Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Ted Chiang: Fears of Technology Are Fears of Capitalism

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

This is mostly just a clip from a much longer New York Times article where Ezra Klein interviews science fiction writer Ted Chiang. There's some good stuff in the interview (for example: what would a comic where the superhero opposes the status quo look like?) but it being the Times readers might have trouble accessing it. The key point in the excerpt is expressed in the headline. "It's not that technology fundamentally is about putting people out of work. It's capitalism that wants to reduce costs and reduce costs by laying people off" (my emphasis). I know the two are often presented hand in hand, but it's not the case, and people like me, at least, spend a lot of time thinking about how tech can make people's lives better, safer and more secure.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Dec 25, 2024 08:02 a.m.

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