The 'Long-Route Fallacy': judging tech by the externalities its shortcuts eliminate
garrytan · x · 2026-10-13
Garry Tan amplified a post naming a recurring logical fallacy in tech criticism: the "Long-Route Fallacy" — judging the value of a technological efficiency by the positive externalities lost to the shortcut. Example: "running water means we don't exercise walking to the well anymore." Commenters added that mathematicians railing against AI today are re-running the same arguments structural chemists made in the 1950s.
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