7/3/26
Chapter 2 is about humanity’s transition from Tool Using society to Technocracy to set the stage for our current transition to Technolopoy.
Tool Using societies had technology, but they were not central to life and culture. Generally, it seems like Theocracy was the way of the land. The scientists of those times wanted technology to further their connection to their religions. Or generally were pursuing truth for its own sake.
Technocracies center technology in society. Progress and using technology for the betterment of society is a central tenet. Religion can still be around, but it is not the ruling force.
People on the transitions between these cultures are interesting. They set the stage for the new world, but had perspectives from the old system. The author talks about how Kepler, Galileo, and Newton were all searching for truth. But they were not trying to defat the church. They were godly men.
Its also notable who Eurocentric this book seems to be thus far. It could be that I’ve forgotten mentions of non Western scientists or societies, I didn’t take notes while reading this chapter.
This chapter feels like more stage setting. The next is titled “From Technocracy to Technopoly”. It seems like that might be where I started really getting into the meat of the book?
5/29/26
US has a tech obsession. Our advancement is always seen as great. We never discuss new technology in terms of winners and users.
5/18/26
Reading this book for The SUDO
Neil is talking about an old myth of a conversation between a wise king and an inventor. The wise king points out that technologies always change things. They are never unalloyed goods. They create winners and losers. The disruption of one monopoly of technology will create a new one.
Neil also does a great job of pointing out how every little advance is a technology. Things like numbers, writing, computers, and even using numbers to grade papers. These all have trade offs, create winners and losers, and shape our society’s cultural way of thinking. They change how we perceive the world.
In the old story of the wise king and the inventor, the kind cautions that the ability to write down will turn people into “re-collecters” and that they will no longer know things. They’ll think they are wise just because they read something on paper. These are real effects of writing. Not even writing is an unalloyed good. The trade-offs, are certainly worth it from our perspective. But there are in fact trade offs.
Good quote:
To a man with a pencil, everything looks like a list. To a man with a camera, everything looks like an image. To a man with a computer, everything looks like data. To a man with a grade sheet, everything looks like a number.
New forms of technology “war” with previous forms. They compete for attention and social status. People watch short form content and read fewer books. This can make it harder for young students to engage with structured thinking required in schools. This makes them “losers” of the technology. It is also conceivable, that what we think of as “success” in school may change so that these same attributes are now thought of as good. Perhaps the ability to parse through many feeds of data quickly will be seen as valuable. Perhaps taking the time to slow down and read an article on something will be seen as a waste of time.
Good quote:
Technological change is neither additive nor subtractive. It is ecological.
In the same way that removing caterpillars from an environment does not just create the same environment minus caterpillars. You have a totally new system that will function differently and need to try and find a new equilibrium.
Neil points out that impact of technology is always unpredictable. Technology will not be weiled in the one way the inventor hopes. It will be used in all the ways it affords for all manner of ends.
How does the computer change our conception of reality?
How does it change what we think of learning? This feels incredibly relevant with the current AI stuff going on right now. It is very clearly creating wildly divergent perspectives in different people.