On Mar 13, 2018 12:28 PM, "Shrabonti Bagchi" <shrabont...@gmail.com> wrote: [•••]
The Center for Humane Technology is a world-class team of former tech insiders and CEOs who are advancing thoughtful solutions to change the culture, business incentives, design techniques, and organizational structures driving how *technology hijacks our brains.* "technology hijacks our brains" Technology cannot change human nature fundamentally. Sure, it can accelerate and magnify some aspects of life, but usually only the crudest expressions of human nature will be the first beneficiaries, because that is what flowers easily. Sophistication and grace will always be in short supply. To break from technology for a moment... Any country or a community moves forward only with a rise in consciousness of everyone or at least their leaders. The average Indian is more corrupt now than in the 80s - the greed, the restlessness has all increased. I think there must be several sociological studies on this, but it's a palpable effect for me. The decline in morality of the political landscape is I think representative of this larger reality. When I look at India's (or China or Egypt) past, I see tremendous examples of leadership and awareness. Regardless of modern views on the caste system, to create a pan Indian social order across many kingdoms, many languages, many ethnicities, many cultures, many cuisines and languages when communication was tricky to say the least is an act of magnificent leadership. This may not stand out on the horizon like the Giza pyramid or Great Wall, but to mould human consensus and to preserve it for as long is impossible by any modern leader. The leaders who made this are unknown but their imprint on society remains. The same with temple building, Kashi alone had 70,000 temples, big and small built to a single plan. To harness the capital, to preserve the social agreement needed to commit across several generations to complete a single master plan is fantastic visionary leadership. The rise of Individualism takes society back to the crudest because it starts everyone on a journey of learning from their mistakes and the first wave of individualism is going to be indulgence in base pleasures and short term goals. In ancient India or Egypt or China, it was enough if one or a few had a grand vision, they could pull society towards this ideal through some pressure - social, religious, or other. Now unless everyone is a visionary, society has to fall to the average level of consciousness of the individual. Our mobile phones and social media are individually tailored to suit our preferences, amplifying our individualism, crafting a reality that is comfortable to the individual for the short term. Technology therefore isn't hijacking human nature, merely showing most of us who we really are as individuals. Most of us aren't that great at dealing with our temptations, our sense of self and the mental contents that go into keeping it healthy. In economics a similar strain of trouble is called the tragedy of the commons. If everyone looks out for what is good for them, it affects social order and then ultimately the individual. Life has to be a little daunting, a little less accommodating of the individual to benefit society, and indirectly keep the individual healthy. I think bad memories of communism and fascism will mean no one willingly gives up individualism, but sooner or later we will get pushed there by the populist leaders we elect who give us our base desires in return for greater power. There will be a lot of turmoil awaiting if we think this is just about technology.
