| Silicon Valley or SC-ideological technologists have this ideological short-circuit for social problems. Let’s call it the Law of SC since every short-circuit needs an authoritative-sounding name, I mean law. - The premise is that there is a social problem - There are some examples of this repeating through history - It always plays out this way - Therefore we will conclude that it is technological determinism - Bonus: Argue that this is fundamentally human nature-determinism by evoking Darwin, Buddhism or Stoicism - Since this is Determinism (tech. or human) it can’t be solved - You have now achieved the end-goal: “Explaining” the problem, which gives you smartness cred - Bonus: Argue that technologists were already in the know. (Steve Jobs once admitted that his kids weren’t allowed to use the iPad.) That this is a hopeless attitude is revealed in the conclusion: > You don’t win by keeping up. You win by stepping out. Because you cannot step out. You can’t rewind the clock. This is reactionary in the political sense since it aspires to go back to the past—but you can’t.[1] We have made these technological dependencies for ourselves, or fetters. Now we need to deal with them. We need to make them work for us. What we don’t need is to stick our heads in the snad and proclaim that the best we can do is to take timeouts from technology, to create smartphone-free zones or whatever. Really? You advance these gadgets to the point where you need them (or a laptop/desktop) to minimally function in society... and then you become scared of them? No.[2] What’s the incentive for technology companies? To prey on your attention, your time, and erode your self-worth. This is already known. Where’s the technological determinism here? Just look at the Wizard, pulling the strings—is this your technological determinism? You (or we) are just complicit in making shitty technology. Don’t blame technological determinism or human nature. Blame yourself. Commutes don’t expand. Home prices go up into stratosphere near any place people have to work. And the car industry lobbies against public transport. These are all human-made problems. There is nothing deterministic about them. Your Dilbert-style laws are a crutch. Try to expand your focus beyond your narrow expertise. Then you’ll see that something better is possible. [1] Try to become a hermit. Civilization (modernity) will eventually encroach on your little hermitland. [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43510559 |