This weekend, I heard a First Nation elder say “technology needs to be guarded by wisdom.” Mark Manson wrote recently that the problem is not with social media, the problem is with us.
Research has shown that, when people are in groups, moral decision-making tends toward the position that the ends justify the means. (When we’re alone, we are more likely to think the ends never justify the means.) As Manson points out, since “social media is basically one gigantic group aggregator,” you don’t have to look very far to see rampant “ends justify the means.”
In other words, the problem is not with social media, the problem is with us and our brains. Enter the teachings of the elder. This is why technology (of every type) needs to be guarded by wisdom. In the hands of those who lack wisdom, horrors result.
My question is: how do we elevate wisdom and give it authority to save us from ourselves?
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