

Same as It Ever Was: Why the Techno Optimists Are Wrong - jeffreyrogers
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2015-06-16/same-it-ever-was

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tim333
He seems a bit downbeat on the whole thing speaking as a bit of a techno
optimist myself. Viewing Earth's history from a long perspective the main
events would likely be big bang, planet forms, biological life evolves and
then 13.8bn years after the big bang technology becomes smart and evolves.
We're on the verge of the latter. It's unlikely to be the same as it ever was.

I've never been keen on out minds being fastened to a dying animal, as Yeats
put it. Roll on the singularity.

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Dowwie
Thanks for sharing. In this issue, Foreign Affairs presents a more balanced,
constructive editorial on the changes in society presented by technology.

There is more of this theme in other media, such the Intelligence Squared
debate (UK version), "The Internet is a Failed Dystopia", that was this week

Further, in a TNR article from July 2014, Paul Starr wrote about Brynjolfsson
and McAfee's recent work, of which they highlighted in the new Current
Affairs: [http://www.newrepublic.com/article/118327/second-machine-
age...](http://www.newrepublic.com/article/118327/second-machine-age-reviewed-
paul-starr)

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anigbrowl
Martin Wolf is always worth reading. Nice to se a longer form article than his
usual columns in the FT, which always leave me wanting more.

