Comments on: Is Google Doing Evil in China?

By: Marianne Hennessy

Marianne Hennessy — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 17:38:14 +0000

I’m recently out of college. I didn’t apply for work with google for moral reasons. I don’t want to be involed with a company that engages in censorship practices. perhaps especially when their marketing tries to express the message that they are everybody’s friend.

The pretty much monopolise th einfromation people get on the net as it is.

By: Kaila Colbin

Kaila Colbin — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 02:06:37 +0000

Thanks for this post.

I find the China issue too complex for any sort of simplistic assertions (“They definitely should be there,” or, “They definitely should not be there). However, I don’t agree with Esther Dyson’s claim that people will assume the existence of negative information about their own government based on the existence of negative information about another government.

If you’re being told over and over that someone or some community is evil, the normal reaction is to grow to believe that they’re evil, not to assume that the people giving you the message must be evil as well.

I strongly recommend ‘The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil’ by Phil Zimbardo. It’s a bit of a slog but well worth it for an increased appreciation of our human vulnerabilities.

By: sjia

sjia — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 20:43:36 +0000

Thanks for Prof. Lewis’ comment. The error is corrected now.

By: Harry Lewis

Harry Lewis — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 14:45:14 +0000

There’s an error in the transcript of my remarks. What I said was, “there are other search ENGINES through which you can get the censored truth” [not "warrants".]

By: China Journal : Best of the China Blogs: November 28

China Journal : Best of the China Blogs: November 28 — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 04:12:34 +0000

[...] activities in China played a prominent role in the discussions. Read the China-related excerpts here. [China Digital [...]