David Simpson 17 August 2022

Yes, but . . . it’s not either / or, it’s both / and - a dance between the two, as it has been since the stone axe and fire. The Black Death (1345) broke feudalism, and arguably made way for the modern era. It wasn’t “cultural”. The printing press (c. 1450) enabled literacy, the Reformation and, arguably, mass culture, as well as the dissemination of scientific ideas (e.g. Galileo’s discoveries were published in the Low Countries while he was under house arrest by the Catholic Church in Florence).

If we are (cultural) sheep we will let Meta et al control us. If we are angry and frustrated and convinced there’s a better option, we’ll use the technology to re-make society.