New Year's Message: The Arc Of The Moral Universe Is A Twisty Path
from the twisty-little-passages,-all-alike dept
As long term readers of Techdirt know, each year since 2008 my final post of the year has been a kind of reflection on optimism. This tradition started after I had a few people ask how come it seemed that I was so optimistic when I seemed to spend all my time writing about scary threats to innovation, the internet, and civil liberties. And there is an odd contradiction in there, but it's one that shows up among many innovation optimists. I'm reminded of Cory Doctorow's eloquent response to those who called internet dreamers like John Perry Barlow "techno utopians."
You don’t found an organization like the Electronic Frontier Foundation because you are sanguine about the future of the internet: you do so because your hope for an amazing, open future is haunted by terror of a network suborned for the purposes of spying and control.
And to some extent, my own thinking follows along those lines. I can see amazing, astounding opportunities to continue to make the world a better place through the power of the internet and innovation. I also think we have a bit of amnesia about just how much good the internet and innovation have already created for the world. But, that doesn't mean we get to stop thinking about ways in which it might go wrong.
If you'd like to read the past years' New Year's Messages, here's the full list:
- 2008: On Staying Happy
- 2009: Creativity, Innovation And Happiness
- 2010: From Pessimism To Optimism... And The Power Of Innovation
- 2011: From Optimism And Innovation... To The Power To Make A Difference
- 2012: Innovation, Optimism And Opportunity: All Coming Together To Make Real Change
- 2013: Optimism On The Cusp Of Big Changes
- 2014: Change, Innovation And Optimism, Despite Challenges
- 2015: Keep Moving Forward
- 2016: No One Said It Would Be Easy...
- 2017: Keep On Believing
- 2018: Do Something Different
- 2019: Opportunities Come From Unexpected Places
- 2020: Make The World A Better Place
But, perhaps I've reached the age where I recognize that there is no "end of history" and no final state of things. These very bad ideas may come into play, but the internet is amazingly resilient in routing around such nonsense, one way or another, over time. Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous quote is that "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." A similar kind of thing can be said about innovation. How it plays out may take quite a while, but it tends towards improving the world.
That's not to say that there aren't setbacks and problems and disasters -- because obviously there are. But a key part of innovation is not just the act of creating something new and useful and getting it adopted by the world, but rather having society learn to adapt to it. I'm reminded of Clay Shirky discussing the innovation of the printing press, and how there was about a century of upheaval over that bit of innovation, until society really began to grapple with its power. Obviously, the internet has taken that to an entirely new level, and society is still very much adjusting.
Indeed, as we've noted repeatedly, many of the "problems" that are now blamed on the internet are actually problems that have existed in society for centuries that we just see more now because of the internet. I am still waiting for people to do a better job breaking down which of the problems commonly associated with the internet today are actually just the internet shining a light on existing problems v. exacerbating or creating them (and also weighing those against which societal problems have actually diminished thanks to the internet -- because that's a long list as well).
But, in the end, I have faith that society itself adapts. Not always neatly, and certainly not without many (potentially extremely problematic) mistakes. But society adapts. And the innovation drives it forward: not in a straight line, not without trips and falls, but eventually.
Indeed, despite the mess of the last few years -- and especially "the narrative" that "everyone hates the internet" -- I've been seeing more and more recognition that there are opportunities to return to an optimism about tech. Over the summer, I wrote about the concept of the Eternal October, bringing back an optimistic view of how tech and innovation can be good, but with the humility and wisdom gleaned from the mistakes of the past couple of decades.
History doesn't end. It just teaches us more lessons. The question is what do we do with those lessons.
I've spent the past few months exploring these concepts more and more, and in the New Year expect to see a lot more writing on this. I've been talking to lots of people who are legitimately exploring ways to turn today's innovation into something a lot more promising than it is, and it has me more excited than I've been in a while. And that's even with all of the nonsense happening among policy makers and regulators around the world. Even as they do whatever it is that they do, actual innovators are heads down working on creating a better world.
More specific to what's been happening here at Techdirt and the Copia Institute, we've been engaged in a number of different policy discussions to try to prevent governments from making things worse. The Copia Institute officially launched our Copia Gaming initiative (and we've been really busy on that front so stay tuned for a bunch of exciting announcements). We've also got some fun changes for Techdirt itself in store -- including a big one that has been over two years in the making, but where we finally see some light at the end of a tunnel.
This year, we also took all third-party ads off the site as well as all Google tracking (at some point next week, we'll do our annual stats review -- but for the first time without using Google Analytics, since that's gone). Of course, that also means that we're more reliant than ever on having our community support us, so please consider supporting the work we do if you can. A few months back, we finally moved on from our own homemade "Insider Chat" and launched the Techdirt Insider Discord, which has been tremendous fun -- and we've got more planned for that too.
On that note, my final paragraph of these final posts of the year is always about thanking all of you, the community here at Techdirt, for making this all worthwhile. I started Techdirt over twenty years ago as a fun project that allowed me to work out some of my own thoughts on the intersection of technology, innovation, business, and civil liberties, and over the years it's grown, and I still am amazed each day that anyone pays any attention at all, let alone contributes to the discussions we have here. The community -- of which you reading this are a key part -- is integral to what makes Techdirt so much fun for me. You challenge me, make me think, introduce me to new ideas, help me explore impossibly challenging subjects, and just generally push me and the rest of Techdirt to be better. So thank you, once again, for making Techdirt such a special and wonderful place where we can share and discuss all of these ideas. I look forward to whatever happens as we enter 2022.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: new year's, new year's message, optimism, predictions
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"History doesn't end. It just teaches us more lessons. The question is what do we do with those lessons."
Unfortunately, it seems no one remembers history or they want to change it to their views. Still, like you, I'm optimistic for the future of the internet thanks in large part to this site.
Thank you
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"it seems no one remembers history"
TAC remembers.
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thank you
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I'll be back next year
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Thanks Mike!
{What are you reading this for? Wasn't the subject line enough?}
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Sort-of on-topic: If we seek justice in regards to the Internet, we should first look toward protecting adult content and its many creators from being victims of anti-porn legislation and puritanical social control (e.g., payment processor lockouts). Any attack on pornography is an attack on free speech, and any attempt to crack down on free speech on the Internet will almost always start with one of the easiest targets.
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A place of optimism about the future.
For some of us who played PC games in the early 1990's, Apogee Software gave us games such as Duke Nukem, Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, and other lesser-known games such as Wacky Wheels (a DOS Super Mario Kart clone) and Secret Agent. In the mid-90's, they changed their name to 3D Realms and released Duke Nukem 3D which made gangbusters in sales (not to mention advanced the art of making first-person shooters). While its Sequel Duke Nukem Forever was planned, it was in development hell for over a decade until the rights were transferred to Gearbox and it was released to poor reviews. 3DRealms laid off all their employees, and were bought by a Norwegian firm (I think), but the people behind 3DRealms relaunched Apogee as Apogee Entertainment in 2020 and in 2021, they announced (and released) new games as well as remasters of old ones and marketed themselves as "the original indie publisher". The founder of Apogee, Scott Miller, wrote this post on his blog last October:
So yeah, it's not all doom and gloom everywhere.
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So as consumers and Internet users continue to rail against cryptoshit and NFTs for being the scams that they are, you’re gonna tell them to just shut up and adapt to it. Got it.
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I disagree with Mike about NFTs, but "shut up and adapt to it" doesn't seem like Mr. Masnick's position at all. Leave the Strawmen to the Wizard of Oz.
Speaking of which, get a brain.
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I’m pretty sure that Mike had talked on Twitter about how he was writing a paper about NFTs, and in responses to people he said that he thinks that people who think NFTs are a scam have it all wrong, and he also said he slots people with environmental concerns in the same bucket as those who think NFTs are scams.
Mike very much seems to be taking the side of “decentralized web3 with NFTs and crypto are inevitable, so deal with it”, sadly the same as Fight For The Future and the EFF which also shill for crypto and NFTs.
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What are you talking about? I know Mike is in favor of web3 and NFTs, but I didn't see him dismiss out of hand people who have concerns about it.
I mean, if you can back up your claims, provide the links, please.
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making things worse
===> " here at Techdirt and the Copia Institute, we've been engaged in a number of different policy discussions to try to prevent governments from making things worse. "
\
Hmm, sounds like there's a rather deep political philosophy issue embedded in that casual statement ....
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He can't back it up because he believes in a nonsense strawman. I've said that web3 and NFTs are absolutely chock full of nonsense and scams, but that it's worth exploring the little bit of it that is interesting at the core, and from which something interesting might be possible.
But this particular commenter is not at all interested in nuance or understanding and just wants to shit on me because he can't recognize that there might be a nuanced take. I mean, I've responded to him in the past, and it doesn't matter, because he keeps lying about my position. It's pathetic.
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Found more history on the internet then was ever mentioned in Any schools.
Filling in the blanks of allot of missed info, and allot of 1 line history mentioning something important, but never explained.
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love the religious minority with the big mouth. Which is more political then it is religious.
In a nation thats supposed to keep religion in the public hands, not political. Other wise we would be Shooting jews and Muslims, and Loving the Mexicans allot more.
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Re: no one remembers history
Pepperidge Farm remembers, https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/411/142/dc2.jpg
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Re: Re: no one remembers history
In the age of streaming, does it really matter anyway?
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Thanks!
Keep up the good work, Mike.
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Maybe vs Will
Strive to improve things and you might lose, give up and treat that goal as a lost cause and you already have.
As bad as things might seem to be at times it's still important to push on and try to, if not improve things then at least slow down the downward spiral, always keeping in mind that history shows just because things are bad now doesn't mean they're destined to stay that way and sometimes enough people refusing to accept the current course is enough to shift what might have seemed an unstoppable force out of the way.
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Have to say, the combination of out_of_the_blue and John Smith has been missing out on these New Year's messages since 2018's. I guess the defeat of Shiva Ayyadurai was too much for them to handle.
Happy 2022, Techdirt. May this year be the one where the downfall of Malibu Media and Strike 3 are written about, and a good laugh at the expense of copyright trolls is enjoyed by all.
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Re:
Don't get your hopes up.
But yeah, agreed.
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Thank you so much for the excellent reporting all year. May you find great luck in the new year!
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If you're going to convince someone of something... it helps to not kick off your argument with "I'm pretty sure".
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To be fair, 2021 did experience the downfall of Richard Liebowitz, so there’s always hope!
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Strike 3's situation is a bit of a stretch, yes, going by Torrentfreak's reports. They've continued to file cases through 2021 with no signs of slowing down, but it doesn't look as if they've been succeeding in those cases. For that matter, the most recent appearance they've made is the judge telling them that they can't have a copy of the defendant's hard drive because it's impossible for Strike 3 to guarantee the defendant's privacy. The one thing keeping Strike 3 above water is the fact that they've stayed out of controversy.
The same, however, cannot be said of Malibu Media. It's fair to cast doubt on Colette's claims that her business and marriage are in dire straits, and it's possible that some bleeding-heart copyright lawyer may want to represent them pro bono the way Daniel Voelker stuck his neck out for Paul Hansmeier. But just as Ken White opined that the Star Trek motion from Otis Wright finished Prenda Law as a legal entity, I think the same applies to Malibu Media's present situation. Sure, they're probably going to pull a Norman Zada/Perfect 10 move and try to have their assets shifted and skip out on paying the fines demanded by the court. But as far as new cases go, they might well be finished - with the fact that their investors and their main lawyer sued them for not paying up, and their main lawyer is now rotting in jail after trying and failing to fight a bankruptcy fraud charge. And Colette Pelissier seems intent on pushing the Paul Hansmeier strategy of relentlessly insisting "It's not my fault".
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Re:
"Unfortunately, it seems no one remembers history or they want to change it to their views"
There's plenty of people who do. The problem is how much power those who do have vs. those who can profit from repeating it.
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"I’m pretty sure that Mike had talked on Twitter"
Cool, if that's true you can provide links to the conversation. Right?
"Mike very much seems to be taking the side of “decentralized web3 with NFTs and crypto are inevitable, so deal with it”"
It is inevitable. Whether or not it is significant or relevant remains to be seen, but there's nothing to stop that from existing. While we wait for the outcome, it's hardly wrong to discuss how we should deal with that situation.
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You are so right that the blaming of the internet for today's problems is ridiculous. Having spent the past few years digging beneath a variety of surfaces to try and understand why we are where are, I have one conclusion: it is as old as the existence of human kind. Fundamentally, people are uncomfortable with people and conditions that are "different". Financial and physical power have supported the implementation of my values rather than yours. It permeates all countries and cultures and as we move into 2022, it will continue to block reasoned change and greater equity for all.
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Or at least, don't base your argument on something you claim to recall having read without providing a link to the actual source. Hearsay is bad enough, but on a medium where you have access to directly link to what you claim was said is just pathetic if you don't provide the link.
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Considering how often they insert the same tired claims into spaces where they are off-topic, this is 1) obvious, and 2) no surprise.
Happy new year. i am glad to be able to read the thinking of someone who is optomistic while being realistic, and not a pep squad or cult. Thanks for all your efforts.
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That's not how the "repeat strawman claims until they are "true"" flavor of propaganda works, though. Doing the opposite of the things you mention is frequently required.
The real failing, in terms of attempting to promote their brand of bs, is they keep picking the wrong target audience.
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Re: making things worse
Well they aren't opposed to governments making it better despite your insinuation. But their level of competence drives the response. Nobody tries to stop a brain surgeon from doing surgery on a consenting patient. Everyone tries to stop the toddler from doing so with a cordless drill.
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"Fundamentally, people are uncomfortable with people and conditions that are "different"."
Here's a strange coincidence you might want to look into in that case; The common denominator between anachronism, conservatism, bigotry, racism and misogyny is that the adherents of such tend to be unimaginative...or at least unwilling to imagine a reality different than the one they've brought up to believe is true.
Fear of Change may be a necessary imperative in times of threat but have become the root of all evil in modern society when sudden weather pattern shifts or animal migrations are the likely precursors of some localized flooding or earthquake threatening the tribe. Or someone not believing in the divine right of the king is likely to propel bloody revolution.
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