Seriously now: I think there needs to be a grassroots push for a vety selective approach to technology adoption as described by Kevin Kelly in his book What Technology Wants. If people generally treated new apps and devices with a skeptical 'what does this do for me?' attitude, there might be more herd immunity against abuses of power by large tech firms (Google's stealing location data from users, Intel's engineering backdoors into their products, and Facebook's cynical propaganda profiteering) and resulting social disruption. In Canada, engineers in training are asked to swear an oath that they will serve the public good and only work for honest enterprises. I think that if those values were more widely taught and accepted, toleration of abuses within large tech companies would evaporate. It's a cultural change that needs to happen, and the way to effect cultural change is to practice what you believe, "be the change" as Ghandi said, and to share your ideas with others in your workplace and community.
Though we have to say many Eng. don't respect that oath and are not held responsible... For example civil eng. firms giving money to political parties to have contracts.
> If a solution depends first on wishing reality was different, it’s fantasy. At best a reality to realize.
What an awful mischaracterization of my suggestion. I suggest that a person change themselves as a way of influencing the people around them (e.g. stop using facebook if they think facebook has a malign influence on our culture).
If any inconvenience at all is too much inconvenience for a person to live by their principles, I would say that person doesn't have any perceptible principles at all. 'Domesticated animal' might be an apt descriptor for such a person, but it's really unfair to the class of domesticated animals because they don't have the freedom to choose anything but domestication for themselves.
Seriously now: I think there needs to be a grassroots push for a vety selective approach to technology adoption as described by Kevin Kelly in his book What Technology Wants. If people generally treated new apps and devices with a skeptical 'what does this do for me?' attitude, there might be more herd immunity against abuses of power by large tech firms (Google's stealing location data from users, Intel's engineering backdoors into their products, and Facebook's cynical propaganda profiteering) and resulting social disruption. In Canada, engineers in training are asked to swear an oath that they will serve the public good and only work for honest enterprises. I think that if those values were more widely taught and accepted, toleration of abuses within large tech companies would evaporate. It's a cultural change that needs to happen, and the way to effect cultural change is to practice what you believe, "be the change" as Ghandi said, and to share your ideas with others in your workplace and community.