word or action which leads to the violation of another’s property, body, mind or spirit.

With a reduction in abstraction, these principles can be mapped to The Ten Commandments:

“I am the Lord thy God, Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” is beyond the scope of this topic to unpack fully, but lines up with “do not violate your own spirit; hold your relationship with God as sacred.”

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.” is also tricky, but lines up with our time when understood as “do not produce works which violate the mind, body or spirit of yourself or another.”

“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain” might be generally understood as “do not use words which violate the Sacred.”

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” can be more generally understood as “do not violate your mind, body or spirit on this sacred day of rest; keep your thought, word and actions pure, and focused on God.”

“Honor thy father and thy mother” can be understood as “do not violate your sacred relationship with your father and mother; treat them with respect.”

“Thou shalt not murder” can be better understood as “do not violate another human being’s life.”

“Thou shalt not commit adultery” can be understood as “do not violate the sacred bonds of matrimony through intimacy with an other.”

“Thou shalt not steal” maps simply to “do not violate the property of another.”

“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor” maps as “do not violate the truth regarding another.”

“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor’s.” maps to “do not violate, through your thoughts, words or actions the sacred relationships or possessions of another.”

From this context, Google’s unofficial motto, “Don’t be evil,” can be understood as a most complete generalization of The Ten Commandments.

As of April 5, 2018, Google updated their code of conduct to read simply: “And remember… don’t be evil, and if you see something that you think isn’t right—speak up!”

For a company as large and powerful as Google, it is good that they continue to honor this principle.

The contradictions inherent in the words of the tenth commandment, and the contradiction between the words of the Declaration of Independence and the reality of that time make clear that we don’t always conform to our ideals, our ethics and our principles. But the value of our values and principles remains in spite of our behavior. In fact, our values and principles must be retained in spite of our behavior—to allow our behavior to dictate our values and principles is the path to evil.

It’s not always easy to distinguish between good and evil, or between right and wrong. But with a clearer understanding of our principles, we have a perspective from which we might choose to understand the balance, and to choose rightly.

Think, say and do nothing which leads to the violation of another’s property, body, mind or spirit.

Or, more simply: Don’t be evil.