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I've decided that I'm an optimist, and a techno-optimist at that. People's lives are better than ever, the pace of technological innovation is breathtaking betw

I've decided that I'm an optimist, and a techno-optimist at that. People's lives are better than ever, the pace of technological innovation is breathtaking between mRNA vaccines, self-driving cars, VR that actually works (as opposed to the 90s), rockets capable of getting us to the moon and Mars, cars transitioning to EVs at an incredible pace, robotics, deep learning really starting to become useful and so on. What's really changed though is that, perhaps due to Black Mirror and the ever-more gritty Hollywood and bad journalism, it is now considered "smart", and the default, to be a techno-pessimist. As Louie CK once said, everything's amazing and nobody is happy.

southerntofu 5y ago
> People's lives are better than ever In the big cities of the western world, sure. Now tell that to the billions of people who don't have sanitation, and can't find clean food/water due to the industries you listed after polluting everything. But sure they can salvage through hazardous electronics parts and dismember them with powerful chemicals to make a living. But hey at least that's not gonna last, soon they'll be climate refugees, everything's amazing! I'm definitely not a techno-pessimist, but oh boy have we fucked everything up for everyone (and we keep going).
- TheCoelacanth 5y ago
  Standards of living are rising across the non-western world much faster than in the western world. There are still tons of people who struggle to get food, water and sanitation, but it's less than ever before.
hotpotamus 5y ago
Perhaps people who have a hard time paying rent every month aren't so concerned with playing around in VR or rockets going to the moon. Perhaps the millions of people who's profession is driving a vehicle are wary of their paycheck once the self-driving car arrives. Maybe you should look at other statistics to see that Gen X an Millennials are less healthy and less wealthy than their predecessors were at the same ages. Look at the decreasing life expectancy of the US (even before Covid). Read about the effects of inequality in primate societies. Perhaps the advancements in technology have not served to increase human happiness?
- martindbp 5y ago
  You're one of the techno-pessimists. Well, there are two kinds I guess: believing we're stagnating, or believing that tech is actively harmful. Maybe you're both. That's OK, but what are you going to do with that belief? There's nothing TO do but sit moping in a corner. Tech is not going away. We're not going to be hunter gatherers again. The only way is up.
  - Apocryphon 5y ago
    That's a very dismissive attitude towards someone who's raised legitimate concerns about ways society and the biosphere itself have declined since the 2000s.

southerntofu 5y ago

> People's lives are better than ever In the big cities of the western world, sure. Now tell that to the billions of people who don't have sanitation, and can't find clean food/water due to the industries you listed after polluting everything. But sure they can salvage through hazardous electronics parts and dismember them with powerful chemicals to make a living. But hey at least that's not gonna last, soon they'll be climate refugees, everything's amazing! I'm definitely not a techno-pessimist, but oh boy have we fucked everything up for everyone (and we keep going).

TheCoelacanth 5y ago
Standards of living are rising across the non-western world much faster than in the western world. There are still tons of people who struggle to get food, water and sanitation, but it's less than ever before.

hotpotamus 5y ago

Perhaps people who have a hard time paying rent every month aren't so concerned with playing around in VR or rockets going to the moon. Perhaps the millions of people who's profession is driving a vehicle are wary of their paycheck once the self-driving car arrives. Maybe you should look at other statistics to see that Gen X an Millennials are less healthy and less wealthy than their predecessors were at the same ages. Look at the decreasing life expectancy of the US (even before Covid). Read about the effects of inequality in primate societies. Perhaps the advancements in technology have not served to increase human happiness?

martindbp 5y ago
You're one of the techno-pessimists. Well, there are two kinds I guess: believing we're stagnating, or believing that tech is actively harmful. Maybe you're both. That's OK, but what are you going to do with that belief? There's nothing TO do but sit moping in a corner. Tech is not going away. We're not going to be hunter gatherers again. The only way is up.
- Apocryphon 5y ago
  That's a very dismissive attitude towards someone who's raised legitimate concerns about ways society and the biosphere itself have declined since the 2000s.