George Packer’s recent book “The Unwinding”… and his recent article in the New Yorker on the politics and policy of Silicon Valley, take the temperature of a country undergoing great change in the Age of Info. Similar ground covered in recent Time magazine article.
Jill Lepore on secrecy/ privacy also in New Yorker, as well as this article on “Is it 1984?”
USA is in the middle of trying to decide what to make of the transformations ongoing….and this assessment will have big implications for the future of educational revolution and healthcare revolution and workforce development revolution made possible by the new technology.
Recent issues of government access to online activities, as well as non government access to our phones and laptops etc, hacks from anywhere in the world…accents the downsides of the ongoing changes. There is “fear in the water” about what it all means, and this will only complicate efforts to move forward with online education etc. Since part of moving forward, is projecting positive memes about how change can be very very good, it may be useful to know what memes are out there.
And a look at attitudes of the drivers of change, often residents of SF and “the peninsula” and silicon valley…might shed some light on the territory ahead. Which is what Packer explores, especially in the New Yorker article. The author gets around and asks a lot of very good questions, and gets a start on maybe providing a useful perspective. Alas, he covers so much ground, that just when it seems he’s getting to the heart of the matter, he’s off to another topic. IMO.
Which ironically reflects some of what seems legitimate criticism of our time. We know about a lot of information, but often lack depth of understanding of same. Packer’s implications/ conclusions that he leads us towards, are not necessarily the one’s I would come to… without a few more very pointed questions. Perhaps, imo, Packer is “too often too clever by half.” But he’s in the right ballpark.