Social Determinism
This concept came to me in a flash while I was reading McLuhan (1964, pp. 9-11) and I was thinking about how media determine/enable social behaviour, whether positive or negative. McLuhan was expressing annoyance over General David Sarnoff's address to the University of Notre Dame on receipt of his honourary degree. “We are too prone to make technological instruments the scapegoats of those who wield them. The products of modern science are not in themselves good or bad; it is the way they are used that determines their value.” McLuhan responds with, “Apple pie is neither good nor bad; it is the way it is used that determines its value” and similar comments about smallpox and firearms.
Of course, I had it backwards. The social determinism is already taken for another purpose that's more sensible than mine. A good explanation of social determinism and complaint about absolutist interpretations is provided by Levite, 1996.
I'm going to have to line up with Levite on this matter. Cognitive extensions may be good, bad, both, or neither depending on the scope and circumstances under which they operate. At times, I can't help but believe in the good of people, and at other times, the unmitigated bad. That media (tools, technology) are simply projections leaves their qualifications open.