

A Power so Great it can only be used for Good or Evil - mtraven
http://omniorthogonal.blogspot.com/2010/12/power-so-great-it-can-only-be-used-for.html

======
Umalu
This is a thoughtful review of Kevin Kelly's "What Technology Wants." The book
itself is very thought-provoking, so much so that I haven't stopped thinking
about it since reading it a month or so ago. The criticisms in this review are
certainly valid, and this is one of those books I doubt anyone could agree
100% with, but what is missing from this review is an appreciation for Kelly's
valiant attempt to grapple with the enormity of what technology has wrought,
and the even greater enormity of what technology seems poised to do in the
future. That's what kept me thinking since I put the book down and, while I am
not sure I'll end up exactly where Kelly is, I have to give him a great deal
of credit for a big think that really stimulated my synapses.

~~~
mtraven
Thanks for the comment. You are right -- Kelly should be given some credit for
trying to come to grips with really big issues. But I don't think his
approach, which amounts to inflating technology into a cosmic, autonomous, and
unstoppable force is the right one. It breeds passivity, and the opposite of
that is what's needed.

