Blown to Bits: Your Life, Liberty, and Happiness After the Digital Explosion, First Edition

Conclusion

After the Explosion

Bits Lighting Up the World

In Greek mythology, Prometheus stole Zeus's fire and brought it from Olympus to Earth, along with the useful arts of civilization. Zeus retaliated for Prometheus's trickery by visiting upon humanity the ills and evils that beset us. We have been trying to make the best of things ever since.

The Prometheus myth is about technology. Technology, like fire, is neither good nor bad—its value depends on how we use it. And once we start using a technology, society itself changes. It is never the same again.

Information technologies spark a special kind of fire. Bits are the atomic particles of the information flames. With our information tools, we can do things, both good and bad, that we could ...