Yes, I would work at Meta. Unfortunately (or maybe predictably), the cushiness of a job at Meta outweighs my moral unease. It’s the same tension described in The Psilocybin Project: when something ethically questionable also happens to be materially rewarding, most people convince themselves it’s fine… as long as they’re not the one directly administering the drug.
The author asks where responsibility lies in unethical systems: with the professor leading the experiment, the grad students distributing doses, or the secretary filing the paperwork? I think a majority of us would contently believe we’re the secretary. We’re close enough to enjoy the benefits yet far enough to avoid the blame. I have three friends who work at Meta, and not once have any of them questioned working there. That’s the moral distance. My friends, like many other employees, simply do not see (or choose not to see) the bad their work enables.
I’d justify working there the same way many justified staying in the Psilocybin Project until its end: by believing that proximity doesn’t equal guilt. My day-to-day might focus on optimizing systems, not directly shaping how users are manipulated. And if I told myself that, I would sleep just fine on a very nice Meta-provided salary.
Truthfully, moral distance makes it quite easy to trade ethics for comfort. I can recognize that and still take the job. Which is the uncomfortable part.
