Techno-optimism and problems as a conduit of progress

Recent outages affecting popular services like ChatGPT and Uber highlight a trend in technology where solutions create new challenges. The transition from dedicated servers to cloud delivery networks (CDNs) enhanced web performance and security but led to concentrated failures instead of isolated incidents. This aligns with Kevin Kelly's view that problems act as catalysts for progress. Past solutions, like industrial farming and antibiotics, have indeed created new issues such as obesity and antibiotic resistance. Rather than seeing these as setbacks, Kelly argues that they signify advancements. The continuous evolution of problems indicates human progress; newer challenges will be addressed by future generations. The article suggests that the crypto space, with its own array of issues, could embody this principle of techno-optimism, potentially helping to resolve the shortcomings of previous technological stages by decentralizing the internet. This perspective embraces the inevitability of new problems, framing them as an essential part of technological and societal advancement.

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