Quote of the day–Esther Dyson

Few influential people involved with the Internet claim that it is a good in and of itself. It is a powerful tool for solving social problems, just as it is a tool for making money, finding lost relatives, receiving medical advice, or, come to that, trading instructions for making bombs.

Esther Dyson
[The gist of this can be said of virtually all technology (including firearms and explosives) and many other things such as free speech. Technology can used for both good and evil. It’s the user not the technology that is important. As with most bigots the anti-gun people are very narrow minded and can’t or refuse to see the big picture. Even pointing out analogies such as this fail on most of them. The most typical response I get when trying to make this point is, “But we are talking about guns!” as if they were the equivalent of letting cobras roam around in your home. Guns do not have minds and actions of their own. They are tools of the individuals in possession of them. Among other things firearms are used for recreation, to protect innocent life, and the much more rare, taking of innocent life.–Joe]

Share

One thought on “Quote of the day–Esther Dyson

  1. “Influential people”? I’d like to see Dyson’s list. Would Dyson be on it? I wonder if it would include Bill Gates.

    If enabling people to communicate far more efficiently is not to be considered “good”, then what is “good”? But I guess we have the answer in the quote: “solving social problems”. Such as what– socialism, or liberty (coercion or free choice)? I’d like to see Dyson’s list of “social problems” too.

Comments are closed.