While Douthwaite feels negative towards technological fixes, he also agrees that they are the key to solving many social problems that we feel in our society today. In his commentary, he gives multiple examples as to how they could solve direct problems, but not the underlying social issues that cause them. while Johnston gives many different opinions in his article, I think that he would agree that the deeper issue is more important that the technological patch we could put over the top of it. Tech fixes seem to be almost something that governments and large companies use to keep consumers in their place in order to make more profit. The Huesemanns looked more into the direct consequences of tech fixes rather than just their causes or purpose. Tech fixes tend to be quick, cost effective, and bad for the environment. and as they stack the damage done to society and to our planet thickens.
In a perfect world, societies would look into themselves and figure out the root of their problems rather than just patching up, but I don’t think very many societies are capable of that, and I also think that much of the great technology we have today comes from technological fixes. That is not to say that we should ignore the underlying issues, or that we should ignore the outcomes of them. I think that they should be managed and standards should be held for all upcoming technology in terms of cleanliness. While we are putting a bandage over our problems we should also look at the wound underneath in an attempt to fix that as well.
I agree that much of the great technology we have today comes from technological fixes, because any human society, with the resources to lead to improvement, strives for improvement and progress. The most important aspect of technological fixes, I think, is progress. However, it is quite weird to think about how these advancements, like you mentioned, are used as a “patch up.” Therefore, I also agree with your idea of managing and perhaps using government incentives for standards to make sure technological fixes in the future are not driven to be used as “patch ups.” Instead, just really innovative ideas brought to life that can improve what we have now and leave behind what is already too collapsed to spend time and money on.
the part of your post that stood out to me the most was when you mentioned that you believe that most societies don’t have the capability to actually delve into their social problems and fix those instead of just trying to patch them up with these technological issues, both of which I really agree with. I also agree with what you said about managing and upholding standards for these technological fixes, but I’m curious if you think that we should keep pursuing these “patch-ups” or if we should just be exploring technology while attempting to fix these deeper-rooted issues, without trying to use temporary tech fixes.