#159 - Has Silicon Valley Lost Its Soul?

Open to Debate

Education, Society & Culture, News, Government, Politics

4.5 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 30 November 2018

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Motion: Silicon Valley Has Lost Its Soul. Silicon Valley once promised to solve many of the world's problems with a technological revolution. But now, the tech hub is the center of much scrutiny, and for many, that scrutiny is warranted. From privacy violations to flawed business models to a lack of diversity and representation, Silicon Valley has seemingly betrayed its idealism. And though technological progress has notably enriched a few, Silicon Valley has failed to deliver its promise to all. Has the prioritization of profits and conformity of thought corrupted its original "do good" agenda? Proponents argue no: Silicon Valley's critics are simply overreacting. After all, it is still the center of innovation, and the tech giants have revolutionized the way we think, shop, communicate, and experience our lives for the better. Do big tech's detractors simply expect too much from lucrative corporations? Or has Silicon Valley lost its soul? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Silicon Valley is not just a place, but it's also an emblem to some of a self-professed ideal.
0:07.8	The ideal of super smart people using those super smarts to create disruption for the
0:13.6	betterment of all, or as Steve Jobs once put it, engineers working, quote, to solve most
0:19.9	of humankind's problems.
0:22.1	He said that more than 20 years ago.
0:23.7	It's been a lot of history since then.
0:25.6	There's been a lot of money made, too.
0:27.8	But also there's been the emergence of certain kinds of problems that are only possible because
0:32.5	of technology.
0:34.2	Elections hacked via social media, algorithms tweaked to be addictive, customers data rendered
0:40.3	into a commodity.
0:41.3	That's not what the idealists foresaw.
0:44.2	And yet we are connected now as never before, and innovative solutions are being developed
0:50.4	to address challenges issues like healthcare and employment.
0:54.0	So where does that sleeve the dream?
0:56.5	Is it dead and abandoned?
0:58.2	Or is it still very much a work in progress?
1:01.3	Well to us this sounds like it has the makings of a debate, so let's have it.
1:04.6	Yes or no to this statement.
1:06.3	Silicon Valley has lost its soul.
1:09.6	I'm John Donbenn, and I stand between two teams of two who are experts in this topic,
1:13.9	who will argue for and against that resolution.
	...

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