I would put forth the assertion that Big Tech is more damaging than Standard Oil or US steel ever were. Altering the human mind at will is so much more dangerous than higher oil or steel prices ever could be.
https://esgnews.com/ai-boom-drives-150-surge-in-indirect-emi...
Exploiting basic human psychology to incite people to come back to consume whatever you're giving them (small dopamine hits) doesn't absolve the people doing it, but it doesn't absolve the people exploiting it either.
> “altering the human mind at will” is a pretty wild claim
How is it wild? Humans are social animals, and there have been numerous studies on the effect of social media on teenagers (up to and including body dysmorphia and suicides) or politics, including influencing the results of referenda or elections, or even starting riots.
Short of moving to a cabin in the woods, network effects hold us all hostage to the mind-altering, ad-delivering, capitalism machine
Having a smartphone doesn't have to mean being subjected to algorithmic feeds, advertising and corporate spying. Keeping in touch with friends doesn't have to be mediated by billionaires. All you have to do is be willing to have a life that isn't 100% convenient at all times in every direction.
Signal is free and cross platform. There is literally no reason people can't download and use it instead of the other messengers.
GrapheneOS is nearly perfect and works with every single app I've tried, including finance and travel.
Web versions of apps exist.
You can actually ask the people you care about to change their behavior for you, underlining all the risks with the current way. People act as if downloading a new app is an insurmountable task. It'll just sit there and send notifications. What's this mental block people have?
You can do SO MANY things before moving to a cabin in the woods.
The door of the prison is unlocked, dude. You don't have to stay inside just cuz you're used to being there.
You can, and I do, but that is really only the very tippy-top of the iceberg.
I have convinced my close friends to join me on Signal. I can't convince most of my acquaintances to use it, nor most of the business I work with in Europe, so I have to have WhatsApp to communicate with them - complete with Stories and Meta AI which can't be disabled.
I get most of my contracting work through personal referrals, so I need to keep in touch with people I've worked with in the past. They are all still deep in the tech world and not looking to divest, so I pretty much have to meet them where they are - turns out to be a combo of LinkedIn + Facebook.
I also run a meat-space business, so I have to maintain a Google Maps presence or no one can find me. Have to maintain Facebook and Instagram pages or nobody finds out about our events. And so on...
So every time you say yes to that meeting, in an unsafe place, and don't attempt (or demand) to redirect that meeting to a safer place, you are perpetuating unsafety for everyone.
If you don't consider it to be your ethical duty you should at the very least be doing it purely out of self interest.
Certainly there are things that people can do to be less reliant on big tech. However, being a part of society still requires a lot of reliance on big tech.