The Normie’s Guide to Thinking About Tech

It’s become hard to talk about technology. Commentators have split themselves into two increasingly extreme teams: the pessimists and the optimists. But what about the rest of us who don’t hate technology but are wary of obvious harms? In today’s episode, Cal proposes a third option: technoselectionism. More from Cal Download Cal’s FREE guide to cultivating a deeper life: calnewport.com/ideas Learn more about Cal’s books: calnewport.com/books Listen to Cal’s podcast: thedeeplife.com/listen Chapters (0:00) Is technology good or bad? (35:19) Applying digital minimalism to LLMs (38:19) An overlooked negative impact of using too much AI (40:22) A reformed relationship with social media (42:20) An article about focus, writing spaces and New Yorker staff writers (49:52) What Cal is up to October Books: Simplify (Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, Roy Schwartz) Telephone (John Brooks) Roll That Calls (Ari Emanuel) Cancel Me If You Can (Dave Portnoy) The Treeline (Ben Rawlence) Resources Mentioned: https://ludditebicentenary.blogspot.com/2012/04/12th-april-1812-letter-from-g-ludd-to.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com https://economics.mit.edu/sites/default/files/2024-04/Learning%20from%20Ricardo%20and%20Thompson%20-%20Machinery%20and%20Labor%20in%20the%20Early%20Industrial%20Revolution%20-%20and%20in%20the%20Age%20of%20AI.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/answering-the-techno-pessimists-complete?hide_intro_popup=true https://www.youtube.com/shorts/P4m8-9KJpTQ https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/its-time-to-dismantle-the-technopoly Sponsors: https://www.vanta.com/deepquestions https://www.pipedrive.com/deep https://www.monarch.com (Use code “DEEP”) https://www.superhuman.com Credits: Podcast Production: Jesse Miller Newsletter/Research: Nate Mechler Theme Music: Jay Kerstens