Why Techno-utopianism is Brilliant!
Many blockchain enthusiasts would argue that the blockchain hype did a lot of disservice to the cryptocurrency and the blockchain world. They are right — it created many false expectations and instilled vast yet empty hopes into the public’s imagination. We all shuddered at the crypto-hype that befell us in 2016, especially the developers who very early on understood the technical challenges that awaited them, treading very carefully not to make bold statements and claims about the technology.
For blockchain, the ICO craze was excessive, overwhelming, and quite frankly, did not do any justice to the true vision of cryptocurrencies blockchain. Yet I’m going to tell you that you shouldn’t scorn techno-utopianism in its entirety. I hope I can revive a little bit of whatever embryonic empathy is left toward techno-utopianism by dissecting its greater purpose here. So hear me out and let the resentment go for a little.
Technological utopianism is an ideology that is premised on the belief that advances in technology can bring about a “perfect” society. In techno-utopian narratives, technologies are touted as “earth-shattering”, “revolutionary” “paradigm shifting” and all that goodness. Namely, technology is believed to fulfill utopian ideals and promote a society where its laws and social structures operate in such a manner that promotes the well-being of all people, usually in the near distant future. Technology is seen as being the main agent of societal change, as all other social facets of life become stripped from the equation, resulting in what is commonly referred to as technological determinism.
To be technologically-utopian is to believe that technology brings emancipatory potential to all people of the world. That technology will abolish all hierarchical power and enable more individualistic thinking, resulting in a prosperous society — sound familiar?
For the most part, this outlook always views technology with rose-colored glasses, failing to account how technology could produce serious implications for society. It only paints one picture of the future, one that is more or less positive, but with that, it also creates blind spots. For instance, people thought that the Internet would be a tool that would promote a truly free and democratic society. Decades later we see how this vision has been tarnished now that the Internet is dominated and controlled by media conglomerates such as Google, Amazon, Facebook, etc. Not that many could foresee this.
There is surely a dark side to techno-utopian thinking, but where there is darkness there is also light. Techno-utopianism is an ideology that goes hand in glove with emerging technologies. Why? Simple, because like the word “emerging” indicates, the technologies are recent. When a new technology (like blockchain) or idea comes to the forefront, it does not have the history of success stories to back it up, to help make it seem more legitimate and reputable. One way that these limitations can be overcome is by creating your own story — like a good science fiction tale. That’s right, we have to start thinking of techno-utopianism as stories. After all, it is not all that different from some good science fiction; it is likewise futuristic and fictitious in every sense.
Techno-utopian tales are hence used for selling ideas and projects, serving as a marketing tool for securing the trust and support of investors in the blockchains space. That’s a no brainer, right? But there is more to it.
Techno-utopianism as storytelling fills in some of the gaps and uncertainties that come with new technologies or ideas. First of all, techno-utopianism acts very much like a crystal ball that allows one to gaze into some of the potential future trajectories that a given technology can take. Investors and business people, often shy of taking risks, are able to be persuaded with stories, as it allows them to exercise their imagination and intuitively “feel out” whether a project or idea is worthy of their time and money. It can help create a greater sense of certainty by providing some sort of “road map” when deciding whether to invest in it or not.
But aside from providing a greater sense of knowing, techno-utopianism when looked upon as storytelling also generates greater trust. Research by Paul Zak (2014) looks at the relationship between neurobiology and storytelling, showing that storytelling creates a sense of empathy in individuals, leading to greater voluntary cooperation between individuals. This is because, as Zak explains, good stories can release a neurochemical called Oxytocin, responsible for generating trust and cooperation toward others. Oxytocin enhances empathy, the ability to experience others’ emotions. When people feel more in tune with each other, they are more likely to engage in voluntary cooperation.
Likewise, if techno-utopianism is a story, then it can also generate a sense of empathy, leading to greater trust and cooperation between people. If the techno-utopian tale is particularly altruistic, benevolent and tear-jerky, then I’d imagine people to be releasing more Oxytocin, leading to greater cooperation and that means more investments! Hence, techno-utopian narratives make it easier for investors to place trust into ventures that they know nothing about, but which they may “feel good about”.
Finally, the kinds of stories being told in the blockchain space could also be the reason why there is so much segregation and division in the community. Stories all provide some sort of codes that fosters a sense of belonging and trust within each community. Stories can help bond people to each other, creating dense and tight communities. The downside, however, is that the stories also create tribalism. Depending on whether you buy into a certain story or not, you are cast as an insider or an outsider, leading to greater division.
At the same time, techno-utopianism also has the power to bring communities together. Despite all the perceived differences crypto communities have, techno-utopianism can serve to remind us all that most of us are here because we believe in the “greater good” (at least I hope that’s the case). So, regardless of whether one is a Bitcoin maximalist libertarian or a left-wing Etherean Classicist, we are all fulfilling some sort of purpose and contributing because we think blockchain is worth it. Maybe you don’t believe that blockchain will inflict significant changes to society, but you’re still in the space, therefore, there must be a very small part of you that probably does believe that the technology matters, perhaps we are all techno-utopic to a small degree, otherwise, we wouldn’t be here.
That is the power of techno-utopianism — it unites our differences, reminding us that we are all working towards a greater mutual goal (in different ways) of bringing this technology to the forefront. So I say, it’s okay to be a little techno-utopian, if it means that we can recognize that our similarities supersede our differences.
In the end this all goes to say that, yes, while techno-utopianism is stupid, it can also be brilliant as it brings us together in a common narrative, tugging us at our heartstrings by reminding us how we all want to make society a better place, and there is no harm in striving for a better tomorrow. Claiming that product X or Y is the answer to humanity’s problems is ridiculous and naive at best, but it is still profound in some sense. It speaks to our innate human drive to improve society and our circumstances. For some, blockchain seems to be doing the job of keeping this fire alive. If techno-utopianism wasn’t used mainly for generating sales and profit, I’d say techno-utopianism in blockchain has charm.
