Technology's Downsides

Change scares people and technology causes change. So it shouldn't be any shock that people have been warning computers will rip the fabric of society apart for some time.

At first I was a skeptic. Computers are helping to hallow out the middle class. The effects are real and "retraining" isn't the answer. I understand this all first hand. But in the long run technological progress always has been worth it. I felt the same was true for claims that computers are hampering our ability to think. Google isn't making us stupid. My sympathies lay with Tyler Cowen, who emphasize the cognitive benefits of searching and sorting a surfeit of information.

But the more I read about technology, the more I have to acknowledge some of it's downsides.

Update: Tyler Cowen comments on the story.