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August 24, 2006

Is Google Godly?

This blasphemy has a really interesting argumentation. Matt MacPherson says that Google is ubiquitous (everywhere), omniscient (everything) and immortal (everytime a server dies, it can be replaced easily). Google remembers everything, and many people depend on it.

The idea is not new. Three years ago, Thomas Friedman wrote an article for New York Times that quoted Alan Cohen, a V.P. of Airespace, a WiFi provider: "If I can operate Google, I can find anything. And with wireless, it means I will be able to find anything, anywhere, anytime. Which is why I say that Google, combined with WiFi, is a little bit like God. God is wireless, God is everywhere and God sees and knows everything. Throughout history, people connected to God without wires. Now, for many questions in the world, you ask Google, and increasingly, you can do it without wires, too."

Google is just a metaphor for the perfect search engine, that could answer to any question, could understand your thoughts and could make material barriers insignificant. But playing God may be dangerous and may melt your wings.

{ In the image, Icarus, by Boris Vallejo. Read about the legend of Icarus. }

7 comments:

  1. Wow... I never saw anything relating to that, but wow.. as you could easily see from Google's "all knowing" stats, this is what I wrote on my blog.. several days ago..

    I could agree with your post. :o)

    Thanks.. Knew I was onto something.. ;o)

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  2. Not to mention the classic proof (by, if I remember Philosophy 101, Thomas Aquinas) that god is all knowing, all powerful and all benevolent. Add benevolence into the mix, and where the real god loses (e.g., child suffering, dead babies, etc.) Google succeeds with “Don’t be evil.” Just a thought, that maybe Google is better then god. Now that’s good blasphemy.

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  3. Wooooaaahhh you guys simply don't know how magnificent God really is to compare him to Google.

    Hmmm, but having said that, you guys have actually illustrated another similarity between Jesus and Google. You can know Him and know about Him but these render completely different results: knowing him saves us; only knowing about him leaves us ignorant of this. In the same way, having an "omniscient" Google at your fingertips means nothing if you don't know how to use it to find the Truth.

    Paul saw this post coming 2000 years ago: "in claiming to be wise, they became fools" (Romans 1:22)

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  4. Firstly, it wasn't my question or idea. I just find it interesting.

    Secondly, I called it a blasphemy.

    Thirdly, you're right about the fact that a search engine doesn't find the truth. It just shows what other people know / think / have discovered.

    Fourthly, Google is not God and I didn't take God's name in vain. But it's interesting to think at the power of knowledge and Google is just a tool that wants to make this accessible. Google is a tool for sharing knowledge.

    Fifthly, I used "Godly" and not "God" in the title.

    I hope you didn't take this serious. But I do have one question. You said: "In the same way, having an omniscient Google at your fingertips means nothing if you don't know how to use it to find the Truth."

    How should you use it to find the Truth?

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  5. God doesn’t know everything - God IS everything! If your talking about the oldest friend to knowledge your talking about something else entirely.

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  6. this post is really stupid. Some respect to God please.

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  7. Why am I not surprised people got up in arms about this clever observation? Take it easy, people.

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