{"id":361,"date":"2010-04-15T10:38:51","date_gmt":"2010-04-15T10:38:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp\/2010\/04\/were_all_for_technology_except\/"},"modified":"2010-04-15T10:38:51","modified_gmt":"2010-04-15T10:38:51","slug":"were_all_for_technology_except-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2010\/04\/were_all_for_technology_except-2.html","title":{"rendered":"We're All For Technology Except When…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nick Carr has a great post<\/a> about the course of technology development. Progress doesn’t always go the way we think it ought to (even if we’re right).<\/p>\n

Progress may, for a time, intersect with one’s own personal ideology, and during that period one will become a gung-ho technological progressivist. But that’s just coincidence. In the end, progress doesn’t care about ideology. Those who think of themselves as great fans of progress, of technology’s inexorable march forward, will change their tune as soon as progress destroys something they care deeply about. “We love the things we love for what they are,” wrote Robert Frost. And when those things change we rage against the changes. Passion turns us all into primitivists.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nick Carr has a great post about the course of technology development. Progress doesn’t always go the way we think it ought to (even if we’re right). Progress may, for a time, intersect with one’s own personal ideology, and during that period one will become a gung-ho technological progressivist. But that’s just coincidence. In the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-361","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4ePZm-5P","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1243,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2016\/11\/this-weeks-top-aj-stories-does-pittsburgh-symphony-strike-settle-solve-anything-should-arts-funding-be-dependent-on-encouraging-bad-behavior.html","url_meta":{"origin":361,"position":0},"title":"This Week’s Top AJ Stories: Does Pittsburgh Symphony Strike Settlement Solve Anything? Should Arts Funding Be Dependent On Encouraging Bad Behavior?","author":"Douglas McLennan","date":"November 27, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This Week: Did settling the Pittsburgh Symphony strike just kick the can down the road?... The idea of progress is a fragile (and recent) notion... Why should this arts funding depend on encouraging bad behavior?... The art establishment is caught in an increasingly high-stakes investment battle... We celebrate reading -\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Weekly AJ Top Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Weekly AJ Top Stories","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/category\/weekly-aj-top-stories"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/pittsburgh-strike.jpg?fit=817%2C414&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/pittsburgh-strike.jpg?fit=817%2C414&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/pittsburgh-strike.jpg?fit=817%2C414&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/pittsburgh-strike.jpg?fit=817%2C414&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3258,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2026\/02\/when-better-than-meets-good-enough.html","url_meta":{"origin":361,"position":1},"title":"When “Better Than” meets “Good Enough”","author":"Douglas McLennan","date":"February 23, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The question isn't whether AI will change our definition of creative excellence. The question is how we will engage with that change: with curiously and critical insight, with our existing values intact but our existing definitions loosely held? Or defending the current map as if it were the entire territory.","rel":"","context":"In "arts and AI"","block_context":{"text":"arts and AI","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/category\/arts-and-ai"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Screenshot_23-2-2026_13644_www.artsjournal.com_.jpeg?fit=565%2C537&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Screenshot_23-2-2026_13644_www.artsjournal.com_.jpeg?fit=565%2C537&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Screenshot_23-2-2026_13644_www.artsjournal.com_.jpeg?fit=565%2C537&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2995,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2025\/01\/creativity-versus-skills.html","url_meta":{"origin":361,"position":2},"title":"Creativity Versus Skills","author":"Douglas McLennan","date":"January 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Art that is primarily skill-based -- graphic design, stock music or images, text and marketing, etc -- can be created faster and often better than human artists, and at lower cost. This is particularly true for compound art that requires specialized equipment and\/or collaboration of specialists. As for art with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "arts & tech"","block_context":{"text":"arts & tech","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/category\/arts-tech"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/letters-417683_1280-1.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/letters-417683_1280-1.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/letters-417683_1280-1.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/letters-417683_1280-1.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2532,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2021\/11\/five-observations-3-the-future-is-hybrid-or-not.html","url_meta":{"origin":361,"position":3},"title":"Post-COVID Arts Observations: #3. 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