Having recently watched Crimes New Roman's recent video on the subversion of life itself via technology and the campy, cynical, outrageous film Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die, I find myself conflicted. I personally love tech, I think it's neat. At this rate however, it will kill us all and some will cheer it on.

Tech Bros Will Doom Us All

Technology, writ large, is a means to an end. We develop technologies to solve problems, or at least we used to. Lately, to myself and many others, it's felt as though many "innovations" make new problems to solve, or fail to even put together an idea of what they do.

I am convinced that given no significant change or pushback, some people will gladly destroy the world in favor of whatever fantasy that they believe in (be it world-ending wealth, creating a digital god, etc.). However, there are a great many people that see the risk here as well, and believe that a better future is possible; that there is a better future if we fight for it and resist the change being foisted upon us.

We're The Problem, Solution, and Holy Spirit

American society, as a flailing arbiter of what high-GDP markets want, is in an age of excess. That excess is not evenly distributed however, and an overwhelming majority is firmly in the hands of those at the top. What these markets says is "inenvitable" is merely an expression of the wanton desires of with nothing to do or want for.

It's an ouroboros; the snake which eats itself forever. Those with nothing to want clap their hands and demand something new to revolutionize their lives, the tech bros respond promptly, they need money for their venture funds/angel investors/shareholders and this current amount simply isn't enough. They get to work, telling the world that this is the best thing since anything and everything, and you simply must have it. The rich and idle feel wanted, thus they invest money into this latest, greatest thing. This works until the luster wears off, and they clap their hands again, demanding revolution anew. So the cycle goes on.

Technology Fails, Often

We have a terrible collective memory, so let's be clear: shit fails all the time. Things that are supposed to be a wild new innovation you can't imagine living without sputter out and are forgotten constantly. Here's a short list of things that were going to change the world:

• Theranos
• The Zune
• NFTs
• WeWork
• The Juicero
• The Segway
• The Metaverse, et al
• Google Glass/Smartglasses in general
• Most things Google has invested in, actually
• 3D Televisions
• Various storage medias (Betamax, Laserdisc, Zip drives, etc.)
• TiVo
• The Hyperloop
• Verizon Go90

Those are just the fun ones though, lets talk about some that have hurt people:

• Opioids (killing upwards of 80K people a year, depending on the era was either advertised as a cure-all or as an addiction-free pain medicine)
• The de-buttoning/touchscreenification of cars (contributing to distracted driving among other car issues)
• Really though, cars in general should be on this list, especially American cars (35K+ deaths a year in America because of cars)
• Single use plastics (causing untold ecological damage and the plaguing of smaller nations with trash for "recycling", along with pollutants from production)

Failures Big And Small

These failures remind us that nothing is inevitable but death. As much as these companies claim that the future is what they have to sell, they're wrong a vast majority of the time. Even in the times they're not, society changes alongside it, and eventually things are no longer needed, eventually obsoleting their innovation. There's no reason to think that this wave of change is any more permanent or unavoidable than any other. It's just louder than ever given the money behind it, and the technology we already have around us.

What Does That Tell Us About Now?

Any technology, in any device, requires consideration in implementation and thoughtful engagement. We are lacking in consideration, with Silicon Valley's widespread "move fast and break things" ethos, and we are lacking in thoughtfulness, as these devices continue to try and subsume every waking moment and generations are growing up with them available from birth. Any advancement should be treated with distrust because those making the advancements are often too deep in to see the problems, or are willing to lie to make them happen.

It's the sort of approach the Luddites were in line with; we need protections and an understanding of how things affect us before we wholly embrace a big technological change. It's not anti-technology, it's pro-person. We must look out for each other, something historically the "western powers" have been all too happy to eschew in favor of "progress".

Things are not set in stone, regardless of what you're told. We will see industries collapse upon themselves all because we are unwilling to examine the incentives and powers at play. This will happen with current "AI" propagators, their promises are fundamentally impossible with how the technology works; they're just counting on the runway to be long enough for them to figure out how to build a new kind of plane they haven't designed yet. The world is changing, and it always has been. They do not get to dictate how it does.

So please, be mindful when approaching technology, it's a fickle thing. Most of all though, look out for your neighbor, near or far. People will need to be there for each other for us to survive. We did it without technology and we can do it again, push comes to shove.