"Just like beauty, efficiency, competition, and security are all in the eye of the beholder. For example, one person’s “efficiency” may be another person’s “dismantling critical government infrastructure.” And yet technological solutions designed to make things more efficient, more competitive, or more secure are often presented by Silicon Valley as neutral and universally desirable. That veneer of neutrality and universality can be dangerous if it disguises the fact that Silicon Valley is solving (or creating and then solving) problems in ways that are antithetical to our values. To illustrate those dangers, we’ll use a particular technological solution: the blockchain. A blockchain is a clunky type of database, and it really is the perfect example to demonstrate the hollowness of techno-solutionism: it promises to do everything but really isn’t very good at doing much of anything (anything other than helping some unscrupulous folks make money, that is)."
First seen: 2025-07-29 02:36
Last seen: 2025-07-29 11:38