Chesley Bonestell, “The Exploration of Mars” (1953), oil on board, 143/8 x 28 inches, gift of William Estler, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Reproduced courtesy of Bonestell LLC.

Targeting Technology for Good

June 28, 2016

 

6/23/16 – Spurred by a technology proposal gone controversial, a media scholar at MIT examined in the Atlantic the challenge of ensuring that technology “address social problems in ways that make the world better, not worse.” In Issues, a longtime observer of the interplay between technology and society sharpens this aim, suggesting that the real goal of technology should be to enable people to invest more time and resources in their social lives, public action, and spiritual and intellectual activities—what he calls “communitarian pursuits.”