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I think what underpins this type of criticism is an irrational desire for computationalism as a general philosophy to be wrong and inapplicable, despite the dra
by mlthoughts2018 6y ago
I think what underpins this type of criticism is an irrational desire for computationalism as a general philosophy to be wrong and inapplicable, despite the dramatic empirical success it enjoys.
> “ Technosolutionism is a way of understanding the world that assigns priority to engineered solutions to human problems. Its first principle is the notion that an app, a machine, a software program, or an algorithm offers the best solution to any complicated problem.”
But you can’t escape science. Whatever is a solution, if it can be reduced to repeatable physical processes and computational substrates, is amenable to engineering and engineering has almost universally made such solutions more scalable, more reliable, safer, more affordable and so on.
I think there is a dangerous Luddite narrative underpinning this that ultimately is not self-consistent and likely to do more harm than good.
Also anecdotally, as an introvert, I can’t overstate how much happier I feel working from home. I’ll take all the flaws of videoconferencing any day, over the constant fight-vs-flight reflex exhaustion of open plan offices and a constant stream of in-person interaction when I need solitude and privacy to get mental clarity about my work.
- PaulDavisThe1st 6y ago> I think there is a dangerous Luddite narrative ... What was ever dangerous about the actual Luddites, as opposed to the story told about the Luddites by their foes?
- mlthoughts2018 6y agoApplying headwinds to progress causes immense compounded harm.
- PaulDavisThe1st 6y ago"Progress" is an undefined, or ill-defined, and highly subjective term. In the 90's, Chris Lasch even argued that it was a relatively new concept, and unknown to his favorite class of human being (the "yeoman", with the traditional US family farmer as a key example, though the concept goes back to at least the Greeks). The Luddites were not against progress. They were against specific forms of progress in which they (1) had no say (2) lost their livelihoods (3) to others who benefitted in what they considered unreasonable ways.