Well, many would argue that anything involving human beings is inheritantly evil :-) Soooo probably the best and most accurate answer is "yes and no" ...

Of course answerbag is not inherently evil. We just use it to voice our opinons and interact with some great answerbag people.

Only if the moderators assume absolute power.

Probably is...anything that questions anything or seeks truth is called evil by somebody. Better question: Power = Work/Time Knowledge = Power Time = Money Knowledge = Work/Money Does this mean that as Money increases, Knowledge decreases? I mean, as Knowledge approaches 0, Money approaches infinity! Does this explain my boss???

Power is not always bad...if they were no power in the world who would mantain law and order? So No power is not always evil...only when you abuse power does it become evil.

My opinion of that statement is that having knowledge of life's ups and downs, illnesses, our family, children,relationship problems, but mostly being aware of our surroundings, that empowers us. Answerbag is one of hundreds of question and answer sites. I do not consider it evil but imformative. If any of us helps one person that empowers them and gives them knowledge of what is really going on, from an objective and neutral person. The only power I know of that corrupts is that of a sinister animal like Osama BinLadin for example. He uses his power to hurt, torture and kill people.

Well it's a whimsical question, so I guess I'm up for a serious answer: We confuse "power" and "force" too much. Power is a healthy thing -- it's the ability to make something happen, to create, to respond, to engage, to move things. "Force", on the other hand, is what we use when we lack power. We strap on our weapons, lock onto the enemy, and engage in fear-driven struggle to expel him from the Earth. Power has it's source in the interconnectedness of all things. Force has it's source in delusions of separateness and fear. Power doesn't corrupt -- greed, fear, and ignorance corrupts: and then force turns that corruption into destruction. So the old saying is just wrong.

This is what logics professors would consider a ontilogical word trick. There have been many famous ones that claim to prove things, even the existence of God. (God is that than which nothing greater can be imagined. Since we can't imagine anything greater than "that than which nothing greater can be imagined," therefore: God EXISTS!) When you claim, definitionally, that something is true, then things start to flow from that. But if the definitions are inaccurate, and they can be, since they are invented by the mind of the postulator, or if they are SOMETIMES true, but not always true, then it flows that the answer is not accurate as an absolute truth. For instance, knowledge is not always power. Or, more specifically, knowledge alone may not be power. Or knowledge of a minor fact may not be power ENOUGH to be considered true power. If I have "knowledge" of all of the characters in the Flinstones, am I powerful? If I have a lot of high-level knowledge of a very narrow field (say the making of table salt), but no resources (poverty) to act upon some of the knowledge I have, is it possible that I never become powerful? And also, your definition of power might be different than my definition of power. If I only consider myself "powerful" if I can have executive power over at least one major municipality, then perhaps I have not become powerful by learning a tidbit of knowledge. Also, definitionally, "corruption" and "evil" are two different things, perhaps by degree. So the postulator might have gotten CLOSER (but not all the way) to the truth if they had left out that last level of inaccuracy, i.e., "if knowledge is power, and power corrupts, is Answerbag inherently corrupt?" Finally, since some of the knowledge obtained in Answer Bag is pseudoknowledge and it is your job to pick-through and determine what is valuable (=knowledge), the quality of knowledge received in any one session might not equal knowledge or power.

This is just my take. Knowledge is power - I will accept that because it is a tool for creative thinking. Gotta love those power tools! The original quote from Lord Acton was: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." If you accept the premise that power tends to corrupt, it can also tend the other direction, toward purity. Power over oneself is a pure goal; power over others is a corrupt goal. As for Answerbag, the contents themselves are devoid of character. We supply the character as we choose. I gotta read up more on Lord Acton.

If power stays in the hands of one, or a select few, who answer to no one, then power corrupts; ergo our system of government, which is supposed to deter said evil. Kings, dictators, tyrants have all proven through the ages that absolute power corrupts absolutely.

No, not inherently. Answerbag is the people who use the site, and therefore a dynamic entity. If those people argue, for example, then infighting and bickering will push Answerbag closer toward the Dark Side. OTOH, if the same people try and get along and get over minor disagreements before they turn into something harmful and damaging, Answerbag will edge closer to the side of Light and Goodness. Knowledge is not evil. Power is not evil. Both can be wonderful when used for good and horrible when used for evil. Stop arguing over the small stuff. You guys weren't here when the ratings wars raged. If you had been, you would realize how quickly things can get out of control. You would not want to be a part of the 2006 version.

I feel that it would be evil if you used the knowledge you learn here the wtong way. If I felt that the people here at answerbag were on a power trip I probably wouldn't come here. But since so many people do it balances out equally. Depending on how you take an answer or question is more the deciding factor as to whether the person using answerbag is evil.

Yes , But like most things. thats what makes if Interesting and fun :) Besides that, why else would I be here ???

I work on learning,positive Question's and positive Answer's -- to help me grow,and share with other's -- and, that can't be evil -- Pattijo

I think Marcus Aurelius had the answer when he asked: What is its (Answerbag) nature? What is it in and of itself?