In the very near future, smart technologies and big data will allow us to make large-scale and sophisticated interventions in politics, culture, and everyday life.
Technology, Evgeny Morozov proposes, can be a force.
But when we change the motivations for our moral, ethical, and civic behavior we may also change the very nature of that behavior.
But how will such Solutionism affect our society, once deeply political, moral, and irresolvable dilemmas are recast as uncontroversial and easily manageable matters of Technological efficiency? What if some such problems are simply vices in disguise? What if some friction in communication is productive and some hypocrisy in politics necessary? The temptation of the digital age is to fix Everything -- from crime to corruption to pollution to obesity -- by digitally quantifying, tracking, or gamifying behavior.
Technology will allow us to solve problems in highly original ways and create new incentives to get more people to do the right thing.
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year In the very near future, smart technologies and big data will allow us to make large-scale and sophisticated interventions in politics, culture, and everyday life.
Arguing that we badly need a new, post-Internet way to debate the moral consequences of digital technologies, To Save Everything, Click Here warns against a world of seamless efficiency, where everyone is forced to wear Silicon Valley\'s digital straitjacket.
Some of those imperfections are not accidental but by design.
Technology, Evgeny Morozov proposes, can be a force for improvement--but only if we keep Solutionism in check and learn to appreciate the imperfections of liberal democracy.
But when we change the motivations for our moral, ethical, and civic behavior we may also change the very nature of that behavior.
But how will such Solutionism affect our society, once deeply political, moral, and irresolvable dilemmas are recast as uncontroversial and easily manageable matters of Technological efficiency? What if some such problems are simply vices in disguise? What if some friction in communication is productive and some hypocrisy in politics necessary? The temptation of the digital age is to fix everything--from crime to corruption to pollution to obesity--by digitally quantifying, tracking, or gamifying behavior.
Technology will allow us to solve problems in highly original ways and create new incentives to get more people to do the right thing.
In the very near future, smart technologies and big data will allow us to make large-scale and sophisticated interventions in politics, culture, and everyday life
