IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2017 - 25

uncertain words, that we have lost
control over the very creations we
have built to make life better for us.
Somewhere along the way we have
become emotionally attached to
our technologies; rather than being
extensions of us, it seems we have
become extensions of them.
But for Hill, it's not all about the
bling, and high-tech gadgetry. For
Hill, it is more than being enslaved
into a life of upgrades, although he
does question the practices of Silicon Valley - the preoccupation of
building the ultimate immortal man
who can live forever through AI and
some sort of fantastical Singularity
[5], [6]. Hill doesn't just stop there.
He looks for the underlying causes
to why our climate has changed so
detrimentally, the very processes
that didn't begin with the introduction of smartphones or social
media, but of events from hundreds
of years ago. Indirectly, Hill entices
the reader to scratch beneath the
surface and think about the "how"
and "why."
In a somewhat prophetic voice,
Hill arrives at the conclusion that if
we are going to reverse things that
we might as well begin now. What
he's really talking about is the mystery of technology. Hill doesn't shun
its value but he declares that we
have to put it in its place, before it
puts us in a place of no return. His
is a voice of one crying in the wilderness, but he is not alone. The
reader, no sooner reads a few more
of Hill's chapters, and finds herself
admitting what she's always known:
"Technology doesn't always mean
progress. In fact, sometimes it has
some very ugly intended and unintended consequences." In short, we
gotta be alert and awake. But even
more than that!
Hill digs deep and unravels the
inherent qualities of technology, and
proceeds to make us aware of the
happenings around us [7]. Readers
june 2017

"This is the technology criticism I've been waiting for - aware of the history of
technology criticism and the history of changing attitudes toward technology, and
at the same time attuned to contemporary developments. Not So Fast is readable,
meticulously sourced, and, above all - nuanced. I recommend it for technology critics
and enthusiasts alike."
-Howard Rheingold, Internet pioneer and author of Tools for Thought, The Virtual
Community, Smart Mobs, and "Net Smart"

will be all the more enlightened to
learn about some of Hill's conclusions, through practical examples in
everyday life:
1) The technological imperative.
"Our entire way of life - the
social fabric in which we live -
is utterly, completely dependent
on technology," says Hill. "To
free ourselves of that dependence would be so disruptive
that economic and social chaos
would result."
2) Technological momentum.
"There's a simpler reason technologies become intractable: it's
too hard to change them. We're
stuck with the infrastructure we
have," Hill says. "For example,
it's not easy to replace a city's
sewer system from scratch."
3) Convergence and diffusion.
"Technologies are communicable; they spread like viruses.
They converge with other technologies and diffuse into unexpected areas," says Hill. "Bronze
casting methods first used to
make church bells were soon
used to make canons, for example. Today automation techniques - robots - are diffusing
daily into ever-more industries
and applications, from assembly
of everything from cars and
smartphones to the handling of
banking transactions."
4) Speed. "Regulation is slow; technologies are fast," says Hill. "So
it is that governments are frequently unable to effectively
control technological develop∕

IEEE Technology and Society Magazine

ment. Hundreds of companies
today are feverishly working to
exploit the commercial potential
of nanotechnology and synthetic
biology, for example, despite the
fact that no one is certain either
technology is safe."
In his conclusion, Hill isn't very
optimistic about where we are at
and he certainly doesn't give us
any tangible or pragmatic ways to
combat the predicament that society finds itself in. And yet, perhaps
that has left the door open to a
sequel, possibly about a resurgence
in technology assessment, about
the importance of resistance, and
breaking with the belief that technology can do no evil.
Is the path we are on, really that
irreversible? Are we headed down a
road of inevitabilities, locked-in on
auto-pilot? Or are there strategies
we might be able to employ right
now, as interlinked local communities that make up a collective global
consciousness? We have the power,
are we willing participants? How
much do we care about the future to
get involved?
Hill warns: "There's more to
turning off machines than hitting a
switch... We are deeply, intimately
tied to our technologies, in all sorts
of practical and emotional ways.
To give them up would be literally
life-threatening. That's why many
experts believe our technologies
have become 'autonomous.'"
I give this book 5 stars not only
because it is masterfully written - the
reader feels like they have known Hill

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2017