The Network Made Me Do It

A good friend posted an article on Facebook the other day about the network effect on extremism in modern life.  The author, Bill Davidow, is a veteran of business and studying the market.

First, let me say that I agree with the premise of this article in that the network produces positive effect more rapidly than at any other time in human history.  We see this in the examples provided by the author, whether in wild market swings or the liberation of countries in the Middle East.

However, I disagree with most all of the conclusions presented in the article.

Davidow says “The Internet can be a powerful vehicle for creating thought silos. Most of us tend to read material that supports our opinions. Liberals usually listen to NPR. Conservatives get their news from the Fox network. “

Davidow seems to be saying that the network is making us more myopic.  I don’t believe this to be true.  While I can, if I desire, find all manner of information and commentary to support my viewpoints, I can also more easily find a wealth of competing or divergent opinions at lower cost than at any other time.  The network is not the cause of the myopia.  The cause is ignorance.

Davidow also seems to blame the mortgage and economy issues on the network.  It seems to me that the cause of the mortgage meltdown was unchecked greed, not the fact that there was a network upon which to facilitate it.  With no real threat of jail time or even loss of money, those that facilitated the housing bubble walked away not only unscathed but hundreds of millions of dollars richer.

Lastly, the thing that really set me off was the network being blamed for income inequality.  He goes on to make the tired point that the cause of job loss in the US is companies being able to manage work around the globe as if it were next door.  The flagship example of this account is the Chinese factory worker making $300 a month.  I simply don’t understand this point of view.  Why are we lamenting the loss of low-paying, low-skill jobs, and not welcoming a new era of higher paying, higher-skill jobs?  Could it be that we are simply behind with our education and job training?  The rest of the world is running past us while we sit and suck our collective thumb about losing jobs putting rivets on cars.

I would think we would be excited about someone in India or China being able to afford an iPhone or something else made in the US.  A rising tide generally floats all boats.  Furthermore, the global marketplace is about finding the best talent.  It is not about finding the best talent that has a US passport.

I can imagine that previous generations similarly lamented the advance of innovation.  I bet people hated the telephone because less people went outside and talked to their neighbor on the sidewalk.  I bet people thought the world was ending when we built railroads or the interstate highway system.

It turns out that humans as a species evolve as innovation evolves.  In 100 years, there will be the next crisis like Davidow sees now, and the internet will just be that thing that people got all worked up about in the 2000’s.

Question:  Do you agree with Davidow?  Is the network having more adverse affects than we realize?