"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it". This quote summarizes much of the discourse in HN

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it". This quote summarizes much of the discourse in HN and the tech industry at large. As you point out, it is in fact a false dichotomy but it is hard to run counter to hundreds of years of cultural conditioning that has run amok since the start of the industrial revolution. Hobbesian thought is common in these threads! Luckily, we've had recent thinkers like Ellul, E.F. Schumacher, and Ivan Illich to challenge these entrenched views.