Well said. It is disappointing to see such black and white thinking in discussion of the role of technology in daily life.
Do I think there is a real problem with how social media brings out the worst in society? Very much so. But that is almost entirely orthogonal to how I use the (frankly amazing) pocket supercomputer I now carry with me every day.
When I was a kid, mail back home when we lived overseas was a three-month round trip. A 15-minute phone call on Christmas was only possible by pulling a lot of strings. Nowadays? I can pull up a half-dozen webcams in the same neighborhood from literally across the globe.
We may be coming to grips as a world in how to talk to each other effectively, but I don't miss being cut off. Communication matters.
Would you make the same argument for amphetamines? Wonder what Erdős would have to say about this.
As far as communication goes, frankly, I regard large swaths of the internet as hostile and cognitohazardous. I'd rather be cut off. Though, fortunately the choice has already been made for me - there is no escaping assimilation.
The psychological dependence is already taking root; the societal dependence is next to come. Cash is dirty. There are no taxis to hail on the road. You require a COVID app to gain entry to this venue.
Do I think there is a real problem with how social media brings out the worst in society? Very much so. But that is almost entirely orthogonal to how I use the (frankly amazing) pocket supercomputer I now carry with me every day.
When I was a kid, mail back home when we lived overseas was a three-month round trip. A 15-minute phone call on Christmas was only possible by pulling a lot of strings. Nowadays? I can pull up a half-dozen webcams in the same neighborhood from literally across the globe.
We may be coming to grips as a world in how to talk to each other effectively, but I don't miss being cut off. Communication matters.