Technological Resistance Fighters

In past readings, I’ve quoted passages from Neil Postman’s prophetic book, Amusing Ourselves to Death. Today, I want to share a powerful thought from a later book he wrote titled Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology.

According to Neil, Technopoly is “progress without limits, rights without responsibilities, and technology without cost.” He goes on to describe what it means to be a Technological Resistance Fighter against the Technopoly: “A resistance fighter understands that technology must never be accepted as part of the natural order of things, that every technology—from an IQ test to an automobile to a television set to a computer—is a product of a particular economic and political context and carries with it a program, an agenda, and a philosophy that may or may not be life-enhancing and that therefore requires scrutiny, criticism, and control. In short, a technological resistance fighter maintains a...distance from any technology, so that it always appears somewhat strange, never inevitable, never natural.”

I think that’s an incredibly healthy posture when it comes to AI, ChatGPT, and the latest high-tech breakthrough. Instead of being first adapters, we instead pause and consider what particular agenda and philosophy it’s infused with.

We become modern-day technological resistance fighters by maintaining a thoughtful distance from each new emerging technology. The artificial should never feel real to us, but always “somewhat strange, never inevitable, and never natural.”

One last thought. If today’s reading resonated, take a moment now to email or share it with a fellow creative, friend or family member who could use the encouragement.

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