On Feb 4, 2018 8:24 PM, "Srini RamaKrishnan" <che...@gmail.com> wrote:
It occurred to me that kind people make the world better regardless of what they do. Technology is only as kind as the intention behind it. I thought a few examples might help. A lot of the technology in the early days of the Internet was kind, before anyone knew there was money in it. Craigslist, Slashdot, Livejournal, and many mailing lists were catering to communities that cared for each other more than most real world interactions. When there was no money involved, the Linux and open source communities were incredibly kind places too. Of course when it became obvious there was a good living to be made, greed kicked in for nearly everyone. It changed people overnight from what I remember. Founders sold their pet projects to media conglomerates while insisting nothing had changed, and even valiant hold outs who "do no evil" quietly shelved their utopian plans. Small and primitive economies tend to be gift economies because it's what comes naturally to humans. The larger the economy the more anonymous everything is, and the less room there is for the heart. Sacred economics by Charles Eisenstein is a book full of good ideas, (free on the net), because economics and technology are very tightly wrapped around each other. I'm really glad C.E. wrote it. I'd been having similar ideas for a while, ever since I saw the FLOSS community unravel, so it was good to hear I was not alone in my thinking.
