Finally watched Social Dilemma this past weekend, and had a couple main takeaways (Thread):

1. It provided a nice theory of everything, for how technology designed to reprogram human behavior is at the root of many current social ills: polarization, fake news, suicides..

2. It was very light on pragmatic solutions.

Just asking humans to use less social media is naive when there is nothing more fundamentally human than wanting to feel connected to one another.

Documentaries like these often take the stance of "tech got us into this mess, so we shouldn't count on tech to get us out of this mess."

But that is *always* how tech has worked, ever since we transitioned from hunter gatherers to farmers (the original Faustian bargain).

The reality is that decentralized tech's push towards new business models, user control of data, decentralized reputation, BYO data & algorithms, addresses *many* of the problems identified in the social dilemma.

And there are undoubtedly many fruitful ideas left to explore.

When we ignore tech's potential to solve problems created by tech, we default to relying on human willpower (which has never worked), and draconian regulation (which is often corrupt or ineffective).

Tech, delivered through permissionless innovation, offers a third path.

It's a shame there is such a disconnect between the loudest voices in calling out these social problems...

...and the builders working hardest to solve them.

(fin)