[Sharlin]

Technological solutions to social problems only tend to work when the problems are of the type "I wish it were easier to rid people of their money".

[akoboldfrying]

Agriculture. Plumbing. The printing press. Electricity. Vaccines. Fiat money itself, which is a technology that is better than the technology of barter, which is better than each person having to grow or make every material thing they need.

[jakelazaroff]

"How do we remove feces from our living spaces" and "how do we stop dying from pathogens" are not social problems.

[john_strinlai]

if you do not consider public health a social issue, what do you consider to be one?

[mrhottakes]

Those are perhaps the biggest social problems that humanity has ever faced.

[dghlsakjg]

I can’t think of many better examples of social problems than sanitation and public health.

[jakelazaroff]

In that case, what are examples of non-social problems you can think of?

[neonstatic]

I think the point that is missed is all of these solved real problems that needed solving. I feel over the last decade we have exhausted the obvious benefits of the Internet revolution and more often than not we were seeing clever technology being developed, that wouldn't solve any problems. Then long and painful search for applications of that technology would ensue. Cases in point: crypto, llms.