Part III: Critical Fallacies

How are critics falling short of their potential for cultural contribution?

Dualisms and Zero Sums

How and why does technology encourage the use of binary oppositions in critical discourse? How can we encourage critical discussion that allows for nuance and complexity?

• Sherry Turkle, “Stop Googling. Let’s Talk.,” 2016²²⁷
• Zeynep Tufekci, “Is the Internet Good or Bad? Yes.,” 2014²²⁸
• Nathan Jurgenson, “Digital Dualism versus Augmented Reality,” 2011²²⁹
• Nathan Jurgenson, “The IRL Fetish,” 2012²³⁰

Bullying

Personalizing debates in technology thought leadership often end up misrepresenting arguments and shutting down conversation rather than encouraging discussion. How are these tactics endemic to a current internet attention economy of the media? What might be more effective means of argumentation?

• Evgeny Morozov, “The Meme Hustler,” 2013²³¹
• Evgeny Morozov, “The Internet Intellectual,” 2011²³²
• Michael Meyer, “Evgeny vs. the Internet,” 2014²³³

Universalizing/Armchair Philosophizing

Critics are often characterized as armchair philosophers, theorizing from their own experience without empirical basis. How can critics recognize and avoid this trap?

• Alexis Madrigal, “Toward a Complex, Realistic, and Moral Tech Criticism,” 2013²³⁴
• Jonathan Franzen, “Technology Provides an Alternative to Love,” 2011²³⁵
• Jonathan Franzen, “What’s Wrong with the Modern World,” 2013²³⁶