This blog has often been critical of the current state of the tech industry. It has critiqued the negative impact that new technological developments are having on modern society. However, today I would like to discuss the upsides of a wired world.
The generic “smart person’s criticism” of the digital revolution is to say: “We all know that the Internet is great on balance, but a few major problems need to be addressed.” These articles go on to discuss only the problems, without explaining what is so obviously “great.” I often think digital critics are afraid of following their critical beliefs to their conclusion, which is that negative consequences of the digital revolution may have outweighed its positive impacts for society, perhaps out of fear of being perceived as neo-luddites or knee-jerk reactionaries.
This post’s discussion of the wonders of the Internet is not an attempt to prove why the Internet has been more good than bad. The aggregate impact of our technologies may be negative, and the question of how to weigh that impact is quite complicated. Nevertheless, aspects of our wired world have excited me and filled me with wonder during the Internet era.