Core Concept Conversation: What is technology?

post by Adam Zerner (adamzerner) · 2023-01-15T09:40:47.955Z · LW · GW · 1 comments

This is a Core Concept Conversation [LW · GW] post.

I've never had a good understanding of what technology is. In How to Make Wealth, Paul Graham describes it as technique:

What is technology? It's technique. It's the way we all do things. And when you discover a new way to do things, its value is multiplied by all the people who use it. It is the proverbial fishing rod, rather than the fish. That's the difference between a startup and a restaurant or a barber shop. You fry eggs or cut hair one customer at a time. Whereas if you solve a technical problem that a lot of people care about, you help everyone who uses your solution. That's leverage.

So when Kenji-Lopez Alt created the reverse-sear technique for cooking steak, is that technique a technology? It's not tangible, it's just an idea. What about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy? Or mindfulness meditation?

I haven't thought about this too deeply and don't have too many questions upfront. I'd like to see what happens if I start this conversation off more open-ended.

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