We had some discussion a week or two ago here in forum on this topic when the Guardian article and the ETC Group document made the rounds.
The lifestyle and doctor analogy you use is similar to the one I used in that conversation (I suggested eating sugar and dentistry). I think it would be useful to see deeper research into the psychology and ethics of "technology antipathy" and its related rhetoric. A quick spin with Google doesn't turn up any substantial body of literature on this topic, so all I can offer is conjecture, but blind technology antipathy seems likely to be rooted in cognitive biases, informal logical fallacies (namely the naturalistic fallacy), and irrationality of various kinds (especially hypocrisy). The doctor and dentist analogies above help illustrate some of this irrationality, as well as hint at some of the values that might be operative behind technology antipathy. This is not to say there are *no* reasons to be wary of deploying a new technology. Even something as simple as a toothbrush and toothpaste carries some potential drawbacks (e.g. concerns, however poorly founded, about flouride ingestion, etc.). And the twin assumptions that 1) any new technology is likely to do more harm than good, and 2) a technology is likely to be utilized by those in power to further oppress disadvantaged groups, are at least *understandable* from a precautionary perspective. But having recognized that, there is clearly also a specific type of cognitive dysfunction that gets going in people's heads which leads to conspiratorial irrationality about vaccines and autism, GMOs and cancer, chemtrails, climate change denial, thinking the moon landings were faked, and all the rest. There *is* some good psychological research about conspiracy theories (Rob Brotherton summarizes this for the popular audience), and it may well connect to technology antipathy. One final thing to note is that people *very* seldomly oppose technologies that have overwhelmingly positive benefits and minimum drawbacks. Despite the autism nonsense, vaccines are actually quite a good example. Dentistry is obviously another, but there countless more, from chlorinated drinking water to safe food packaging and refrigeration to telephones to clocks and glasses and clothing and footwear all the way back to fire and the wheel. Technology is simply practical knowledge, and it is therefore nearly tautological to point out that the solution to problems created by that knowledge is never ignorance - it is always *more* and *better* knowledge. -- Adam Dorr PhD Candidate University of California Los Angeles School of Public Affairs [email protected] [email protected] www.adamdorr.com On Tue, May 16, 2017 at 11:27 AM, Craig Morris <[email protected]> wrote: > Hello everyone, > > I am new to this group. Several folks recommended that I post my article > on geo-engineering here, and they all swore I could post without joining, > but this is either not possible, or I just failed the test ;-) > > Anyway, this might interest you: > > http://blog.iass-potsdam.de/2017/05/stop-shaming-geo- > engineering-researchers/ > > I'll check back by in a few days to see if anyone has shared any > reactions. Otherwise, GE is simply too far out on the margins of what I do > to warrant me joining yet another list I can hardly keep up with, so I'll > leave the group then unfortunately. > > You can keep in touch with me on Twitter: @PPchef. I am the coauthor of > the first history of Germany's Energiewende (http://energiewendebook.de/) > and currently a Senior Fellow at the IASS. > > Best regards, > > Craig Morris > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "geoengineering" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
