Another fantastic essay! I would argue that the roots of this lie in the Enlightenment and the division between science and the rest of life. When we started valorising our intellect at the expense of all our other faculties then we took a wrong fork in the road imo. I hope that we can find a way back.....
Ellul’s “self-propelling logic of technology” is scarier than any dystopian novel.
There’s no wicked mastermind; just a method that spreads because it “works,” damn the moral cost.
And we pay that cost in lost freedoms and endless dependencies.
At the same time, I like you how highlight a path forward.
Refuse to worship the machine.
It’s about mindset—seeing that new gadget not as salvation but as another chain.
Carve out pockets of autonomy, grow a garden, unplug from the next big app.
Long term, we need to develop this, perhaps utilising technology for larger moral/traditional aims, blending cryptocurrencies with independent living etc.
https://open.substack.com/pub/paulkingsnorth?r=fcfps&utm_medium=ios
Build on!
There is a class of people who delight in this control, who see absolutely nothing wrong with it, who worship it. Even to the point of our extinction.
Another fantastic essay! I would argue that the roots of this lie in the Enlightenment and the division between science and the rest of life. When we started valorising our intellect at the expense of all our other faculties then we took a wrong fork in the road imo. I hope that we can find a way back.....
Ellul’s “self-propelling logic of technology” is scarier than any dystopian novel.
There’s no wicked mastermind; just a method that spreads because it “works,” damn the moral cost.
And we pay that cost in lost freedoms and endless dependencies.
At the same time, I like you how highlight a path forward.
Refuse to worship the machine.
It’s about mindset—seeing that new gadget not as salvation but as another chain.
Carve out pockets of autonomy, grow a garden, unplug from the next big app.
Long term, we need to develop this, perhaps utilising technology for larger moral/traditional aims, blending cryptocurrencies with independent living etc.
Great summary, not a wasted word.
Beautifully written. I will share it widely.
Appreciate it Magnus
Excellent
Appreciate it John