A review by devinayo
To Save Everything, Click Here: The Folly of Technological Solutionism by Evgeny Morozov
4.0
Evgeny Morozov challenges the people who put "the internet" and digital technology on the pedestal. The "internet-centrists", as Morozov called them, are often busy selling "solutionism", which sees the world as a collection of bugs that can only be solved through technological means.
At the heart of the book is Morozov's argument that solutionism is a form of reductionism and that the bugs in our society are actually features. By committing to solutionism, the internet-centrists are simplifying the world and seeing it through a narrow perspective. Therefore, the solutions proposed do not necessarily solve the problems, but just presenting the illusion of progress and improvement and could be even detrimental as it takes resources away from meaningful reform.
What is interesting is the challenge towards our view of automation and efficiency. In a chapter dedicated to law enforcement and digital policing, Morozov mentions that while it might be true that preemptive policing can prevent crime before it happens, the view of law enforcement and morality in society will be drastically changed. Can someone be good when there is no alternative? Can you be morally conscious if your action has been made easy, nudged, or even automated, and not as a result of deliberate choice?
By the end of the book, Morozov calls for the rethinking of our relations with digital technology. Calling this a post-internet approach, we need to scrutinize each innovation separately, and not blinded by the promises of progress and solutions. What's more important than solution is our ability to question and confront the status quo, problem or no problem, bug or feature, in order to be one step closer to meaningful reform.
At the heart of the book is Morozov's argument that solutionism is a form of reductionism and that the bugs in our society are actually features. By committing to solutionism, the internet-centrists are simplifying the world and seeing it through a narrow perspective. Therefore, the solutions proposed do not necessarily solve the problems, but just presenting the illusion of progress and improvement and could be even detrimental as it takes resources away from meaningful reform.
What is interesting is the challenge towards our view of automation and efficiency. In a chapter dedicated to law enforcement and digital policing, Morozov mentions that while it might be true that preemptive policing can prevent crime before it happens, the view of law enforcement and morality in society will be drastically changed. Can someone be good when there is no alternative? Can you be morally conscious if your action has been made easy, nudged, or even automated, and not as a result of deliberate choice?
By the end of the book, Morozov calls for the rethinking of our relations with digital technology. Calling this a post-internet approach, we need to scrutinize each innovation separately, and not blinded by the promises of progress and solutions. What's more important than solution is our ability to question and confront the status quo, problem or no problem, bug or feature, in order to be one step closer to meaningful reform.