Dear Timothy: while I agree with your assessment that narrow-minded techno-utopian thinking won’t get us “there”—there being a world in which the prosperity that Auerswald identifies becomes actualized (and, I might add, not just material riches, but ideally those of the human spirit as well)—I do think it may be appropriate to bring up the tired forest-vs.-trees analogy here.
Yes, Diamandis—and other techno-optimists—may be viewing the future through a smaller lens than some of us would like. But that doesn’t fundamentally negate the positivity and power of something as seemingly first-world-only as 3D printing; consider how cell phones, which only Zack Morris and friends could use when they first became commercialized, have created upward social mobility in India and beyond.
So, while I support your position that there’s more to the picture than technology alone—that human ingenuity and the enterprising spirit are, perhaps, a more fundamental part of the equation than their technological outputs—I’d like to include, rather than criticize, techno-utopists as an important, but only partial, dimension of creating a world that works for all, or most, of its inhabitants. Understanding and appreciating human psychology, cultural complexity, and the deeper dimensions of development are all critical to forging a better world, but they need not, in my opinion, exclude those openly and wildly exuberant about our brave new technological frontiers.
COMMENTS
BY Sam Rosen
ON July 31, 2012 08:24 PM
Dear Timothy: while I agree with your assessment that narrow-minded techno-utopian thinking won’t get us “there”—there being a world in which the prosperity that Auerswald identifies becomes actualized (and, I might add, not just material riches, but ideally those of the human spirit as well)—I do think it may be appropriate to bring up the tired forest-vs.-trees analogy here.
Yes, Diamandis—and other techno-optimists—may be viewing the future through a smaller lens than some of us would like. But that doesn’t fundamentally negate the positivity and power of something as seemingly first-world-only as 3D printing; consider how cell phones, which only Zack Morris and friends could use when they first became commercialized, have created upward social mobility in India and beyond.
So, while I support your position that there’s more to the picture than technology alone—that human ingenuity and the enterprising spirit are, perhaps, a more fundamental part of the equation than their technological outputs—I’d like to include, rather than criticize, techno-utopists as an important, but only partial, dimension of creating a world that works for all, or most, of its inhabitants. Understanding and appreciating human psychology, cultural complexity, and the deeper dimensions of development are all critical to forging a better world, but they need not, in my opinion, exclude those openly and wildly exuberant about our brave new technological frontiers.
With respect,
Sam
BY Cuenta
ON December 13, 2019 09:15 PM
“Abundance” it’s one of the silliest books I’ve ever read. The authors would do well in reading G. F. Jünger’s The Failure of Technology.