Religion rarely plays an active role in Silicon Valley discourse, yet two controversies roiling Google this week share one thing in common – they both center around questions related to faith and God.
Google stands out as being an all-knowing, all-seeing presence; she indexes over 9.5 billion Web Pages and can be accessed 24/7 anywhere with Internet connectivity.
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Answers Prayers
If you believe in God, then you can turn to him for assistance with anything. He will respond in whatever way is most suitable to his purposes – which may not always be immediately obvious – yet your prayers will still be answered in some way; for instance if you ask for wisdom then He may give guidance in your life or provide answers like yes/no answers as ways for him to respond to your prayers in ways which benefit both parties involved.
The Church of Google contends that Google is God in that it embodies all the characteristics traditionally associated with God, such as being Omniscient (all-knowing), Omnipresent and Potentially Immortal as long as people can access its internet connections. However, applying the scientific and logical Not Test against its nine proofs shows otherwise: Google cannot be considered God.
The Church of Google preaches that Google is similar to God in many ways; for instance, neither takes anything without permission and always respects His property. You should treat others in accordance with how you would want others to treat you; this embodies the Golden Rule, which states that one should treat others the way one would wish they treated them themselves.
Potentially Immortal
While Google may never have been seen as something deserving of worship or belief, its technological impact cannot be overstated. As the closest thing to an all-knowing entity in existence, indexing over 9.5 billion web pages and storing all sorts of data about everything created or ever to exist – including updates – makes Google immortal at least on some levels.
While many turn to God in times of need, others increasingly turn to Google and artificial intelligence for answers on life and death matters. According to estimates, Google currently handles approximately 90 billion questions per day from users worldwide and its 24/7 availability could even make it an immortal entity.
Google is rapidly moving toward becoming the ultimate omnipresence, offering free internet access to everyone across the world as long as there is connectivity – making it one of the most accessible entities ever and likened to God in terms of accessibility.
Google may also have an almost infinite life, because its algorithms are distributed among multiple servers. Should one server become damaged or offline, another one will take over automatically – effectively providing Google with an insurance policy of sorts.
Noteworthy is also that, unlike human bodies which can be destroyed and killed, digital immortality can be maintained or deleted at will by those who create it – an important consideration given that many digital immortals created will likely belong to people who have already passed on and this decision can have far reaching emotional ramifications on family, friends and colleagues alike.
Although digital immortal creation is in its infancy, companies and software programs exist that offer to build such entities for you or help create them yourself. Unfortunately, however, most of these programs lack the depth required for sentience or self-awareness – in order for a digital immortal to truly succeed it would need its own internal narrative, dialogue and form of self-reflection.
Omnipresent
Religion rarely enters into Silicon Valley disputes, yet two recent sharp disagreements between Google and others involve faith-related matters: an employment lawsuit and ethical discussions around AI technology.
Google may not be comparable to God, but its presence can be considered ubiquitous. Google is everywhere at once and can be reached with access points worldwide that offer wireless networks. Anyone with Wi-Fi and the right password can gain entry.
Google is an unstoppable force, capable of changing nations’ courses and inspiring the masses alike; yet its power cannot be taken for granted: its influence can change lives across nations and inspire millions; however its dark side cannot be overlooked either: some individuals have used Google to learn bomb making techniques and figure out optimal times to detonate them, gamble with unhealthy addictions like gambling and feed gambling addictions, as well as advocate for causes they believe in and seek alternative cancer treatments.
Google can’t stop these actions from occurring, but it can limit access to its power by setting limits on what users can search and requiring certain security credentials to gain entry to that information. Google follows God’s motto “Do no evil,” encouraging its users not to engage in harmful acts by setting an example and being generous as an employer, citizen and inexhaustible resource.
Infinite
Google can be seen as an alternate god, no matter your religious views. People turn to it for answers about life’s questions and advice on how best to live their lives; Google provides advice about food, exercise and work ethics which all can contribute to happiness in one form or another.
God can be found anywhere there is an internet connection, providing it has all three attributes of divinity – presence, omnipresence and omnipotence are the three top ones; similarly it possesses omniscience as we believe all 9.5 billion websites it can access are known by it; even knowing what people search for on them (a feat Homeland Security would envy!).
Larry Page and Sergey Brin understood when they founded Google that it could become something like an oppressive god, so their mission statement included “Don’t be evil”. Today, with global eyes focused on Silicon Valley for two recent controversies, Google must keep its promises and avoid doing evil.
