The Four Mistakes We Make When We Talk About Technology

I think the way we talk about technology is in danger of repeating a mistake. It's a mistake that we made very recently and with catastrophic consequences, so it's particularly poignant that we may make it again.

The mistake we made was in the way we talked about globalisation... It was portrayed as an unstoppable force, something that there was no point trying to object to and you were stuck in the past if you did. "Globalisation is coming, there is no alternative".

Secondly, it was portrayed as something which would have winners and losers, but that there would be more winners than losers. So the losers just need to suck it up, realise they're on the wrong side of history and adapt.

Thirdly, it was argued that globalisation would mean some things that you cared about, like national sovereignty or defending certain industries, these were things you could no longer expect to control. Read on here....

-- Azeem Azhar

Seems to me we talk about other things this way, too. Like theology....