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The Archive

In Machines I Trust

Machines can’t cook with the soul of a mother; the flavor simply isn’t the same.

This product is handmade with love in NYC—not mass-produced in a distant factory.

We often weaponize such arguments to attack technology and favor human craftsmanship. But is that actually true? Can machines match (or even exceed) human endeavors.

If a machine manages to replicate my mother’s recipe with mathematical precision, why wouldn’t it taste the same? I suspect that such negativity stems from one of two sources: it is either our defensive insecurity about machines encroaching upon our territory, or it is case of a misplaced hostility. I suspect that the true object of our distaste is this latter case — factory owners hyper-focused on profitability and their self-interest instead of trying to produce responsibility in favor of environment and consumer value.

Like the natural world, machines are impartial. They are driven by natural laws and operate on objectives of their designers. They don’t get tired and they don’t have “bad days.” Usually, when we say we don’t trust a machine, we actually mean we don’t trust the person who built it. That’s a human flaw, not a mechanical one. Machines are here to stay, and they will get smarter with each passing day. We might as well make our peace with them and learn to exploit them to our advantage. Here’s the generate guideline to live by when it comes to technology and automation:

  • Learn to automate. Don’t just be a consumer. Learn to code, automate, and program. You want to be the one giving the orders, not just the one clicking buttons.
  • Value maturity over novelty. Don’t fall for “early adopter” trap. Early Tesla owners paid premium price for experimental tech. Now, you get the way better version of Tesla for less money. Allow technology to mature before integrating it into your life.
  • Don’t be luddite. If you’re too lazy to learn how your tools work, don’t complain when they break. If you turn off the “Are you sure?” deletion warning and delete your file accidentally, that’s on you, not the computer.