The Dangerous Propaganda Of Techno-Optimism
29,258
Published 2024-03-15
Support independent research and analysis by joining my Patreon page: www.patreon.com/thehatedone
Techno-optimism is a toxic mindset that weaponizes positive thinking to perpetuate structures that caused our problems and guild everyone who speaks out against them. Techno-optimism has become a trend since about the mid 2010s. When suddenly wealthy tech entrepreneurs started giving speeches and talks, writing instant best sellers and featuring in popular podcasts amassing millions of hits. Now it’s a well funded campaign hellbent on convincing policy makers that wealthy investors will figure out what’s best for all of us.
The basic premise of techno-optimism goes like this – we don’t need to invest in robust public transit in our cities. We can just dig single-lane tunnels for taxis to drive through them. We don’t need high-speed rail, we’ll have hyperloop and electric cars. We don’t need a living wage, we’ll have automation doing all of the hard work for us. We don’t need a systemic reform today because we’ll have a technological solution in the future.
Sources [references in the transcript]
[0] oxfam.app.box.com/s/1rp115i9uiwmvsa11mwaa00vwc6ic4…
[1] www.scientificamerican.com/article/ai-generated-da…
[2] www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00478-x
[3] www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2588912…
[4] www.nature.com/articles/s41545-021-00101-w
[5] www.ucsusa.org/resources/water-power-plant-cooling
[6] www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/analysis/data-center…
[7] www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/opinions/an-industry…
[8] www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/drought-stricken-com…
[9] time.com/5814276/google-data-centers-water/
A) On AI reaching a ceiling: www.wired.com/story/facebooks-ai-says-field-hit-wa…
[10] unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000372985.locale=…
[11] www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-critical-minerals-…
[12] www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/24/us-electri…
[13] www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/24/us-electri…
[14] www.climateandcommunity.org/_files/ugd/d6378b_3b79…
[15] www.scientificamerican.com/article/world-s-richest…
[16] www.technologyreview.com/2021/02/14/1018296/bill-g…
[17] www.gatesnotes.com/energy/energy-miracles
[18] www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/2/2019/06/SR…
[19] www.huffpost.com/entry/gassing-satartia-mississipp…
[20] news.stanford.edu/2019/10/25/study-casts-doubt-car…
[21] www.vice.com/en/article/7kb43x/shell-quest-carbon-…
[22] www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/…
[23] www.wri.org/insights/direct-air-capture-resource-c…
Credits
Music by / @whitebataudio
Follow me:
twitter.com/The_HatedOne_
www.reddit.com/r/thehatedone/
The footage and images featured in the video were for critical analysis, commentary and parody, which are protected under the Fair Use laws of the United States Copyright act of 1976.
All Comments (21)
-
"Once, men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them."
-
Been working in IT all my grown life. The older i get, the more i hate technology, and i see the less people know about it, the more they like it. I dont think people realise IT is a tool, not a slave. But people want it to be slaves, and it just make people incompetent in what they do. "The Hated One" Love your "documentaries", proberbly one of the best no buIIsh!t channel. Thank you for the hard work.
-
I explained the up and downsides of each energy source. Guess what YouTube did? Instantly removed my comment. I can see it, but it isn't public. Shadowban at its finest... These secret silencing practices should honestly be illegal. When your comment gets rejected, you should be notified of it and told what was wrong about it.
-
The 48 laws of power touches on the fact that failing European city states throughout history would often invite alchemists and conmen into their midst from promises that everything they had lost could be brought back without the effort it originally took to create it
-
I've lived long enough to notice that EVERY Silicon Valley vision of the future has ultimately been proven wrong.
-
anyone else remember the 'expert systems' early iteration of exactly the same hype back in the 1990s? Medical systems were going to be smarter than doctors by 2010 back in 1999...still waiting...
-
Capitalist techno-optimism will literally drive humanity toward a cyberpunk dystopia.
-
I'm studying Computer Science in college and you've articulated in a 12 minute video what I've been trying to explain to people I go to school with for years
-
Good work man, 100% agree. The overnight AI hype bubble is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen.
-
Are there ACTUALLY people that unironically believe that f-ing AI would save us somehow? LOL
-
I'm also of the opinion that the recent developments in AI can be attributed to throwing more money, data & energy at the ongoing tech bubble As opposed to a supposed breakthrough that renders it viable in the long run
-
9:02 … and Kurzgesagt. This is top-notch 👌
-
Techno optimists are realy smart people , they know they are wrong , but they do not care because THE POWER IS WHAT THEY ARE AFTER !
-
I was not expecting this opinion from you at all let alone this video, but good job. Not a common message people bring up it's good that some people —however few— are doing so.
-
I've been very frustrated with the world and its naive inhabitants lately and this video really puts the thumb on it. Didn't know about the term techno optimism before but it's good to learn something new today.
-
I don't think we're stopping the carbon train anytime soon, so it's probably more worth while to start thinking about damage mitigation.
-
3:00 the garbage in garbage out hypothesis.
-
i miss these of types of yt videos this is was youtube was originally for, not this new wave of selfie videos
-
Funny how you have close to half a million subscribers and this extremely sensible video gets all but 19.000 views after 3 days.
-
This is completely bonkers. We already have a completely functional carbon-capturing technology - it's called plants.
