We cannot do no harm. We can only be selective about what harm we do. Whose values and needs we prioritize, what systems of power we support and create, which injuries (to people, cultures, or environments) we accept and which we concern ourselves with.
The anti-scientific core of the Techno-Optimist Manifesto. Technology as envisaged here asks what ONLY might be – disregarding what is.
I have two main offers. On the one hand, I talk about tech ethics with companies and organizations. On the other, I do the foundational work of coming to terms with our places in the world. Here’s how those two things come together.
We are condensed sunlight, breathing condensed sunlight, basking in (not condensed) sunlight, forged in cosmic fire, conversing with stars.
How do you decide, of all the infinite things you could be doing, what you should do? What if… you just did things you wanted to do?
In an “Ask me Anything” moment recently, a friend asked me, “How hard is what you do?” “Hm,” I thought. “I wonder which part of ‘what I do’ we’re talking about here.” I decided to go with “Staying centred and optimistic in the face of… Everything.” Well… it was hard to learn. Actually, that’s not…
Each of has a limited number of things that we are pros at… whether those are the things we get paid for, or things that we have mastered as hobbies. Everything else (relationships, decision making, raising small people, taking care of our bodies, buying and selling cars and houses, picking a career…) is amateur hour.…
We can imagine the future, but we can’t predict it. Planting a tree is a gesture of hope that leaves something better in our wake.
They had staff, but we have technology. But we need to learn to make it work for us, instead of falling prey to other people’s priorities.
I’ve been working on a project (or three) for a loooong time, of which this page is only a part. I started off with the vague sense that it was about being “well-rounded” or “accomplished” (both of which are things that a lot of my peeps aspire to)… but it is increasingly obvious to me…