Silicon Valley sells the world the idea that it wants to make things better. It exists, the rhetoric goes, not just to make products but to make progress. If that\u2019s the case, it\u2019s focusing on the wrong things.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s distressing sometimes to see the amount of effort\u2014not just human effort but also the rhetoric\u2014to develop stuff that turns out to be apps or toys for rich people,\u201d says SUNY Polytechnic Institute historian Andrew Russell, an outspoken critic of the cult of innovation . \u201cSaying \u2018We\u2019re innovating and that is by default making a world a better place,\u2019 and then patting yourself on the back and getting in your Tesla and driving to your seaside ranch is missing the point.\u201d<\/p>\n
The harm here isn\u2019t just that Silicon Valley is trying to solve the wrong problem, which wastes brainpower and resources. The focus on innovating away death sets a cultural tone that directs attention from answers that might actually help, like infrastructure or education. Russell says kids deciding what they want to be when they grow up aspire to become like the titans in Silicon Valley\u2014risking that they\u2019ll grow up wanting to solve the wrong problems.<\/p>\n