When a system is created, the intent is usually a good one. The pioneers of the internet weren’t trying to build a platform for trolls and misogynists. The creators of packaged foods weren’t hoping to increase obesity, diabetes, and heart attacks. But side effects often occur. Side effects are merely effects. The system produces them, often with the same reliable regularity as the desired effects. If we can’t accept the side effects, then we can’t accept the system. A strategy cannot ignore the side effects. Because side effects are part of the system, the same way that a shadow is part of the
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