[godelski]

This is how I read the article as well. Which makes the title a misnomer in one sense but correct in another, which I think was the intent. Technology is great and no doubt makes our lives better, but it isn't a cure all.

I frequently say that we've solved (almost) all first and second degree problems (problems which are cause->effect our cause->effect->effect). A big problem that were facing today is we have high order problems and we're treating them like first degree (the call is always clear "it's easy, you just..."). We've clearly advanced to a stage, at least in the first world, were we have extremely complex issues that are interconnected with many others. Luckily we're also at a stage (in all worlds) where we can recognize this, but we need to act on it. I often see complex issues (name literally any popular topic discussed in political climate: climate, guns, civil rights, reputations, etc) addressed as simple to solve issues. While all of them are solvable, over simplifying actually distracts from the problem. And I think the author of this article would agree with me, they often make things worse in the long run. With these great advancements we've made we not only should, but have a duty, to think better about the future and complexity of the issues at hand.

A good engineer can solve a problem. A great engineer recognizes the usefulness of a thousand page reference manual on orings and uses that reference.