Chuck Klosterman on the Downside of Disruption

I am a techno-optimist. I believe technology has been the chief engine backside most—if non all—man progress, only I acknowledge information technology tin can and has been used to harm.

Fire brought warmth to our ancestors' caves, only information technology also allowed them to commit the start acts of arson. Twitter amplified political dissidents but also trolls. Coins, two sides, and whatnot.

Still, I feel that when you lot look at history'due south Big picture, yous'll detect that technology has improved the lives of well-nigh people (check out XPrize founder Peter Diamandis's 2022 TED talk on Abundance and see if you agree). Even with all my optimism, I am occasionally forced to question my tech assumptions, equally was the example final calendar week when essayist and best-selling author Chuck Klosterman stopped by our offices to shoot an episode of PCMag's Q&A series, The Convo.

Chuck came by to talk about new book Chuck Klosterman X (pronounced "Chuck Klosterman: Ten," for the tape). But the conversation veered off into a discussion on how technology has afflicted just most everything. As a renowned cultural critic who exists in the modern mediasphere, Klosterman recognizes (if begrudgingly) that his life and career are inescapably connected to technology, but he doesn't experience all this stuff has necessarily made our lives whatsoever richer.

"All engineering science in the short-term is positive. Merely in the long-term is probably, to some degree, negative—outside of air-conditioning," Klosterman explains. "Prior to the gramophone, if you were listening to music, yous had to be there to experience it. There was no manner to split up yourself from the fact that the music was a human cosmos. This is not simply a collection of soundwaves or sonic experiences. This is a manifestation of someone'due south creativity, virtuosity, and ability.

"As soon as you give someone the ability to experience music without the musician in forepart of them, information technology changes the way you lot experience it. The idea of the medium is the messenger—that'southward true for everything. I exercise think the appreciation of music has been eroded by our ability to play it at distant locations."

Klosterman also laments the more obvious side effects—namely, the disruptive influence on jobs. While technology has afflicted just about every economic sector, its bear on on the creative fields (Chuck'south bread and butter) have been outsized. Just look how file-sharing transformed the music industry.

"One time a person believes that something should exist free, there'due south no going back. There'due south never a movement from something beingness free back to something costing coin," he notes. "Information technology completely changed the music industry. At present, did it really change music? I guess if you're really a musician and what you dear to exercise is this creative thing comes out of you, y'all don't care how you're beingness paid, or if you're beingness paid, but to the general public information technology'south all totally unlike."

The Downside of Digital Democracy

Modern information engineering is heralded for its ability to empower individuals. Anyone with a blog has as much potential accomplish every bit the world'southward largest paper, and anyone with a social media business relationship has the power to broadcast their POV to the masses. Even the lowliest musician has as much access to distribution as a Kanye W or Rihanna.

Just that's non the whole story, of grade. The phrase "digital democratization" ostensibly describes how technology allows all people to be represented and accept their voices heard. But every bit with any bumper sticker-sized phrase, there isn't a lot of room for nuance.

"We take been socialized to believe that if you put 'democracy' with anything, information technology is automatically good," says Klosterman. "But if I was like 'hey, let's democratize uranium—permit'south make certain everyone has weapons-grade uranium,' that would not exist and so not bad."

Chuck Klosterman

Perhaps the jump to nuclear weapons is an unfair comparison, but technology brings with it all sorts of unintended consequences. Simply look at how journalism has inverse over the past few decades—it's either imploded or exploded depending on your point of view.

"In that location'southward never been a time when it's been easier to get a job writing, just it'southward never been harder to make coin doing it," Klosterman laments. "I don't think people become into journalism for the coin—it would be crazy to do so. I think what has changed is how people have sort of given up the idea of objectivity in journalism. And what people desire are things that support their biases.

"So, what yous see is people going to journalism who are more into advocacy—be it social justice, or trying to movement the meter dorsum—all of these things. So, at present there's a kind of journalism that is openly unobjective. Time has proven that audiences don't want objective news. They just don't. People desire news to elucidate what they already feel."

People have been wringing their hands about technology's furnishings on club e'er since the Industrial Revolution. And for the well-nigh role, we've managed to maintain our humanity. Yay for us. Simply in 2022, engineering isn't merely advancing, it's advancing faster. I even so believe the stop effect volition be a good thing, but information technology's probably not a bad idea to stop and consider the price we're paying for a ticket into the world of tomorrow.

The Convo is PCMag's interview series hosted past features editor Evan Dashevsky (@haldash). Each episode is broadcast live on PCMag's Facebook page, where viewers are invited to ask guests questions in the comments. Each episode is posted on our YouTube page and bachelor equally an audio podcast, which you lot can subscribe to on iTunes or the podcast platform of your option.