The Technoskeptic, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit corporation which produces a magazine and podcast exploring the intersection of technology and society from a humanistic perspective. In pursuing our mission, we aspire to serve as a resource, build community, and change culture.
Why Technoskepticism?
There is no question that technology has brought us tantalizing gifts that have radically transformed human civilization. Technology has given us a cure for polio, rapid transit, indoor plumbing, the loom, windmills, and even the letterforms that you are parsing to read this sentence. Technology has also given us global warming, the death of Main Street America, nuclear weapons, light pollution, outsourcing, obesity, and an Orwellian surveillance state.
It’s easy to look at technology—which touches almost every single experience we have—as a neutral entity that can be used for good or ill. It’s also easy to look at it as inevitable. But at some point, it bears asking whether technology might more resemble a drug. If so, can the addicted be trusted to make rational choices? What if instead of blindly riding the wave of futurism, we actually took on the responsibility to consider the latest developments from a holistic perspective and make conscientious decisions about whether and how they should be adopted?
At The Technoskeptic, we don’t hate technology. If that were true, we’d be walking to your house barefoot to deliver this magazine as an epic poem. But we approach it with caution. We may not individually agree on which technologies are and aren’t worthwhile. But we do agree that this sense of inevitability, this sense of serial acquiescence to what technologists insist is progress, needs to be halted. We encourage you to join us. Think before you adopt. Make informed choices. Understand history. Broaden your scope of perception. People may consider us naysayers or Luddites, and that’s fine. We are not trying to be balanced because the scale is already 1000-1 tilted in favor of new technology. So consider us a tiny voice for reason, for humanism, for thoughtfulness. If enough tiny voices join together we could be a mighty choir. Which, we must regrettably admit, is also a technology.
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If you have comments or want to contribute an article to The Technoskeptic, email your comments or story pitch to technoskeptic@substack.com.
