Techno-Meliorism (Techno-Improvementism)
This article was machine-translated from Japanese by AI (Claude). It may contain errors. Read the original Japanese article.
I have been seeing the terms techno-optimism (technological optimism) and effective accelerationism more and more often.
Behind this techno-optimism, there seems to be a belief that "as technology advances, society will get better." When that belief is strong, it comes close to the idea that "almost all problems can be solved through technological progress," and to accelerationist thinking.
But I am not someone who can be that optimistic about technology. Technology carries risks, and I think regulation is sometimes necessary. Redistributing wealth also requires politics, and I do not believe technology can solve everything. At the same time, I feel respect for the many problems technology has solved, and I have strong expectations for its continued development.
I do not side with the extreme view held by techno-optimists and effective accelerationists that "almost all problems can be solved through technological progress," yet I remain hopeful about technological progress. For someone like me, in that position, labeling myself a techno-optimist or an accelerationist was something I hesitated over quite a bit (partly because I would rather not be lumped in with them).
That is when I found the word "meliorism."
Meliorism
Meliorism is described as reformism or gradual improvementism. Melior is Latin for "better."
Meliorism is a way of thinking in the lineage of pragmatism, associated with William James and John Dewey. It is the position that, although we may never reach a perfect, ideal state like a utopia, things can gradually be improved (can become better) through people's conscious efforts. A dictionary also summarizes it as "the belief that the world tends to improve and that humans can help it to improve."
Meliorism is neither optimism nor pessimism; it sits between the two. It does not seek revolutionary or destructive change, but gradual progress. One could say it is also close to Popper's social engineering approach. It is also said to be a way of thinking that removes elitist privilege from the ideals of progressivism and faces ordinary people head on.
For now, I think the concept of techno-meliorism (techno-improvementism), which multiplies this meliorism with technology, may suit my current view that "technology can bring about a better world."
(※ There are problems that gradual improvement cannot solve, so I do not take this position on everything...)
Will
Looking back, techno-optimism seems to hold the idea that once technology gets better, the world will get better on its own, without further effort: that it simply is so.
Techno-meliorism, on the other hand, is not the idea that "it just is so." I think it can imply the will to use technology while holding the intention of making the world better.
This may be close to what Masao Maruyama described as "doing" rather than "being." In "'To Be' and 'To Do'" (included in Nihon no Shiso), Maruyama warns against regarding Japanese society as a democracy that simply "is" one and will be maintained if left alone. He argues that it can barely be a democracy only through everyday democratization, and stresses the importance of actively checking, scrutinizing, and "doing" the work of maintaining it.
Maruyama's framing, that in Shakespearean terms the question is not "To be or not to be" but "To do or not to do," explains this more clearly.
Likewise, what matters is not mere optimism that "the world is a place that technology makes better," but taking on the work with the will to "make the world better through technology."
If it is important to take on the work with such a will, then all the more, I think this is an age that increasingly calls for taking a meliorist stance and acting on it, rather than staying at optimism.