Technology, magic and the new superstition
A laundry ball, the washing machine’s equivalent of homeopathic medicine, is on trajectory to be 250% funded on Kickstarter. In Silicon Valley, six of twelve day care facilities associated with tech companies, have vaccination rates below average. People are skeptical to GMO, something that has saved big parts of the world from starvation, even though the majority don’t really know what it is (or in worst case, don’t even know what they’re opposing). “Natural” is a recurring argument for both producers and consumers why an ingredient or food is better.
This happens in a time when we really should be in a Second Age of Enlightenment. Traditional religions are on a decline; the number of people who don’t consider themselves parts of the major religions is at a historical high. We literally have access to all the knowledge in the world in our pockets.
So why are we here?
I think it’s a combination of three things: a spiritual and intellectual crisis, knowledge arrogance and the rise of technology as magic.
A spiritual and intellectual crisis
In a world where atheism, “humanism” and science are standards to strive for, even exploring your spirituality becomes somewhat of a taboo. What cannot be measured, weighed and substantiated automatically becomes hippie-ish humbug and put in the same box as creationism, homeopathy and electromagnetic hypersensitivity.
In most of these cases it’s regular people (who often suffer from knowledge arrogance) who compensate for their insecurity and ignorance by attacking others who are “(more) stupid” or “(more) ignorant”. An example is atheists, who score simple points with the choir by demanding answers for out of context quotes from the Bible from every single Christian.
Even organizations that normally are balanced and nuanced fall in this trap of making fun of a single individual’s lack of knowledge instead of the organizations that profit, enable or mediate the ignorance. The Swedish Skeptics Association, an organization that does a lot of good, recently posted this video on their Facebook page (it has since been removed):
It’s so easy to point, laugh and say “haha, your logic is nonexistent and therefore you’re stupid!”. Will this cause the ones we point at to change their minds, to educate themselves, to stop believing? Or will they feel attacked and look for affirmation, support and validation with others who also were attacked by educated assholes who are logically and scientifically correct?
I think Sally Kohn is right here: your success with logic, science and facts will be greater if you’re emotionally correct first.
Knowledge Arrogance
In part, the cause is knowledge arrogance (related to the Dunning-Kruger effect). We think that we’re so educated and knowledgeable that we at any given time can sort out everything that’s wrong or untrue. We’re losing trust in authorities like politicians and CEOs, and instead trust people who are like ourselves. This trend has been steady for the past ten years:
We don’t have to read up on biodynamically grown vegetables, because our gut feeling says it has to be good. And if it isn’t good for us, at least it definitely won’t harm us. We don’t care to read up on what GMO is, so when Monsanto’s business ethics (which are rightfully criticized) and their products are confused, suddenly all genetic modification is something Evil.
Technology as magic
The first points enable the third: technology as magic.
Arthur C Clarke said that “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” If you were to show technology we’re using in our homes and offices today to a person from the 1920's, they would see much of it as pure magic. A lot of what we suspect might be possible when we understand and harness quantum mechanics is magic for people today.
The pace of development and change is so fast that 51% of the respondents in Edelman’s Trust Barometer think it’s moving too fast. We barely understand how fast things move; things we one day believed to be science fiction are consumer products the next. Most of us have little or no chance to keep up with what’s technologically possible and not, but we’ve started to understand that it’s more than we first think.
So when someone comes with a laundry ball that in a magical way cleans clothes without detergent, and we skeptically ask “How is this possible?”, the answer “It’s technology!” becomes satisfactory and credible. Because technology is magic.
