Technosolutionism is a narrow perspective on progress and innovation, deeply rooted in the logic of capitalism: an innovation is pursued if it is the path of least resistance toward the largest financial return.

An economy comprised of ‘valuable’ short-term solutions developed independently from one another will collectively improve society in the long-term. A solution is proven to be ‘valuable’ if it has widespread adoption.

The more money that can be made creating a solution, the more motivated the average person will be to work toward its creation. And that more money = more motivation is an inherent human truth, rather than a conditioned, cultural reality.

Now let’s imagine that someone enterprising invented a special hand fluid that the child workers could dip their hands in when they got cut or bruised, which temporarily numbed their pain so that they could get back to work quickly and continue earning. I’m sure children would report that the fluid was ‘valuable.’ Now imagine the inventor of the magic hand-numbing fluid actually also owns one (or most) of the factories where the kids work—the circle of technosolutionist logic is complete.

When we are given an apparent solution to a systemic problem, that solution also shapes the way we think about our values. If you are able to buy a gun and keep it in your house, you may do so and feel safer. You may start to say you value gun ownership when what you originally valued was safety.