Extended talk (45 min): How can we improve our handling of technology's negative effects?

Version 1

Without paying attention to the root causes of technology’s negative effects we are condemned to a losing battle, as these effects are increasing in amount and complexity.

The manner in which we invent and apply technology is not only creating ever more negative effects, but ever more complex ones as well. This produces a widening gap between that which we should be able to manage and that which we actually can manage. If we want to change this trend we must start looking at the root causes of the problem.

Each further step taken in the evolution of digital technologies and technologies in general offers us an additional mix of advantages and disadvantages. We gladly accept the advantages and try to manage the disadvantages as well as we can. But each further step causes something more fundamental: yet more technology focus, more technological definitions and standardizations, more influencing or displacing of the human through the technological. As the saying goes: everything in moderation – but does our current culture of technology have a sense of moderation, a sense of other values than the technological? For freedom and diversity? If we want to maintain our humanity we must start paying far greater attention to the causal relations between us humans and technology.

Info

Day: 2020-10-09
Start time: 20:00
Duration: 00:55
Room: Online / ETH (RED)
Track: Interdisciplinary

Schedule VIScon Digital 2020