[ad_1]
Next For decades, almost all financial, social and government institutions in the world will be completely overturned by a small but powerful invention: the blockchain.
Do you believe? Or you are one of those people who think that the blockchain and cryptocurrency boom is just a decade-long large-scale fraud – the Dutch tulip bubble, Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, and the weird influence of the libertarian internet Illegitimate child? It is more likely that you—just like me—are neither at these two extremes. Instead, you want someone to show you how to think smartly and nuancedly, instead of always falling into a binary trap.
Ever since I took over as the editorial chairman of WIRED in March last year, binary files have been coming to my mind. That’s because we are at a turning point in the recent history of technology, when various binary files that have long been taken for granted are being questioned.
When WIRED was founded in 1993, it was the bible of technological utopianism. We document and support inventions that we believe will reshape the world; all they need is to be released. Our cover shows talented, rebellious, and visionary people—mostly wealthy white men—geeks who are shaping the future, reshaping humanity, and making everyone’s life more efficient and interesting. They are bolder, more creative, richer, and cooler than you; in fact, they already live in the future. By reading “Connect”, we hinted that you can join them there!
If this optimism is binary 0, then since then, the sentiment has changed to binary 1. Today, a large number of media reports are focused on the damage caused by the technology industry’s reckless actions.It gave us Liberation Square, but also Xinjiang; This BlogosphereAnd also atmosphere; Unlimited opportunities Long tail, But there is also persistent instability Gig economy; mRNA vaccine, but also Crispy baby. WIRED does not avoid covering these issues. But they force us—especially me, as an incoming editor—to think about this question: In an era when technology is often demonized, Wired magazine, a publication that celebrates the birth of technology, means What are you holding?
For me, the answer starts with rejecting binary. Neither optimists nor pessimists have grasped the main point in their views on technology. The lesson of the past 30 years is not that our belief that technology can make the world a better place is wrong. On the contrary, we mistakenly believe that technology itself is the solution—and we now regard technology as a problem as well. It is not only possible that a technology brings benefits and harms at the same time, it is also normal. A hype cycle that allows billionaires to quickly become billionaires and leaves behind a series of failed companies may also lay the foundation for a lasting structural change (Figure A: The first Internet bubble burst). An online platform that creates a community and helps citizens overthrow a dictator (Facebook) can also trap people in subordination and group thinking, and become a tool of oppression. As F. Scott Fitzgerald said, a smart person should be able to keep the opposite idea in their mind at the same time and still be effective.
[ad_2]
Source link
