Every technology has its ups and downs. The same nitrates can grow plants or blow up a building. While blind optimism is bad, it’s depressing how negative discussion surrounding new technology has become. People have become literal luddites.
People have always been luddites in the sense that they want technology used for their benefit, not against them. And it's hard to be optimistic about the impact of new technology considering that the last 20 years saw the normalization of mass surveillance of most of the population. Not to forget the negative impact of the technological developments of the last 200 years on the global environment.
> Every technology has its ups and downs. The same nitrates can grow plants or blow up a building.
This is like saying "thermonuclear weapon tech has its ups and downs". It is technically correct, but we are talking about the (lack of) balance here. Not being able to think privately could be the end of civilisation as we know it.
Nuclear technology does have its ups and downs as in power generation, medical imaging, and advanced physics experiments versus thermonuclear weapons. If anything you are only highlighting the negative variant in your argument.
