We should stop enabling junk values
This is a repost of the original from my previous blog at https://world.hey.com/jaran.flaath
I often wonder where we would be today, if all the effort we put into making products and services whose only goal is to enable and enforce junk values, were instead put into solving real problems for humanity. If we instead created products whose purpose was to enable humanity to be the best we could possibly be. Imagine that.
Why do we have this obsession with creating things that by design appeal to the weaker parts of our mind? Why the focus on creating products that tie us in and create a demand for more, more and ever more? Whether it's money, shiny things, or ever more attention in social media.
We don’t need this. We need tools, services and products that are enabling us to be the best humans we can be. Both to ourselves and our neighbours. Tools and products that work towards solving our important issues rather than enabling infinite new ones.
I would love for the tech world to start putting the following ethical question as the base of every decision to create something new:
Will this make the world a better place? Will the thing I am proposing to create enable humans to be the better version of themselves and a better human towards others?
Or, am I creating something that enables more junk values and exploits my fellow humans, only to profit?
Instead, we too often ask ourselves:
How can we exploit this opportunity to secure our piece of the market and maximise profit?
That is not what the world needs. We should really start reconsidering our priorities. We need to make technology for people – not to people.