4 ms·

There should be no surprise that "those with power and money" will not willingly apply "technology" for social good. It should be expected, rather. Your comment

There should be no surprise that "those with power and money" will not willingly apply "technology" for social good. It should be expected, rather. Your comment brings to mind Edward R. Murrow's speech in 1958 about the direction of television (certainly would be "high tech" back then!) He and others envisioned education, information, and enlightenment from this technology. Well, you know what we got instead. Here is a summary of the speech, and you can hear the whole thing on youtube if you like- still absolutely relevant. https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2014/today-in-media-history-edward-r-murrow-challenged-the-broadcast-industry-in-his-1958-rtnda-speech/ https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2014/today-in-medi... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIhy0T7Q48Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIhy0T7Q48Y We can see the same thing with other newer media; Ex. video games. I don't have solutions per se, though I wish this pattern could be different. The profit motive and appealing to base instinct seems to always "win".

MSFT_Edging 3y ago
I'm aware it should be expected. The target of my comment is specifically the "well profit=good" crowd on here. It's to point out the innate contradiction in how we speak about technology compared to the guaranteed outcome in our system. We're doomed as a species if we keep believing in the magical market as a primary mover for said species. We'll stall in a circlejerk of ads and stock buybacks and never accomplish anything, because any good use for technology is locked behind a gate due to the lack of profit. Any improvement in medicine is behind lock and key because the pharmaceutical companies "need to make back their investment" despite massive gov funding. We're killing ourselves here with the spectacle that this system is either working or worth saving.
- stateofinquiry 3y ago
  True points, and I apologize for missing you actual point and wandering off a bit. We probably need another social model for technological development specifically- but I am not sure what it might be. If there is anything useful to salvage from my previous its that this issue has been with us for a long while.
  - MSFT_Edging 3y ago
    I think amazing gains could be made if we ripped the bandaid off and took all the weapons manufacturers and other gov contractors and used that brain power entirely for darpa style public works projects. Our current military industrial project is just a self fulfilling fantasy. Stop the contracts for war, create contracts and research for moving humanity forward without the need to strap it to a missile 20 years before it hits shelves. Keep IP rights publicly owned, license them to anyone and use the licensing fees to fund new research.

MSFT_Edging 3y ago

I'm aware it should be expected. The target of my comment is specifically the "well profit=good" crowd on here. It's to point out the innate contradiction in how we speak about technology compared to the guaranteed outcome in our system. We're doomed as a species if we keep believing in the magical market as a primary mover for said species. We'll stall in a circlejerk of ads and stock buybacks and never accomplish anything, because any good use for technology is locked behind a gate due to the lack of profit. Any improvement in medicine is behind lock and key because the pharmaceutical companies "need to make back their investment" despite massive gov funding. We're killing ourselves here with the spectacle that this system is either working or worth saving.

stateofinquiry 3y ago
True points, and I apologize for missing you actual point and wandering off a bit. We probably need another social model for technological development specifically- but I am not sure what it might be. If there is anything useful to salvage from my previous its that this issue has been with us for a long while.
- MSFT_Edging 3y ago
  I think amazing gains could be made if we ripped the bandaid off and took all the weapons manufacturers and other gov contractors and used that brain power entirely for darpa style public works projects. Our current military industrial project is just a self fulfilling fantasy. Stop the contracts for war, create contracts and research for moving humanity forward without the need to strap it to a missile 20 years before it hits shelves. Keep IP rights publicly owned, license them to anyone and use the licensing fees to fund new research.