Doctor M. PopularDec 6, 2022
Don't make me tap the sign
Show threadDoctor M. Popular

"There are never purely technological solutions to societal problems."

Not sure why that particular quote has been on my mind today, but I ended up mocking it up in the style of some motivational posters.

I first heard the quote in @molly0xfff's "Blockchain solutionism" talk at the University of Texas in Austin, but I've seen other variations of it since then. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0k_GjxuJDM

Blockchain solutionism – Guest lecture at the University of Texas at Austin by Molly White

YouTube
Dec 6, 2022 at 1:19amWeb
Show threadehurtley Dec 6, 2022

@docpop @molly0xfff Sure there are.

Societal problem: nazis

Technological solution: baseball bats

Show threadJobDec 6, 2022
@ehurtley @docpop @molly0xfff The baseball bat won't swing itself though
Show threadMarina  Dec 6, 2022
@docpop @molly0xfff Fabulous typography and great aphorism! 
Show threadBen CurthoysDec 6, 2022
@docpop @molly0xfff Social solutions to technological problems - reordering society to work around failures of technology - also suck.
Show threadKolmanDec 6, 2022

@bencurthoys @docpop @molly0xfff

In a complex world, most first-order solutions usually fail...
Is far better to address the underlying conditions beneath... (second/nth order causality, sometimes nonlinear/wicked)

Unfortunately, the majority don't want/can't understand that...

Show threadautistic_enby Dec 6, 2022
@pikolman @bencurthoys I felt that this was half of my job leading a small tech team in a growing startup.
I'd get all kinds of requests from operations and support teams, and I could either do what they asked and not really improve anything, or I can keep asking (like changing the exam question) until we arrive at an actual solution that improves our lives.
Show threadBen CurthoysDec 6, 2022
@autistic_enby @pikolman oh god the number of times I have had to say no to "a button here that does X". I listen to my customers when they tell me about their business needs, what they are trying to achieve, but their proposed solutions (usually "a button" that relies on the software being psychic) are almost always shit.
Show threadscott fDec 6, 2022
@docpop @molly0xfff get a union printer to print these and I'll buy one.
Show threadEd... should be in bed.Dec 6, 2022
@docpop
Tangental but related: I've often thought that some of the worst ideas with the best intentions come from trying to use one discipline to solve everything. Economics cannot solve everything. Neuroscience will not explain everything. We have many disciplines for a reason.
@molly0xfff @Ruth_Mottram
Show threadRuth MottramDec 6, 2022

@edclayand @docpop @molly0xfff absolutely agree! Also it is becoming increasingly clear that really big problems require a lot of #SocialScience too.

This is certainly a conclusion I've come to in #ClimateScience

Show threadAndrew PadillaDec 6, 2022
@docpop there is the notion of sociotechnical https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociotechnical_system
Sociotechnical system - Wikipedia