Every technology has second-order effects which are much more powerful and harder to control than their first-order effects. Users and builders of new technologies should think about them as much as possible.
Discussion
there is third and fourth order as well, but at some point your brain breaks modeling it 😉
You beat me to thus post. Analysis of 3rd order and beyond effects has diminishing marginal returns.
i'm of the opinion that the most important stuff is third order, and most people don't even get to the second in their thinking
What's an example of a technology and its 1/2/3rd order effects?
technology: search engines improve being able to find answers to questions
1st: people spend less time looking for answers, and get more accurate information, that allows them to make better decisions
2nd: people get used to not needing to hunt for answers to questions, and their ability to do searches for data via more laborious methods is weakened
3rd: libraries are defunded, paper records are dissappearing, and human dependency on the internet in times of loss of network function becomes extreme