5 Reasons for Technological Optimism

Neil DeGrasse Tyson, who ought to know, says that the future won’t be anything like The Terminator. “I live in the real world, and in the real world that’s simply not the robots we’re making and even if we did, they would just be really good computers of things and they’d give me access to information.” 

Still, the proliferation of technology inspires awe in some, fear in others. Jaron Lanier, an early internet and virtual reality pioneer, musician, and something of a shaman for the computer age says it all comes down to the human element. Machines aren’t supposed to replace human life, he says, they’re supposed to improve it. As long as we can keep that in mind, we’ll be in good shape. 

As Big Think and Bing wind up our Humanizing Technologyseries, which culminated this past weekend in the extraordinary For Humankind event in New York City, we bring you an inspiring mosaic of five thinkers on our future relationship with technology. How it turns out, they all agree, is entirely up to us. 

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