Will it help?

Through a long string of coincidences, I heard this past week about how everything from UX to Big Data to Algorithms to SEO is somehow ruining something, spreading lies, reinforcing intolerance, and making the world worse, not better.

And I don’t have to search very far to find out how education can take a turn for the worst.

The thing is, all these things have promised to make the world better. And all of them can.

But just as with anything, that doesn’t mean they are better. In every case.

Good things can be used poorly, incorrectly, for the worst. Just like nuclear fission, chemistry, or gasoline, any ‘invention’ can hurt as much as it helps.

The question, then, isn’t to ask what ‘thing’ is worth investing your time doing. The question to ask is ‘Is the thing that I’m doing going to help?’