Scan barcode
A review by wilte
To Save Everything, Click Here: The Folly of Technological Solutionism by Evgeny Morozov
3.0
Activistic book against Internet-centrism and solutionism. Morozov provides some anti-dote against techno-optimists (but also against nudging). His main point is summed up in this quote from p.189: "We cannot circumvent legal procedures and subvert democratic norms in the name of efficiency alone."
Crowdsourcing is nothing new: https://twitter.com/wilte/status/908576022207057921
p75: Solutions are not assessed based on their merits but rather on how wel they sit with the idea of a free, open, transparent "network" and its "architecture". (Morozov frequently talks about "the Internet", between quotes).
p168 Sveiby, Gripenberg & Segercrantz (2012) studied all academic articles about innovation since 1960s. Among thousends of articles, they found only 26 that adressed negative or undesirable consequences of innovation. Roughly 1 per 1000 articles, proportion that hasn't changed since 1960s.
http://www.sveiby.com/book/Challenging-the-Innovation-Paradigm
p197 According to Roger Brownsword, regulators can use three registers to get us to do the right thing:
* Moral register - it's right or wrong relative to well-established community standards
* Prudential register - appeal to our self-interest, we shouldn't do something because it will ultimately harm us.
* Register of practicability (technological) - make something technologically infeasible, obviating the need to appeal to our moral or prudential interests.
p220 Motto of Chicago's 1933 WOrld's Fair: Science Finds - Industry Applies - Man Conforms
p330 Spore 1.1 project (http://www.swamp.nu/projects/spore-1-1/)
The plant has already died five times - due to overwatering.
Final words on p358:
Crowdsourcing is nothing new: https://twitter.com/wilte/status/908576022207057921
p75: Solutions are not assessed based on their merits but rather on how wel they sit with the idea of a free, open, transparent "network" and its "architecture". (Morozov frequently talks about "the Internet", between quotes).
p168 Sveiby, Gripenberg & Segercrantz (2012) studied all academic articles about innovation since 1960s. Among thousends of articles, they found only 26 that adressed negative or undesirable consequences of innovation. Roughly 1 per 1000 articles, proportion that hasn't changed since 1960s.
http://www.sveiby.com/book/Challenging-the-Innovation-Paradigm
p197 According to Roger Brownsword, regulators can use three registers to get us to do the right thing:
* Moral register - it's right or wrong relative to well-established community standards
* Prudential register - appeal to our self-interest, we shouldn't do something because it will ultimately harm us.
* Register of practicability (technological) - make something technologically infeasible, obviating the need to appeal to our moral or prudential interests.
p220 Motto of Chicago's 1933 WOrld's Fair: Science Finds - Industry Applies - Man Conforms
p330 Spore 1.1 project (http://www.swamp.nu/projects/spore-1-1/)
Spore 1.1 uses an on-board computer with a Wi-Fi connection to monitor The Home Depot’s stock price at the end of each week, keeping a database of week-to-week stock fluctuations. As The Home Depot’s stock value grows, so too does the plant. If the company suffers losses, the plant does not get watered. If the plant should perish due to poor stock performance, it is returned to The Home Depot and replaced with another at no additional cost
The plant has already died five times - due to overwatering.
Final words on p358:
Technology is not the enemy; our enemy is the romantic and revolutionary problem solver who resides within. We can do nothing to tame that little creature, but we can do a lot to tame its favorite weapen: "the Internet." Let's do that while we can - it would be deeply ironic if humanity were to die in the crossfire as its problem solvers attempted to transport that very humanity to a trouble-free world.