I delivered the remarks below at the National Conservatism conference in Washington, D.C., at a session entitled “Tech and the Future of the Family.”
I’m here to speak with you about technology and the future of the family. I feel I must speak to you about the future more broadly. For there is no institution in human history more intrinsically forward-looking than the family, no institution more deeply predicated on the notion that the future will be better than the present.
If we knew the future were to be bleak, it would not be worth living to see. Why would anyone go through the trouble of childrearing, of cultivating a young mind, if they did not believe the future would have anything to offer that child?
If we did not believe in a bright future, there would be little sense in building a family, or anything at all. The only purpose left would be procuring our daily fix of dopamine.
