This is a quote from Tim Wu, law professor at Columbia, discussing information empires. He argues that these empires start off excited about the technology they are developing - Apple was started by hackers - till they progressively become slaves to the technology itself - now Steve Jobs claims fragmented technology (vs. integrated design) to be the enemy of progress. Wu ends by saying that the next few years in the evolution of internet (and facebook) will determine the course of human culture. Wu is currently working on policy making for web neutrality, implying that the law plays a major role in steering our collective future one way or another.
Parallel to this ongoing technology and policy making debate, this morning the New York Times posted a new video on school kids' food habits. Set in a lower school in Philadelphia, the short film's overall conclusive idea is that regulation is the only really impactful way to change the next generation's weight and heart disease problem. Food empires with their marketing geniuses and food developers as well as our brain's structure are demonstrated to be so powerful that state intervention is the main and only trustworthy solution.
While I agree that regulations play a huge role in how culture and disease develop, isn't there something less authoritative we can come up with? Possibly designing more attractive solutions that don't rely on governmental impositions? Not waiting for tuna to go on the going-extinct list for us to treat it like a leopard coat or for San Francisco to ban toys on kid menus to create kid menus with less salt?
Or are we really too controlled by our own brain (as determined by 'science'), Kellogg's and Apple that we are unable to give consciousness to our ways and change them? On that note these are pretty amazing:
