# Has Every Invention Been Used For Evil? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 21, 2019, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-every-invention-been-used-for-evil/843767 "2019-11-21T12:18:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-every-invention-been-used-for-evil/843767/41 "2019-11-22T03:41:50Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Mousetrap? > > (PETA would perhaps disagree.) YouTube has allowed the mousetrap to be used more against people than mice. 😃 [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/-C8ARFCC6RM/maxresdefault.jpg "100 MOUSE TRAPS PRANK - Top Boyfriend and Girlfriend Pranks") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C8ARFCC6RM) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-every-invention-been-used-for-evil/843767/42 "2019-11-22T03:49:26Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > YouTube has allowed the mousetrap to be used more against people than mice. 😃 :smack: ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-every-invention-been-used-for-evil/843767/43 "2019-11-22T20:26:10Z")
The xkcd and OOTS cites are pretty good examples of why I love this board so much. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-every-invention-been-used-for-evil/843767/44 "2019-11-22T21:42:58Z")
I am evil, yet I was never invented. Thus the syllogism fails. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-every-invention-been-used-for-evil/843767/45 "2019-11-22T21:57:31Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > I am evil, yet I was never invented. Thus the syllogism fails. No, “Every evil thing has been invented” would be the converse, which is not logically equivalent. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-every-invention-been-used-for-evil/843767/46 "2019-11-22T22:10:08Z")
Why does everyone talk about evil like its a bad thing? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-every-invention-been-used-for-evil/843767/47 "2019-11-22T22:42:43Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I’ve got five patents. So far as I know, no one has ever used any of them for Evil. > Is there money in simply being Evil? Maybe I should look into it. I have 2 patents, both connected to cellular telephones. I am sure that both have been used for evil purposes. I like to say that I have spent my career making it easier and cheaper to download porn. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-every-invention-been-used-for-evil/843767/48 "2019-11-23T01:45:10Z")
> [@Tatterdemalion](#): > > I have 2 patents, both connected to cellular telephones. I am sure that both have been used for evil purposes. > > I like to say that I have spent my career making it easier and cheaper to download porn. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I for one applaud your efforts. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-every-invention-been-used-for-evil/843767/49 "2019-11-23T02:29:48Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > I for one applaud your efforts. With one or two hands? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DannyBeans](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dannybeans/32/38_2.png) [@DannyBeans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DannyBeans)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-every-invention-been-used-for-evil/843767/50 "2019-11-23T02:57:00Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Interstellar probes could theoretically and unintentionally be used to spread disease throughout the universe. Would that be “evil,” though, or just negligent? I think intent should be a factor. Anyway, I doubt the [Useless Machine](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z86V_ICUCD4) has ever been used for evil. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-every-invention-been-used-for-evil/843767/51 "2019-11-23T03:06:48Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > With one or two hands? 😉 What’s the sound of one hand clapping? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-every-invention-been-used-for-evil/843767/52 "2019-11-23T03:52:06Z")
Well, a lot of things that were created with benign intentions do indeed lend themselves to reprehensible deployments, sure enough. All it takes is a lethally diabolical imagination. Take naloxone for instance. Saves people from opiate overdoses, by shutting down the action of narcotics in the system. Visualize the hospital ward where they’ve taken the burn victims, who are in severe pain… ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-every-invention-been-used-for-evil/843767/53 "2019-11-23T09:16:02Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > You remember those little sticky plastic octopuses that you would throw against a wall and they would slowly crawl down? I doubt that those have ever been used for evil. “Damnit! Stop hitting your brother with the octopu… octopi… whatever! Stop hitting your brother!” ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-every-invention-been-used-for-evil/843767/54 "2019-11-23T16:43:13Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Has a hula hoop ever been used for evil? Yes. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/l1CtS2KA3Zs/maxresdefault.jpg "Cold Open: Holt's Mysterious Injury - Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Episode Highlight)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1CtS2KA3Zs) ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-every-invention-been-used-for-evil/843767/55 "2019-11-23T19:04:02Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > What’s the sound of one hand clapping? 😉 Oooo-Oooo! I know that one! I read Unca Cecil’s column on it! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-every-invention-been-used-for-evil/843767/56 "2019-11-23T20:48:33Z")
Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-every-invention-been-used-for-evil/843767.md?page=2)