Thoughts On Morozov

After reading this criticism, I have to say that wow, I myself strongly dislike the Khannas. This take-down piece for me is a bit unfair for me to read because I am only hearing one very compelling argument against the Khannas without hearing any rebuttals or defense on behalf of the power couple.

Malcom X said “If you have no critics, you’ll likely have no success.” There is no question that Morozov is critiquing the Khannas here, but I think there is a line between bashing someone to the ground and handing out constructive criticism. Morozov seems to have something clever to say about the Khannas in every paragraph and its always something flat out insulting or very low-key. My favorite was the one about the apocalypse where he ended with “The Khannas have come to accomplish nothing less than the rescue of civilization.” Had Morozov been more instructive to what was actually going on in the world, then the Khannas would actually have something to take away from this critique and somewhat be better off according to Malcom X.

Morozov also writes this take-down as a way to inform the audience who have experienced the Khannas’ talks or read their books. He basically calls them frauds and proves that their ideas and phrases are borrowed from others. His use of the term “bullshit” puts the Khannas in the mind of the readers as unlikable almost dishonest people. He (I think) exploited the Khannas being funded by certain people that the advocate for. The Khannas said the world does not need new organizations, but for the same ones to simply work better with each other. Morozov takes a jab at them here and and claims that none of some other non-technological issues would actually be solved like climate change or illegal trade of exotic animals.

The Khannas remind me of everyone who has gone too deep in The Circle. Also, the idea of Singularity scares me and I hope we never end up like iRobot. Morozov hated how the Khannas think that technology with a big T is an autonomous force, thinking on its own and we as humans have to harness its power. Without really saying his own personal thoughts on this part of the criticism,  he says “Designer babies? Check. Cloned humans? Check. Sex robots that “can be made to look like anyone you want”? Check. A paradise!” It sounds very sarcastic and to Morozov, I think that he thinks that technology is advancing far too quickly and that we as people have to do as much as possible to avoid singularity.

My personal thoughts on this whole argument? I think Morozov is a cranky guy with some very solid arguments against the Khannas and that we should not be deceived like he says by Bullshit and words we don’t know. Technology is a giant concept and it is easy to get lost in so anyone who sounds like they know what they’re talking about can easily be misinterpreted for an expert. Also, his brief criticism of TED as a whole, calling it a place where ideas seek celebrities is easy to disagree with in my opinion. I watched a TED talk in my Crim12 class in which Zimbardo was the speaker talking about the paradigm shift that is how criminals are perceived as criminals. Zimbardo, part of the Stanford Prison Studies that researched the topic, and an established sociologist, was very qualified to make this talk and give his own opinions and theories. I think his argument about TED books being slim which celebrates the modern attention spam was valid and it made sense, but I don’t like to be called Dory by any means.

Thanks For Reading,

Mohamed

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