Technology gives us power, but it does not and cannot tell us how to use that power. Thanks to technology, we... — Jonathan Sacks

Technology gives us power, but it does not and cannot tell us how to use that power. Thanks to technology, we can instantly communicate across the world, but it still doesn't help us know what to say.

Author: Jonathan Sacks

Insight: We live in an era of unprecedented capability. We can reach almost anyone instantly, access nearly any information, solve logistical problems that would have seemed impossible decades ago. And yet somehow we're no better at the things that actually matter—having difficult conversations, knowing what we really want to say to someone we care about, deciding what's worth our attention in the first place. Technology has given us megaphones but not wisdom about when to use them. The trap is thinking that capacity equals clarity. We assume that because we can do something easily, we'll automatically know whether we should, or how to do it well. But a tool doesn't come with a moral compass. Your phone can connect you with an old friend or let you spend three hours in a rage spiral with a stranger. It can help you learn or help you procrastinate. The technology itself is neutral—which means the harder, more important work has been left entirely to us. This is actually liberating if you let it be. It means your choices still matter. It means that slowing down to think about what you actually want to communicate, or whether you need to at all, isn't a failure to use technology efficiently—it's the whole point of being human. The question was never "what can we do?" It's always been "what should we do?"