Tech - The innovation myth

Innovation or the disruption of current systems by novel ideas and technologies has become omnipresent in our society. So much so that those involved have mythical-like status bestowed upon them. This all-consuming notion has been used to sell us false promises and blinded us to the most fundamental truths.

Disruption and novelty are terrible markers of human progress, only indicating the magnitude of a market shift. While the players in each cycle may vary, they all operate under identical objectives of market capture and dominance.

Here lie all the purported types of innovation put forward by the disruptive process; incorrect solutions to non-existent, solved and current problems. They are the outcome of a mix of ignorance, arrogance, willful dismissal of known, well documented, established solutions and obviously greed.

Beware, at the intersection of business and innovation swindlers are plentiful. Lack of discernible talent combined with a blend of hubris and delusion greatly benefit them. Never shying away from the spotlight, they always put themselves at the center of any media coverage. With money and power they undermine the fabric of society by imposing at every level their techno-solutionist agenda, where technology is the only lens through which the world can be understood. Under a veneer of respectability they present themselves as undisputed leaders guiding humanity to its promise future.

In actuality, their vacuous schemes are nothing more than ploys to attract unscrupulous investors, negligent governments and gullible individuals while trapping the rest of us. Their solutions enrich the few and impoverish the many.

True innovation rooted in a desire to improve our world is the result of time-consuming, detail-oriented, incremental cross-disciplinary work. Our approach has to be ecocentered, with environmental protection and sustainability as a bedrock of our understanding.

Only by extirpating ourselves from our current model will we come to appreciate the meaningfulness of this endeavour.