
Ask HN: At what cost is technology justified - quietthrow
Couldnt help but ponder how the world will view twitter and Facebook 40 years from now. These companies have no doubt brought the world together. They have contributed heavily to the progress of computer technology and in turn other technologies powered by it.<p>They are also serving as the platform that divides nations, addicts generations and fundamentally changed the way our lives work.  To me (and hopefully my fellows of this generation) these companies have laid the foundation of destroying democracies. Twitter is great but it also gives voice to powerful dividing politicians. Facebook is awesome that I can talk to practically every internet connected person on the planet but it’s disgusting how it’s used to change the progress and structure of nations.<p>Twitter edges out in the destruction in us given it’s become a personal newspaper by politicians.<p>At what cost is progress justified? Would be great to hear from folks who are close to Dorsey, Zuck etc to understand how they view the current situation and the role their platforms play in the world today.
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aiscapehumanity
How do you know it was preventable to begin with? I think human nature for the
most part made it an inevitability of these tech companies like FB, twitter to
emerge in some shape or form etc. People were hooked into it before it became
a run-away optimizer of a certain set of behavioral patterns. There's a
spontaneity towards certain things, this question won't have a single
definitive answer. It's only best to watch the procession happen now, same
thing with the rest of technology.

Attempting to curtail technology most likely also runs a risk too.

Much of the issues of the aforementioned platforms were predicted decades
prior to the recent guilt, from French philosophers like Baudrillard to media
scientists like McLuhan.

