title: No one’s coming. It’s up to us.
url: https://medium.com/@hondanhon/no-ones-coming-it-s-up-to-us-de8d9442d0d
hash_url: 67566b664a4f5c8c7bbd514d8b6df584

<section name="a2be" class="section section--body section--first"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider"></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h1 name="c7ff" id="c7ff" class="graf graf--h3 graf--leading graf--title">No one’s coming. It’s up to us.</h1><p name="6694" id="6694" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h3"><em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Adapted from “We Are The Very Model Of Modern Humanist Technologists”, a lightning talk given at #</em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_Camp" data-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_Camp" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em class="markup--em markup--p-em">foocamp</em></a><em class="markup--em markup--p-em"> 2017 in San Francisco on Saturday, November 4th, 2017. For context, a </em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_talk" data-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_talk" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em class="markup--em markup--p-em">lightning talk</em></a><em class="markup--em markup--p-em"> is normally around five minutes long.</em></p></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--fullWidth"><figure name="89aa" id="89aa" class="graf graf--figure graf--layoutFillWidth graf-after--p"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 56.3%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image" data-image-id="1*UkdFz7b4xBioSyyHt7AgRw.jpeg" data-width="1920" data-height="1080"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/freeze/max/60/1*UkdFz7b4xBioSyyHt7AgRw.jpeg?q=20" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*UkdFz7b4xBioSyyHt7AgRw.jpeg"><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><img class="progressiveMedia-noscript js-progressiveMedia-inner" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*UkdFz7b4xBioSyyHt7AgRw.jpeg"></noscript></div></div></figure></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p name="9e2a" id="9e2a" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">Last autumn, I was invited to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_Camp" data-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_Camp" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Foo Camp</a>, an unconference organized by O’Reilly Media. <a href="https://www.oreilly.com" data-href="https://www.oreilly.com" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">O’Reilly</a> have held Foo Camps since 2003, and the events are invitation-only (hence the name: Friends of O’Reilly).</p><p name="2ae2" id="2ae2" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Foo Camp 2017’s theme was about how we (i.e. the attendees and, I understand, technologists in general) could “bring about a better future by making smart choices about the intersection of technology and the economy.”</p><p name="1207" id="1207" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">This intersection of technology and the economy (which is a bit of a, shall we say, <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">passive</em> way of describing the current economic change and disruption) is clearly an interest of Tim O’Reilly’s (the eponymous O’Reilly); he’s recently written a book, <a href="http://WTF?%20What’s%20the%20Future%20and%20Why%20It’s%20Up%20to%20Us" data-href="http://WTF? What’s the Future and Why It’s Up to Us" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">WTF? What’s the Future and Why It’s Up to Us</a>, about the subject.</p><p name="b398" id="b398" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">One part of the unconference structure of a Foo Camp is the lightning talks: quick, 5 minute “provocative” talks about a subject. I’d been thinking and writing about technology’s role in society for a while in my <a href="http://tinyletter.com/danhon" data-href="http://tinyletter.com/danhon" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">newsletter</a> (admittedly from an amateur, non-academic point of view), so Foo Camp’s lightning talks provided a good opportunity to pull my thoughts together in front of an audience of peers and experts.</p><p name="bc75" id="bc75" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">The talk I submitted was titled “The very model of modern humanist technologists”, and this essay is an adaptation for a wider audience.</p></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--fullWidth"><figure name="4c7b" id="4c7b" class="graf graf--figure graf--layoutFillWidth graf-after--p"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 56.3%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image" data-image-id="1*L41h3dkfQsGJee9xZh7mQA.png" data-width="1920" data-height="1080"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/freeze/max/60/1*L41h3dkfQsGJee9xZh7mQA.png?q=20" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*L41h3dkfQsGJee9xZh7mQA.png"><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><img class="progressiveMedia-noscript js-progressiveMedia-inner" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*L41h3dkfQsGJee9xZh7mQA.png"></noscript></div></div></figure></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p name="d7d6" id="d7d6" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">While the theme of 2017’s Foo Camp was how “we” could bring about a better future by making smart choices about the intersection of technology and the economy, I made the case that the only way for “us” to bring about that better future is through some sort of technological humanism.</p><p name="daa7" id="daa7" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">To make that case — ultimately a case for restraint and more considered progress rather than the stereotypical call to action to <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">move fast and break things — </em>I decided to tell a personal story.</p><p name="82fc" id="82fc" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">You see, when I make this case for humane technology, I’m making it as both a technologist and a non-technologist.</p></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--outsetColumn"><figure name="61f8" id="61f8" class="graf graf--figure graf--layoutOutsetCenter graf-after--p"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked" style="max-width: 1000px; max-height: 563px;"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 56.3%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image" data-image-id="1*A4tyEDTSDetNDBLl10TXMA.png" data-width="1920" data-height="1080" data-action="zoom" data-action-value="1*A4tyEDTSDetNDBLl10TXMA.png"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/freeze/max/60/1*A4tyEDTSDetNDBLl10TXMA.png?q=20" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*A4tyEDTSDetNDBLl10TXMA.png"><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><img class="progressiveMedia-noscript js-progressiveMedia-inner" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*A4tyEDTSDetNDBLl10TXMA.png"></noscript></div></div><figcaption class="imageCaption">The writer.</figcaption></figure></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p name="ea40" id="ea40" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">In this photograph, I’m probably around 4 or 5 years old.</p><p name="c97b" id="c97b" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">My parents moved from Hong Kong to the United Kingdom sometime in the 1970s as part of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_people" data-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_people" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">diaspora</a>. Their parents “sent them away”: the idea being that their children, and thus their grandchildren would have access to a better education and a better life in the United Kingdom.</p><p name="e2b6" id="e2b6" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Both my parents are academics — my dad’s a professor of manufacturing and my mother has a doctorate in educational linguistics. Education was important to them, and in the way that we learn about what’s important by watching the adults in our lives, what was important to them became important to me.</p></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--fullWidth"><figure name="8515" id="8515" class="graf graf--figure graf--layoutFillWidth graf-after--p"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 56.3%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image" data-image-id="1*0fKDgbv_WlWmjAb4YbcatA.png" data-width="1920" data-height="1080"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/freeze/max/60/1*0fKDgbv_WlWmjAb4YbcatA.png?q=20" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*0fKDgbv_WlWmjAb4YbcatA.png"><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><img class="progressiveMedia-noscript js-progressiveMedia-inner" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*0fKDgbv_WlWmjAb4YbcatA.png"></noscript></div></div></figure></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p name="4f71" id="4f71" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">I was born in 1979, the same year that The Usborne Book of the Future was published.</p><p name="2d87" id="2d87" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">The Usborne Book of the Future told an optimistic story of how humanity would use technology to solve problems and thrive.</p></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--fullWidth"><figure name="78f6" id="78f6" class="graf graf--figure graf--layoutFillWidth graf-after--p"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 64.1%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image" data-image-id="1*fvpdPIARDY-zkx4TtTCTwg.png" data-width="1924" data-height="1234"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/freeze/max/60/1*fvpdPIARDY-zkx4TtTCTwg.png?q=20" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*fvpdPIARDY-zkx4TtTCTwg.png"><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><img class="progressiveMedia-noscript js-progressiveMedia-inner" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*fvpdPIARDY-zkx4TtTCTwg.png"></noscript></div></div></figure></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p name="babe" id="babe" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">This book would become a sort of comfort book to me: I could retreat into its pages and read about a safer, fairer, more equitable and exciting future that would be realized within my lifetime. When you’re worried about not fitting in, the promise of a future where everyone belongs is pretty alluring.</p><p name="ecf3" id="ecf3" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">I was also incredibly lucky. As a lecturer and later a professor, my dad would borrow computers and equipment from his lab at the university to show them to his family at home.</p><figure name="efc7" id="efc7" class="graf graf--figure graf--iframe graf-after--p"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 75%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia"><img src="https://i.embed.ly/1/display/resize?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FEBr2tL7cDuU%2Fhqdefault.jpg&amp;key=a19fcc184b9711e1b4764040d3dc5c07&amp;width=40" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><div class="iframeContainer"><IFRAME data-width="640" data-height="480" width="640" height="480" data-src="/media/088d8b4aa70c38e4fb730450e2a94733?postId=de8d9442d0d" data-media-id="088d8b4aa70c38e4fb730450e2a94733" data-thumbnail="https://i.embed.ly/1/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FEBr2tL7cDuU%2Fhqdefault.jpg&amp;key=a19fcc184b9711e1b4764040d3dc5c07" class="progressiveMedia-iframe js-progressiveMedia-iframe" allowfullscreen frameborder="0"></IFRAME></div><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><div class="iframeContainer"><IFRAME data-width="640" data-height="480" width="640" height="480" src="/media/088d8b4aa70c38e4fb730450e2a94733?postId=de8d9442d0d" data-media-id="088d8b4aa70c38e4fb730450e2a94733" data-thumbnail="https://i.embed.ly/1/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FEBr2tL7cDuU%2Fhqdefault.jpg&amp;key=a19fcc184b9711e1b4764040d3dc5c07" allowfullscreen frameborder="0"></IFRAME></div></noscript></div></div><figcaption class="imageCaption">The BBC Micro videogame Galaxian.</figcaption></figure><p name="8f98" id="8f98" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">One of my earliest memories is of him bringing home a BBC Micro and being terrified at the sound — not the graphics — of Galaxian when I was around four years old.</p></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--fullWidth"><figure name="7eab" id="7eab" class="graf graf--figure graf--layoutFillWidth graf-after--p"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 56.3%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image" data-image-id="1*w2_J41kjtY0KKBVc8OkSag.jpeg" data-width="1920" data-height="1080"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/freeze/max/60/1*w2_J41kjtY0KKBVc8OkSag.jpeg?q=20" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*w2_J41kjtY0KKBVc8OkSag.jpeg"><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><img class="progressiveMedia-noscript js-progressiveMedia-inner" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*w2_J41kjtY0KKBVc8OkSag.jpeg"></noscript></div></div><figcaption class="imageCaption">Shuttle.dwg, which came with the 1985 release of AutoCAD</figcaption></figure></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p name="9680" id="9680" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">Another story: one day, in the mid 80s, my dad arrived home with a giant piece of paper, bigger than me. It was a CAD rendering of the Space Shuttle. I thought it was <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">amazing</em>. I thought <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">he</em> was amazing — he’d taken a bit of that future and brought it into our living room.</p><p name="527b" id="527b" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Right then, Shuttle was a symbol of a better future, tantalizingly close.</p><p name="d941" id="d941" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">I would have been six years old.</p><p name="7aec" id="7aec" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">What else?</p><p name="e8ba" id="e8ba" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Like many others — and many people here too, I suspect — I grew up with these paintings commissioned by NASA imagining how we’d live in space in the future:</p></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--fullWidth"><figure name="59ee" id="59ee" class="graf graf--figure graf--layoutFillWidth graf-after--p"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 56.3%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image" data-image-id="1*uoYQ5GdPBRNvnbz1kZXB5w.jpeg" data-width="1920" data-height="1080"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/freeze/max/60/1*uoYQ5GdPBRNvnbz1kZXB5w.jpeg?q=20" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*uoYQ5GdPBRNvnbz1kZXB5w.jpeg"><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><img class="progressiveMedia-noscript js-progressiveMedia-inner" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*uoYQ5GdPBRNvnbz1kZXB5w.jpeg"></noscript></div></div></figure></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p name="3ec7" id="3ec7" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">They showed how technology would save us.</p></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--fullWidth"><figure name="22fb" id="22fb" class="graf graf--figure graf--layoutFillWidth graf-after--p"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 56.3%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image" data-image-id="1*RKZEa7uNcRkzpqcuAFjzDA.jpeg" data-width="1920" data-height="1080"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/freeze/max/60/1*RKZEa7uNcRkzpqcuAFjzDA.jpeg?q=20" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*RKZEa7uNcRkzpqcuAFjzDA.jpeg"><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><img class="progressiveMedia-noscript js-progressiveMedia-inner" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*RKZEa7uNcRkzpqcuAFjzDA.jpeg"></noscript></div></div></figure></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p name="5ceb" id="5ceb" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">How technology and science would make everything better.</p></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--fullWidth"><figure name="613d" id="613d" class="graf graf--figure graf--layoutFillWidth graf-after--p"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 56.3%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image" data-image-id="1*HK5TjLn2oSuDD4EGm9pYyw.jpeg" data-width="1920" data-height="1080"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/freeze/max/60/1*HK5TjLn2oSuDD4EGm9pYyw.jpeg?q=20" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*HK5TjLn2oSuDD4EGm9pYyw.jpeg"><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><img class="progressiveMedia-noscript js-progressiveMedia-inner" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*HK5TjLn2oSuDD4EGm9pYyw.jpeg"></noscript></div></div></figure></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p name="2168" id="2168" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">They showed a fairer future.</p><p name="f8d9" id="f8d9" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">In that future, everyone would belong, and nobody would feel left out. Who wouldn’t want that?</p><p name="a705" id="a705" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">(Later, I would have the experience and wisdom to look back on these images and think about everything that <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">wasn’t</em> in these paintings of the future, about all the people and cultures who were missing.)</p><p name="26a2" id="26a2" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">For a kid growing up in the 80s and 90s, this vision of the future, of fitting in, of being accepted was seductive. Especially so for a second-generation immigrant.</p><p name="0583" id="0583" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">And over the course of the 80s and 90s, it felt like there was a consensus forming: computers would be a massive part of our future. They’d be integral in bringing in about those visions of a fairer, more equitable future.</p></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--fullWidth"><figure name="d87d" id="d87d" class="graf graf--figure graf--layoutFillWidth graf-after--p"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 56.3%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image" data-image-id="1*M9yzYC6k154ODT0k0SiYMg.jpeg" data-width="1920" data-height="1080"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/freeze/max/60/1*M9yzYC6k154ODT0k0SiYMg.jpeg?q=20" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*M9yzYC6k154ODT0k0SiYMg.jpeg"><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><img class="progressiveMedia-noscript js-progressiveMedia-inner" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*M9yzYC6k154ODT0k0SiYMg.jpeg"></noscript></div></div><figcaption class="imageCaption">Computers in the Home, The Usborne Book of the Future, 1979</figcaption></figure><figure name="c615" id="c615" class="graf graf--figure graf--layoutFillWidth graf-after--figure"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 56.3%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image" data-image-id="1*YnRxe3aAYAp9A0rwhRn7Ug.jpeg" data-width="1920" data-height="1080"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/freeze/max/60/1*YnRxe3aAYAp9A0rwhRn7Ug.jpeg?q=20" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*YnRxe3aAYAp9A0rwhRn7Ug.jpeg"><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><img class="progressiveMedia-noscript js-progressiveMedia-inner" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*YnRxe3aAYAp9A0rwhRn7Ug.jpeg"></noscript></div></div><figcaption class="imageCaption">The Electronic Revolution, The Usborne Book of the Future, 1979</figcaption></figure></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p name="921d" id="921d" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">In the future, I would have my very own computer watch, complete with an emergency button I could press to summon emergency services. <a href="https://www.apple.com/apple-watch-series-3/" data-href="https://www.apple.com/apple-watch-series-3/" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">I have that watch</a>, now.</p><p name="3efd" id="3efd" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">By the time I got exposed to bulletin boards in the early 1990s, I was hooked.</p><p name="ba63" id="ba63" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Later, figuring out how to use my dad’s academic SLIP account in the mid 90s convinced me.</p></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--outsetColumn"><figure name="1f44" id="1f44" class="graf graf--figure graf--layoutOutsetCenter graf-after--p"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked" style="max-width: 1000px; max-height: 563px;"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 56.3%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image" data-image-id="1*0VevdATyxdNcuHBPffKefg.jpeg" data-width="1920" data-height="1080" data-action="zoom" data-action-value="1*0VevdATyxdNcuHBPffKefg.jpeg"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/freeze/max/60/1*0VevdATyxdNcuHBPffKefg.jpeg?q=20" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*0VevdATyxdNcuHBPffKefg.jpeg"><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><img class="progressiveMedia-noscript js-progressiveMedia-inner" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*0VevdATyxdNcuHBPffKefg.jpeg"></noscript></div></div><figcaption class="imageCaption"><a href="https://www.eff.org/cyberspace-independence" data-href="https://www.eff.org/cyberspace-independence" class="markup--anchor markup--figure-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace</a>, John Perry Barlow, 1996</figcaption></figure></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p name="95bc" id="95bc" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">I became a believer. On the Internet, in a connected society, everyone would be equal. Everyone would be accepted. What we looked like, our gender, our <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">meat</em> wouldn’t matter. What was on the inside would count more than what was on the outside.</p><p name="bd84" id="bd84" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">And, as I’ve spoken to friends about this, they agreed: for a brief moment in the 1990s, it was possible for a woman in technology (albeit more likely than not, a white, professional woman) to be accepted just for what she knew.</p><p name="84c2" id="84c2" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">At the same time, against the growing importance and belief that the internet would be a force for good, there was my growing understanding and acceptance of the fact that we’re a tool-making, tool-using technological species.</p><p name="19fc" id="19fc" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">In my talk, I made this point by using the infamous match cut from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001, of humanity’s monolith-manipulated ancestors learning to use bones as tools and jumping in time to a space-faring civilization.</p><figure name="be82" id="be82" class="graf graf--figure graf--iframe graf--startsWithDoubleQuote graf-after--p"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 56.2%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia"><img src="https://i.embed.ly/1/display/resize?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FqtbOmpTnyOc%2Fhqdefault.jpg&amp;key=a19fcc184b9711e1b4764040d3dc5c07&amp;width=40" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><div class="iframeContainer"><IFRAME data-width="854" data-height="480" width="700" height="393" data-src="/media/fbed986914db7ca503eb4571b088c955?postId=de8d9442d0d" data-media-id="fbed986914db7ca503eb4571b088c955" data-thumbnail="https://i.embed.ly/1/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FqtbOmpTnyOc%2Fhqdefault.jpg&amp;key=a19fcc184b9711e1b4764040d3dc5c07" class="progressiveMedia-iframe js-progressiveMedia-iframe" allowfullscreen frameborder="0"></IFRAME></div><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><div class="iframeContainer"><IFRAME data-width="854" data-height="480" width="700" height="393" src="/media/fbed986914db7ca503eb4571b088c955?postId=de8d9442d0d" data-media-id="fbed986914db7ca503eb4571b088c955" data-thumbnail="https://i.embed.ly/1/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FqtbOmpTnyOc%2Fhqdefault.jpg&amp;key=a19fcc184b9711e1b4764040d3dc5c07" allowfullscreen frameborder="0"></IFRAME></div></noscript></div></div><figcaption class="imageCaption">“You know, that part in 2001 when Kubrick masterfully match cuts from a bone-as-tool-and-weapon to a space faring civilization”</figcaption></figure><p name="0c96" id="0c96" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">I believed that our use of technology was a reason to be optimistic. That it <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">is</em> a reason for us to be optimistic, for we use technology to solve problems.</p><p name="37af" id="37af" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">(I mean sure, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5565641/" data-href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5565641/" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">crows do it too</a>. But crows haven’t left our gravity well and as far as we know they don’t think digital watches are neat, so: sucks to be crows.)</p><p name="8570" id="8570" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p graf--trailing">All of the above is to show that I’m a technologist. I’m born of a generation, I think, that was optimistic, if not utopian and our intentions were good, even while our knowledge or experience wasn’t yet mature. In that way, I consider myself a technologist: that we create technology to solve problems, and solving those problems is part of the way to a better society for ourselves and those who come after us.</p></div></div></section><section name="214a" class="section section--body"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider"></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--fullWidth"><figure name="5267" id="5267" class="graf graf--figure graf--layoutFillWidth graf--leading"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 56.3%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image" data-image-id="1*D-ox3v8wREAXlV0Y4bvckQ.jpeg" data-width="1920" data-height="1080"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/freeze/max/60/1*D-ox3v8wREAXlV0Y4bvckQ.jpeg?q=20" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*D-ox3v8wREAXlV0Y4bvckQ.jpeg"><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><img class="progressiveMedia-noscript js-progressiveMedia-inner" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*D-ox3v8wREAXlV0Y4bvckQ.jpeg"></noscript></div></div></figure></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p name="87f3" id="87f3" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">Tim O’Reilly is clearly a technologist, too. If there were any doubt, in the introduction to 2017’s Foo Camp, he stated that “technology is ultimately the solution to human problems.”</p><p name="1f68" id="1f68" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">I agree.</p></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--outsetColumn"><figure name="55ff" id="55ff" class="graf graf--figure graf--layoutOutsetCenter graf-after--p"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked" style="max-width: 1000px; max-height: 563px;"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 56.3%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image" data-image-id="1*cb-xvFMMPo5VYft-N2eGEQ.jpeg" data-width="1920" data-height="1080" data-action="zoom" data-action-value="1*cb-xvFMMPo5VYft-N2eGEQ.jpeg"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/freeze/max/60/1*cb-xvFMMPo5VYft-N2eGEQ.jpeg?q=20" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*cb-xvFMMPo5VYft-N2eGEQ.jpeg"><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><img class="progressiveMedia-noscript js-progressiveMedia-inner" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*cb-xvFMMPo5VYft-N2eGEQ.jpeg"></noscript></div></div></figure></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p name="df22" id="df22" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">Look: growing up, I felt like computers were amazing.</p><p name="4edc" id="4edc" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Not only did they help me do wonderful, brilliant things in the present, but I felt like I could see and was persuaded by their <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">potential</em>. I was — and remain convinced — that computing is an amplifier for all the beauty and sadness and for all the hope and despair of humanity.</p><p name="47fa" id="47fa" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">The new media and online communities I immersed and surrounded myself in during the 90s and early 2000s led to deep, long-lasting friendships, family and children.</p><p name="8c4e" id="8c4e" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">As a technologist, I think one of the stories we told ourselves was that networked computing would fix things. Or at the very least would improve things. That the technology would prove to be an accelerator and an amplifier of the arc of history bending toward justice.</p><p name="d6f3" id="d6f3" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">In that respect, I think we got part of what we wanted, in that networked computing would have the best chance of fixing things if it were ubiquitous. Sometime during the last 10 years, thanks to an incredibly complicated intersection of Moore’s law, globalism, neoliberal capitalism, the military industrial complex, colonialism and some really hard work, computing got cheap enough. Network access became wireless and then pervasive enough that we hit a qualitative change.</p></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--fullWidth"><figure name="4810" id="4810" class="graf graf--figure graf--layoutFillWidth graf-after--p"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 56.3%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image" data-image-id="1*cwyYSUl4Mc5-ynJROyWQUw.jpeg" data-width="1920" data-height="1080"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/freeze/max/60/1*cwyYSUl4Mc5-ynJROyWQUw.jpeg?q=20" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*cwyYSUl4Mc5-ynJROyWQUw.jpeg"><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><img class="progressiveMedia-noscript js-progressiveMedia-inner" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*cwyYSUl4Mc5-ynJROyWQUw.jpeg"></noscript></div></div></figure></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p name="dfb4" id="dfb4" class="graf graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote graf-after--figure">“Enough” people have access to networked computing now, to the extent that as technologists we’re capable of making jokes about most computing power not feeling like “computers”. The trendlines of the world’s major social networks are pointing upwards and feel unstoppable. It feels inevitable that everyone will get networked, in some fashion.</p><p name="6702" id="6702" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">But I think we’ve clearly reached a point that <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">enough</em> people now have access to networked computing, at any time, in any location. This is the qualitative change that I’m talking about, a sort of point of no return where networked technologies can be deployed easily enough, quickly enough that their effects aren’t just more-or-less limited to early adopter communities.</p><p name="162a" id="162a" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">The webcam isn’t being pointed at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_Room_coffee_pot" data-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_Room_coffee_pot" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">just one coffee pot</a>. It wants to be pointed at every coffee pot — and now, it just about can.</p><p name="c6f9" id="c6f9" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">When enough people gained access to networked computing (available at any time, in any location) the effects that networked computing enabled didn’t just happen to a comparatively small group of technologists. They started to happen to other people, too. To everyone.</p><p name="b81b" id="b81b" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Platforms like Twitter and, later, Strava, started for small, like-minded groups. These affinity groups (a particular social group in the Bay Area, semi-pro athletes for Strava) had at least some set of shared expectations around privacy, for example. But when those platforms grow past their original audiences into wider ones (commonly propelled by growth expectations placed upon them by investment), those privacy expectations change. When Strava grew past a semi-pro athlete social network into one that’s aiming to attract amateur/casual athletes, into a more mass market, effects and outcomes qualitatively change. Those effects <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/5/16974576/strava-public-segment-feature-disabled-app-privacy-heatmaps" data-href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/5/16974576/strava-public-segment-feature-disabled-app-privacy-heatmaps" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">then have to be dealt with</a> as platforms interact with greater segments of society.</p><p name="6975" id="6975" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">This seems like a trite observation, but I think it’s fundamental to the psychology and culture of stereotypical west coast style technologists. And, for what it’s worth, I also think it’s applicable to people in general. The ability to systemically affect entire societies in such short timespans isn’t something that I believe we’re intuitively geared up to deal with without very, very deliberately engaging <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinking,_Fast_and_Slow" data-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinking,_Fast_and_Slow" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Kahneman’s System 2</a>.</p></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--fullWidth"><figure name="8777" id="8777" class="graf graf--figure graf--layoutFillWidth graf-after--p"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 56.3%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image" data-image-id="1*v6NlgwChTfWlimnOlUFumQ.jpeg" data-width="1920" data-height="1080"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/freeze/max/60/1*v6NlgwChTfWlimnOlUFumQ.jpeg?q=20" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*v6NlgwChTfWlimnOlUFumQ.jpeg"><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><img class="progressiveMedia-noscript js-progressiveMedia-inner" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*v6NlgwChTfWlimnOlUFumQ.jpeg"></noscript></div></div></figure></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p name="6573" id="6573" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">And yet everything isn’t better.</p><p name="53d9" id="53d9" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Sure, some things are better. Networked, global neoliberal capitalism has certainly and undeniably lifted many out of poverty. But at the same time, the world we’re living in isn’t the drastically improved society of people living in harmony I was promised as a child.</p><p name="9c88" id="9c88" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">The 2017 my children and I live in is a messy, human future. One where we talk about the <a href="http://meyerweb.com/eric/thoughts/2014/12/24/inadvertent-algorithmic-cruelty/" data-href="http://meyerweb.com/eric/thoughts/2014/12/24/inadvertent-algorithmic-cruelty/" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">inadvertent algorithmic cruelty</a> of being awkwardly reminded to celebrate your child’s death.</p><p name="7c73" id="7c73" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Where people <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/12/19/why-the-bitcoin-craze-is-using-up-so-much-energy/?utm_term=.ba0ef1118440" data-href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/12/19/why-the-bitcoin-craze-is-using-up-so-much-energy/?utm_term=.ba0ef1118440" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">worry about the energy expenditure</a> of a cryptocurrency.</p><p name="d910" id="d910" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">My talk was originally written for a select gathering (to be clear, Foo Camp has been criticised, and rightly so, as being problematic in terms of inclusivity and diversity) of influential technologists worried that we need to make smarter choices about technology and its effects on our economy.</p><p name="3bd0" id="3bd0" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">But I’m worried that just thinking about technology and our economy isn’t going to help.</p></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--fullWidth"><figure name="4617" id="4617" class="graf graf--figure graf--layoutFillWidth graf-after--p"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 56.3%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image" data-image-id="1*Cl9FbBNX8PzBy1mcBfxIuw.jpeg" data-width="1920" data-height="1080"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/freeze/max/60/1*Cl9FbBNX8PzBy1mcBfxIuw.jpeg?q=20" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*Cl9FbBNX8PzBy1mcBfxIuw.jpeg"><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><img class="progressiveMedia-noscript js-progressiveMedia-inner" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*Cl9FbBNX8PzBy1mcBfxIuw.jpeg"></noscript></div></div></figure></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p name="ad19" id="ad19" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">If technology is the solution to human problems, we need to do the human work to figure out and agree what our problems are and the kind of society we want. <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Then</em> we can figure out what technology we want and need to bring about the society we want. Otherwise we’re back to a coordination problem: which problems, what ones?</p><p name="d485" id="d485" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">In my talk I put forward the suspicion that many of the technologists gathered in the room weren’t attending just because smarter decisions needed to be made with regard to considered technology and the future of the economy. I suspected that many were in the room because, at the end of the day, everything wasn’t going quite as well as we thought or wished.</p><p name="3fb1" id="3fb1" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Because the better future promised by the books we grew up with didn’t automatically happen when enough people got connected.</p><p name="c495" id="c495" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Because we know we need to do better.</p><p name="a9a3" id="a9a3" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Because inequality is rising, not decreasing.</p><p name="c776" id="c776" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Because of what feels like rising incidences of hate and abuse, like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamergate_controversy" data-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamergate_controversy" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">gamergate</a>.</p><p name="3e34" id="3e34" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Because of <a href="https://meyerweb.com/eric/thoughts/2014/12/24/inadvertent-algorithmic-cruelty/" data-href="https://meyerweb.com/eric/thoughts/2014/12/24/inadvertent-algorithmic-cruelty/" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">algorithmic cruelty</a>.</p><p name="ca0f" id="ca0f" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Because of <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42644321" data-href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42644321" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">YouTube and Logan Paul</a> and YouTube and <a href="https://medium.com/@jamesbridle/something-is-wrong-on-the-internet-c39c471271d2" data-href="https://medium.com/@jamesbridle/something-is-wrong-on-the-internet-c39c471271d2" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" target="_blank">child exploitation</a>.</p><p name="4bb5" id="4bb5" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Because right now, it feels like things are getting worse.</p><p name="92c3" id="92c3" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Here’s what I think.</p><p name="f49b" id="f49b" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">I think we need to figure out what society we want first. The future we want. And then we figure out the technology, the tools, that will get us there.</p><p name="8dd0" id="8dd0" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Because if we’re a tool-making, tool-using species that uses technology to solve human problems, then the real question is this: what problems shall we choose to solve?</p><p name="efea" id="efea" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">In my talk, I explored just one question that I think will help us in that journey.</p></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--fullWidth"><figure name="1f2f" id="1f2f" class="graf graf--figure graf--layoutFillWidth graf-after--p"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 56.3%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image" data-image-id="1*7hCxkDeM3DfyQEAr1KEnfw.jpeg" data-width="1920" data-height="1080"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/freeze/max/60/1*7hCxkDeM3DfyQEAr1KEnfw.jpeg?q=20" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*7hCxkDeM3DfyQEAr1KEnfw.jpeg"><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><img class="progressiveMedia-noscript js-progressiveMedia-inner" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*7hCxkDeM3DfyQEAr1KEnfw.jpeg"></noscript></div></div></figure></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p name="7f3d" id="7f3d" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">I think we need to question our gods.</p><p name="cc27" id="cc27" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">By gods, I mean the laws, thinking, aphorisms and habits that we as technologists assume to be true and that appear to guide development of technology.</p><p name="3615" id="3615" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">I’ve got two examples.</p></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--outsetColumn"><figure name="9298" id="9298" class="graf graf--figure graf--layoutOutsetCenter graf-after--p"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked" style="max-width: 1000px; max-height: 563px;"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 56.3%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image" data-image-id="1*0B5HRbj1OesoO8klb-6RGg.jpeg" data-width="1920" data-height="1080" data-action="zoom" data-action-value="1*0B5HRbj1OesoO8klb-6RGg.jpeg"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/freeze/max/60/1*0B5HRbj1OesoO8klb-6RGg.jpeg?q=20" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*0B5HRbj1OesoO8klb-6RGg.jpeg"><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><img class="progressiveMedia-noscript js-progressiveMedia-inner" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*0B5HRbj1OesoO8klb-6RGg.jpeg"></noscript></div></div></figure></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p name="3175" id="3175" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">The first is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metcalfe%27s_law" data-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metcalfe%27s_law" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Metcalfe’s Law</a>. The Metcalfe is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Metcalfe" data-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Metcalfe" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Robert Metcalfe</a>, a co-inventor of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethernet" data-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethernet" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Ethernet</a>, a stupendously successful networking standard. You wouldn’t be reading this, in this way, were it not for Metcalfe.</p></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--outsetColumn"><figure name="b136" id="b136" class="graf graf--figure graf--layoutOutsetCenter graf-after--p"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked" style="max-width: 1000px; max-height: 563px;"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 56.3%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image" data-image-id="1*CL-bKlYMdFPWqkUlDdSm_Q.jpeg" data-width="1920" data-height="1080" data-action="zoom" data-action-value="1*CL-bKlYMdFPWqkUlDdSm_Q.jpeg"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/freeze/max/60/1*CL-bKlYMdFPWqkUlDdSm_Q.jpeg?q=20" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*CL-bKlYMdFPWqkUlDdSm_Q.jpeg"><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><img class="progressiveMedia-noscript js-progressiveMedia-inner" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*CL-bKlYMdFPWqkUlDdSm_Q.jpeg"></noscript></div></div></figure></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p name="d0d2" id="d0d2" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">Metcalfe’s law says that the value of a telecommunications network is proportional to the square of the number of connected users of the system. Most technologists know of this law, or a version of it.</p><p name="036d" id="036d" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">One of the ways people think about and illustrate Metcalfe’s Law is by understanding that a telephone or fax machine isn’t particularly useful on its own (the examples go to show how comparatively old the law is), but that two are much more useful. Four even more so, and so on. These understandings are a bit like folk understandings.</p><p name="e522" id="e522" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Lately, Metcalfe’s law has been applied to social networks and not just to equipment that’s connected together. Applying Metcalfe’s law to social networks is a sort of folk understanding that the more users your social network has, the more valuable it is. If you value value, then, the law points you in the direction of increasing the number of your users.</p></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--outsetColumn"><figure name="8f4a" id="8f4a" class="graf graf--figure graf--layoutOutsetCenter graf-after--p"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked" style="max-width: 1000px; max-height: 563px;"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 56.3%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image" data-image-id="1*LX1NW1zbIgkhWy7MomAmQQ.jpeg" data-width="1920" data-height="1080" data-action="zoom" data-action-value="1*LX1NW1zbIgkhWy7MomAmQQ.jpeg"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/freeze/max/60/1*LX1NW1zbIgkhWy7MomAmQQ.jpeg?q=20" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*LX1NW1zbIgkhWy7MomAmQQ.jpeg"><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><img class="progressiveMedia-noscript js-progressiveMedia-inner" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*LX1NW1zbIgkhWy7MomAmQQ.jpeg"></noscript></div></div></figure></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p name="f78c" id="f78c" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">The problem is, I like to ask dumb questions. Asking dumb questions has served me well in my career. Asking dumb questions in this case means I have two simple questions about the law:</p><p name="5e6a" id="5e6a" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">First: why do we call Metcalfe’s law a law? Has it been proven to be true?</p><p name="cd8a" id="cd8a" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Second: What do we mean, exactly, by value?</p></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--outsetColumn"><figure name="2f55" id="2f55" class="graf graf--figure graf--layoutOutsetCenter graf-after--p"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked" style="max-width: 1000px; max-height: 563px;"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 56.3%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image" data-image-id="1*gE1urk0KZRUt54geM6fPBA.jpeg" data-width="1920" data-height="1080" data-action="zoom" data-action-value="1*gE1urk0KZRUt54geM6fPBA.jpeg"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/freeze/max/60/1*gE1urk0KZRUt54geM6fPBA.jpeg?q=20" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*gE1urk0KZRUt54geM6fPBA.jpeg"><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><img class="progressiveMedia-noscript js-progressiveMedia-inner" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*gE1urk0KZRUt54geM6fPBA.jpeg"></noscript></div></div></figure></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p name="a681" id="a681" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">Now, it turns out Bob Metcalfe did his homework. In 2013, he published a paper (“<a href="http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6636305/?tp=&amp;arnumber=6636305&amp;searchWithin%3Dp_Authors:.QT.Metcalfe,%20B..QT." data-href="http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6636305/?tp=&amp;arnumber=6636305&amp;searchWithin%3Dp_Authors:.QT.Metcalfe,%20B..QT." class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Metcalfe’s Law after 40 Years of Ethernet</a>”) testing his law in response to critics who had called it “a gross overestimation of the network effect”. Metcalfe found that his theory (remember: not a law) was true.</p><p name="d1f8" id="d1f8" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">So, how did Metcalfe define “value” in his paper?</p></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--outsetColumn"><figure name="243c" id="243c" class="graf graf--figure graf--layoutOutsetCenter graf-after--p"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked" style="max-width: 1000px; max-height: 563px;"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 56.3%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image" data-image-id="1*xVtwkWEleBD7nNiHfmeDEQ.jpeg" data-width="1920" data-height="1080" data-action="zoom" data-action-value="1*xVtwkWEleBD7nNiHfmeDEQ.jpeg"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/freeze/max/60/1*xVtwkWEleBD7nNiHfmeDEQ.jpeg?q=20" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*xVtwkWEleBD7nNiHfmeDEQ.jpeg"><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><img class="progressiveMedia-noscript js-progressiveMedia-inner" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*xVtwkWEleBD7nNiHfmeDEQ.jpeg"></noscript></div></div><figcaption class="imageCaption">Metcalfe’s Law after 40 Years of Ethernet, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1109/MC.2013.374" data-href="https://doi.org/10.1109/MC.2013.374" class="markup--anchor markup--figure-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">10.1109/MC.2013.374</a></figcaption></figure></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p name="d694" id="d694" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">Metcalfe used Facebook’s revenue as a definition of value and found that it fit his law.</p><p name="4c48" id="4c48" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Revenue is, of course, <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">just one way</em> of measuring value. One could drive a truck through all the things that revenue doesn’t represent that individuals, groups or whole societies might choose to value.</p><p name="7ca9" id="7ca9" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">For example: does revenue reflect the potential or actual value of harm done in allowing (intentionally or inadvertently) foreign interference in a democratic nation state’s elections? The week I presented this talk, representatives of Facebook and Twitter were testifying to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism in Washington, D.C.</p></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--outsetColumn"><figure name="96d2" id="96d2" class="graf graf--figure graf--layoutOutsetCenter graf-after--p"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked" style="max-width: 1000px; max-height: 563px;"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 56.3%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image" data-image-id="1*nJeou26dLgDNtaBj-Fp4dQ.jpeg" data-width="1920" data-height="1080" data-action="zoom" data-action-value="1*nJeou26dLgDNtaBj-Fp4dQ.jpeg"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/freeze/max/60/1*nJeou26dLgDNtaBj-Fp4dQ.jpeg?q=20" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*nJeou26dLgDNtaBj-Fp4dQ.jpeg"><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><img class="progressiveMedia-noscript js-progressiveMedia-inner" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*nJeou26dLgDNtaBj-Fp4dQ.jpeg"></noscript></div></div><figcaption class="imageCaption"><a href="https://www.lgraham.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/d96b585f-911d-41a1-a8b2-d6653359800e/testimony-of-colin-stretch-general-counsel-facebook.pdf" data-href="https://www.lgraham.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/d96b585f-911d-41a1-a8b2-d6653359800e/testimony-of-colin-stretch-general-counsel-facebook.pdf" class="markup--anchor markup--figure-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Testimony of Colin Stretch, General Counsel, Facebook</a>, before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, October 31, 2017</figcaption></figure></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p name="a46c" id="a46c" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">Does revenue also reflect the value of harm done to society in both allowing and signalling that allowing <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/facebook-advertising-discrimination-housing-race-sex-national-origin" data-href="https://www.propublica.org/article/facebook-advertising-discrimination-housing-race-sex-national-origin" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">advertising that breaks housing discrimination laws</a> is acceptable, a year after being notified?</p><p name="d77a" id="d77a" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">It doesn’t.</p><p name="c95a" id="c95a" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">So maybe revenue isn’t the only mechanism through which we can measure value.</p><p name="0361" id="0361" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Maybe there are a whole bunch of other things that networks do that we want to pay attention to that might be important or, I guess, valuable.</p><p name="3cfa" id="3cfa" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Maybe networks don’t automatically, positively, affect those values.</p><p name="8315" id="8315" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Being more deliberate about what we choose to value as a society and whether some measures (e.g. revenue) are able to sufficiently proxy others is part of a current, wider discussion. For example: should <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23855027" data-href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23855027" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">the economic value of breast milk</a> be included in when calculating gross domestic product?</p><figure name="7c44" id="7c44" class="graf graf--figure graf-after--p"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked" style="max-width: 700px; max-height: 687px;"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 98.1%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image" data-image-id="1*RZATTv-SLtWXB7HuiJnt3A.jpeg" data-width="1242" data-height="1219" data-action="zoom" data-action-value="1*RZATTv-SLtWXB7HuiJnt3A.jpeg"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/freeze/max/60/1*RZATTv-SLtWXB7HuiJnt3A.jpeg?q=20" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*RZATTv-SLtWXB7HuiJnt3A.jpeg"><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><img class="progressiveMedia-noscript js-progressiveMedia-inner" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*RZATTv-SLtWXB7HuiJnt3A.jpeg"></noscript></div></div><figcaption class="imageCaption">Computers <strong class="markup--strong markup--figure-strong"><em class="markup--em markup--figure-em">can</em></strong> help us.</figcaption></figure><p name="5326" id="5326" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">Over the last couple hundred years, our dominant cultures have done a terrible job of considering negative externalities, the things that we don’t see or choose not to measure when we think about how systems work. There’s an argument one could make that the now dominant global, networked capitalism model incentivizes only certain methods of valuation.</p><p name="e5f0" id="e5f0" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Of the more recent examples, it may already be too late for us to effectively deal with climate change.</p><p name="07ff" id="07ff" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Perhaps it’s time for us to retire the belief — because that’s what it is, just a belief — that networks with large numbers of users without other attributes are an unqualified good.</p></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--outsetColumn"><figure name="1a33" id="1a33" class="graf graf--figure graf--layoutOutsetCenter graf-after--p"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked" style="max-width: 1000px; max-height: 563px;"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 56.3%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image" data-image-id="1*XeiHHlELUJ7cpRXLjybQsA.jpeg" data-width="1920" data-height="1080" data-action="zoom" data-action-value="1*XeiHHlELUJ7cpRXLjybQsA.jpeg"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/freeze/max/60/1*XeiHHlELUJ7cpRXLjybQsA.jpeg?q=20" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*XeiHHlELUJ7cpRXLjybQsA.jpeg"><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><img class="progressiveMedia-noscript js-progressiveMedia-inner" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*XeiHHlELUJ7cpRXLjybQsA.jpeg"></noscript></div></div></figure></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><blockquote name="0c00" id="0c00" class="graf graf--blockquote graf-after--figure">Writer’s note: John Perry Barlow <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/02/john-perry-barlow-internet-pioneer-1947-2018" data-href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/02/john-perry-barlow-internet-pioneer-1947-2018" class="markup--anchor markup--blockquote-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">passed away aged 71 on 7 February 2018</a>. Without a doubt, Barlow has been incredibly influential in the development of culture and thinking of the networked world. And while there’s great recognition of what he got right, he had <a href="https://slate.com/technology/2018/02/john-perry-barlow-gave-internet-activists-only-half-the-mission-they-need.html" data-href="https://slate.com/technology/2018/02/john-perry-barlow-gave-internet-activists-only-half-the-mission-they-need.html" class="markup--anchor markup--blockquote-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">blind spots, too</a>.</blockquote><p name="95b3" id="95b3" class="graf graf--p graf-after--blockquote">My second example comes back to John Perry Barlow’s 1996 <a href="https://www.eff.org/cyberspace-independence" data-href="https://www.eff.org/cyberspace-independence" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">manifesto and declaration of the independence of cyberspace</a>.</p><p name="217f" id="217f" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">In his manifesto, Barlow (excitedly and optimistically) proclaimed that cyberspace presented an opportunity for new social contracts to be negotiated by individuals that would identify and address wrongs and conflicts.</p><p name="9af2" id="9af2" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">In 2016, The Economist asked Barlow for reflections on his manifesto with the benefit of twenty years of hindsight.</p></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--outsetColumn"><figure name="98af" id="98af" class="graf graf--figure graf--layoutOutsetCenter graf-after--p"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked" style="max-width: 1000px; max-height: 563px;"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 56.3%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image" data-image-id="1*VkTig2e87GBBT5NIY0dFsA.jpeg" data-width="1920" data-height="1080" data-action="zoom" data-action-value="1*VkTig2e87GBBT5NIY0dFsA.jpeg"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/freeze/max/60/1*VkTig2e87GBBT5NIY0dFsA.jpeg?q=20" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*VkTig2e87GBBT5NIY0dFsA.jpeg"><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><img class="progressiveMedia-noscript js-progressiveMedia-inner" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*VkTig2e87GBBT5NIY0dFsA.jpeg"></noscript></div></div><figcaption class="imageCaption"><a href="https://www.economist.com/news/international/21690200-internet-idealism-versus-worlds-realism-how-john-perry-barlow-views-his-manifesto" data-href="https://www.economist.com/news/international/21690200-internet-idealism-versus-worlds-realism-how-john-perry-barlow-views-his-manifesto" class="markup--anchor markup--figure-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">How John Perry Barlow views his internet manifesto on its 20th anniversary</a>, The Economist</figcaption></figure></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p name="f102" id="f102" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">First, he says that he would’ve been a bit more humble about the “Citizens of Cyberspace” creating social contracts to deal with bad behavior online. In the early, heady rush of the young internet, where an accident of starting conditions meant it was easy to find certain like-minded people, it was easy to think that “smart” people would build a new, equitable society.</p><p name="29b1" id="29b1" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">We know now in retrospect that new social contracts weren’t created to effectively deal with bad behavior. Some people may have been warning that this wasn’t particularly likely for quite a while.</p><p name="09fd" id="09fd" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">While I admit that I’m cherry picking Barlow’s quotes here, there’s one in particular that I want to highlight:</p></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--outsetColumn"><figure name="9175" id="9175" class="graf graf--figure graf--layoutOutsetCenter graf-after--p"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked" style="max-width: 1000px; max-height: 563px;"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 56.3%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image" data-image-id="1*7RgulMcYnakO9MdK025oEg.jpeg" data-width="1920" data-height="1080" data-action="zoom" data-action-value="1*7RgulMcYnakO9MdK025oEg.jpeg"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/freeze/max/60/1*7RgulMcYnakO9MdK025oEg.jpeg?q=20" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*7RgulMcYnakO9MdK025oEg.jpeg"><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><img class="progressiveMedia-noscript js-progressiveMedia-inner" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*7RgulMcYnakO9MdK025oEg.jpeg"></noscript></div></div><figcaption class="imageCaption"><a href="https://www.economist.com/news/international/21690200-internet-idealism-versus-worlds-realism-how-john-perry-barlow-views-his-manifesto" data-href="https://www.economist.com/news/international/21690200-internet-idealism-versus-worlds-realism-how-john-perry-barlow-views-his-manifesto" class="markup--anchor markup--figure-anchor" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">How John Perry Barlow views his internet manifesto on its 20th anniversary</a>, The Economist</figcaption></figure></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p name="6ac8" id="6ac8" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">When Barlow said “the fact remains that there is not much one can do about bad behavior online except to take faith that the vast majority of what goes on there is not bad behavior,” his position was that we should accept the current state of affairs because there is literally no room for improvement.</p></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--outsetColumn"><figure name="b322" id="b322" class="graf graf--figure graf--layoutOutsetCenter graf-after--p"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked" style="max-width: 1000px; max-height: 563px;"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 56.3%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image" data-image-id="1*gj6WKWhZowZnZfSLtiU1Lg.jpeg" data-width="1920" data-height="1080" data-action="zoom" data-action-value="1*gj6WKWhZowZnZfSLtiU1Lg.jpeg"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/freeze/max/60/1*gj6WKWhZowZnZfSLtiU1Lg.jpeg?q=20" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*gj6WKWhZowZnZfSLtiU1Lg.jpeg"><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><img class="progressiveMedia-noscript js-progressiveMedia-inner" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*gj6WKWhZowZnZfSLtiU1Lg.jpeg"></noscript></div></div><figcaption class="imageCaption">Just because it isn’t funny doesn’t mean it isn’t true.</figcaption></figure></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p name="6194" id="6194" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">At this point in delivering my talk, I broke out a swear word between “citation” and “needed” because, to be completely candid, I was angry.</p><p name="b537" id="b537" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Saying “there isn’t anything better we can do” isn’t how society works.</p><p name="673f" id="673f" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">It isn’t how civilization works.</p><p name="9994" id="9994" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">It isn’t how people work together and protect those amongst us who cannot protect themselves.</p><p name="f1fd" id="f1fd" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">It is a little bit like saying on the one hand that the condition underlying human existence is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leviathan_%28book%29" data-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leviathan_(book)" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">nasty, brutish and short</a>, and on the other, writing off any progress humanity has made to make our lives less nasty, kinder and longer.</p><p name="020f" id="020f" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">In my opinion, Barlow’s opinions on online behavior, given his standing and influence were irresponsible.</p><p name="dd9a" id="dd9a" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Saying “we can do nothing” is what America says in response to the latest mass shooting when every other civilized country is able to regulate the responsible ownership of firearms.</p><p name="796a" id="796a" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Saying “we can do nothing” is like saying it’s not worth having laws or standards because we can’t achieve perfection.</p><p name="9dc7" id="9dc7" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">We would do better to be clear: is it true that we can do nothing? Or is it true that we choose to do nothing? (In a way, this highlights to me the bait-and-switch with a belief that machine learning or AI will solve fundamental problems for us. Ultimately, these choices are ours to make.)</p></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--fullWidth"><figure name="f104" id="f104" class="graf graf--figure graf--layoutFillWidth graf-after--p"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 56.3%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image" data-image-id="1*ch7GGlPCmr1SU2KLiJMkeg.jpeg" data-width="1920" data-height="1080"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/freeze/max/60/1*ch7GGlPCmr1SU2KLiJMkeg.jpeg?q=20" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*ch7GGlPCmr1SU2KLiJMkeg.jpeg"><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><img class="progressiveMedia-noscript js-progressiveMedia-inner" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*ch7GGlPCmr1SU2KLiJMkeg.jpeg"></noscript></div></div><figcaption class="imageCaption">We’re responsible to society for the tools we make.</figcaption></figure></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><p name="1215" id="1215" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">Barlow’s opinion needs to be seen in context and helpfully leads me to my final points. Not because we’re technologists, but because we’re people, we’re responsible to society for the tools we make.</p><p name="e222" id="e222" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">I suggest that for a number of reasons — one of them being that technology wasn’t yet pervasive amongst society — technologists in general (and recently and in particular, the strain of technology centered around the West Coast of the United States), have operated on general idea that as technologists we’re apart from society.</p><p name="ce05" id="ce05" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">That, like scientists, we discover and invent new things and then it’s up to “them” — society, government, and so on — to figure out and deal with the implications and results.</p><p name="9c41" id="9c41" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">This argument isn’t entirely wrong: it <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">is</em> society and our government’s job to “figure out” and “deal with” the implications and results of technology, but it’s disingenuous of the technological class (and to be more accurate, its flag-wavers and leaders) to sidestep participation and responsiblity.</p><p name="71e9" id="71e9" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">In other words: nobody, not even technologists, is apart from society.</p><p name="f6ec" id="f6ec" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Society is all of us, and we all have a responsibility to it.</p></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--outsetColumn"><figure name="61c7" id="61c7" class="graf graf--figure graf--layoutOutsetCenter graf-after--p"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked" style="max-width: 1000px; max-height: 563px;"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill" style="padding-bottom: 56.3%;"></div><div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image" data-image-id="1*sNCyRcaOMuvtt6Om8v2EiQ.jpeg" data-width="1920" data-height="1080" data-action="zoom" data-action-value="1*sNCyRcaOMuvtt6Om8v2EiQ.jpeg"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/freeze/max/60/1*sNCyRcaOMuvtt6Om8v2EiQ.jpeg?q=20" crossorigin="anonymous" class="progressiveMedia-thumbnail js-progressiveMedia-thumbnail"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas"></canvas><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*sNCyRcaOMuvtt6Om8v2EiQ.jpeg"><noscript class="js-progressiveMedia-inner"><img class="progressiveMedia-noscript js-progressiveMedia-inner" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*sNCyRcaOMuvtt6Om8v2EiQ.jpeg"></noscript></div></div><figcaption class="imageCaption">Technologists are not apart from society. Society is all of us.</figcaption></figure></div><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h3 name="cea6" id="cea6" class="graf graf--h3 graf-after--figure">Getting from here to there</h3><p name="8730" id="8730" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h3">This is all very well and good. But what can we do? And more precisely, what “we”? There’s increasing acceptance of the reality that the world we live in is intersectional and we all play different and simultaneous roles in our lives. The society of “we” includes technologists who have a chance of affecting the products and services, it includes customers and users, it includes residents and citizens.</p><p name="d0ea" id="d0ea" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">I’ve made this case above, but I feel it’s important enough to make again: at a high level, I believe that we need to:</p><ol class="postList"><li name="4465" id="4465" class="graf graf--li graf-after--p">Clearly decide what kind of society we want; <em class="markup--em markup--li-em">and then</em></li><li name="73a3" id="73a3" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">Design and deliver the technologies that forever get us closer to achieving that desired society.</li></ol><p name="75af" id="75af" class="graf graf--p graf-after--li">This work is hard and, arguably, will never be completed. It necessarily involves compromise. Attitudes, beliefs and what’s considered just changes over time.</p><p name="7658" id="7658" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">That said, the above are two high level goals, but what can people do right now? What can we do tactically?</p><h3 name="ba5e" id="ba5e" class="graf graf--h3 graf-after--p">What we can do now</h3><p name="c97c" id="c97c" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h3">I have two questions that I think can be helpful in guiding our present actions, in whatever capacity we might find ourselves.</p><h4 name="3401" id="3401" class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--p">For all of us: What would it look like, and how might our societies be different, if technology were better aligned to society’s interests?</h4><p name="ae15" id="ae15" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h4">At the most general level, we are all members of a society, embedded in existing governing structures. It certainly feels like in the recent past, those governing structures are coming under increasing strain, and part of the blame is being laid at the feet of technology.</p><p name="6756" id="6756" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">One of the most important things we can do collectively is to produce clarity and prioritization where we can. Only by being clearer and more intentional about the kind of society we want and accepting what that means, can our societies and their institutions provide guidance and leadership to technology.</p><p name="f8c4" id="f8c4" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">These are questions that cannot and should not be left to technologists alone. Advances in technology mean that encryption is a societal issue. Content moderation and censorship are a societal issue. Ultimately, it should be for governments (of the people, by the people) to set expectations and standards at the societal level, not organizations accountable only to a board of directors and shareholders.</p><p name="0ab9" id="0ab9" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">But to do this, our governing institutions will need to evolve and improve. It is easier, and faster, for platforms now to react to changing social mores. For example, platforms are responding in reaction to society’s reaction to “<a href="https://thenextweb.com/apps/2018/02/08/reddit-deepfakes-ai-celebrity-porn/" data-href="https://thenextweb.com/apps/2018/02/08/reddit-deepfakes-ai-celebrity-porn/" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">AI-generated fake porn</a>” faster than governing and enforcing institutions.</p><p name="febd" id="febd" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Prioritizations may necessarily involve compromise, too: the world is not so simple, and we are not so lucky, that it can be easily and always divided into A or B, or good or not-good.</p><p name="5cc6" id="5cc6" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Some of my perspective in this area is reflective of the schism American politics is currently experiencing. In a very real way, America, my adoptive country of residence, is having to grapple with revisiting the idea of what America is <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">for</em>. The same is happening in my country of birth with the decision to leave the European Union.</p><p name="c149" id="c149" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">These are fundamental issues. Technologists, as members of society, have a point of view on them. But in the way that post-enlightenment governing institutions were set up to protect against asymmetric distribution of power, technology leaders must recognize that their platforms are now an undeniable, powerful influence on society.</p><p name="6f79" id="6f79" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">As a society, we must do the work to have a point of view. <a href="https://medium.com/doteveryone/the-tech-industry-needs-a-moral-compass-3ce1665a287f" data-href="https://medium.com/doteveryone/the-tech-industry-needs-a-moral-compass-3ce1665a287f" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" target="_blank">What does responsible technology look like</a>?</p><h4 name="e7ee" id="e7ee" class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--p">For technologists: How can we be humane and advance the goals of our society?</h4><p name="c9d2" id="c9d2" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h4">As technologists, we can be excited about re-inventing approaches from first principles. We must resist that impulse here, because there are things that we can do now, that we can learn now, from other professions, industries and areas to apply to our own. For example:</p><ul class="postList"><li name="124f" id="124f" class="graf graf--li graf-after--p">We are better and stronger when we are together than when we are apart. If you’re a technologist, consider this question: what are the pros and cons of unionizing? As the product of a linked network, consider the question: what is gained and who gains from preventing humans from linking up in this way?</li><li name="6d3c" id="6d3c" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">Just as we create design patterns that are best practices, there are also those that represent undesired patterns from our society’s point of view known as <a href="https://darkpatterns.org" data-href="https://darkpatterns.org" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">dark patterns</a>. We should familiarise ourselves with them and each work to understand why and when they’re used and why their usage is contrary to the ideals of our society.</li><li name="c356" id="c356" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">We can do a better job of advocating for and doing <a href="https://abookapart.com/products/just-enough-research" data-href="https://abookapart.com/products/just-enough-research" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">research</a> to better understand the problems we seek to solve, the context in which those problems exist and the impact of those problems. Only through disciplines like research can we discover in the design phase — instead of in production, when our work can affect millions — negative externalities or unintended consequences that we genuinely and unintentionally may have missed.</li><li name="d3e5" id="d3e5" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">We must compassionately accept the reality that our work has real effects, good and bad. We can wish that bad outcomes don’t happen, but bad outcomes will always happen because life is unpredictable. The question is what we do when bad things happen, and whether and how we take responsibility for those results. For example, Twitter’s leadership must make clear what behaviour it considers acceptable, and do the work to be clear and consistent without dodging the issue.</li><li name="ee3b" id="ee3b" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">In America especially, technologists must face the issue of free speech head-on without avoiding its necessary implications. I suggest that one of the problems culturally American technology companies (i.e., companies that seek to emulate American culture) face can be explained in software terms. To use agile user story terminology, the problem may be due to focusing on a specific requirement (“free speech”) rather than the full user story (“As a user, I need freedom of speech, <em class="markup--em markup--li-em">so that I and those who come after me can pursue life, liberty and happiness”). </em>Free speech is a means to an end, not an end, and accepting that free speech is a means involves the hard work of considering and taking a clear, understandable position as to <em class="markup--em markup--li-em">what</em> ends.</li><li name="3ecc" id="3ecc" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">We have been warned. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeynep_Tufekci" data-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeynep_Tufekci" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Academics</a> — in particular, sociologists, philosophers, historians, psychologists and anthropologists — have been warning of issues such as large-scale societal effects for years. Those warnings have, bluntly, been ignored. In the worst cases, those same academics have been accused of not helping to solve the problem. Moving on from the past, is there not something that we technologists can learn? My intuition is that post the 2016 American election, middle-class technologists are now <em class="markup--em markup--li-em">afraid</em>. We’re all in this together. Academics are reaching out, <em class="markup--em markup--li-em">have</em> been reaching out. We have nothing to lose but our own shame.</li><li name="27b4" id="27b4" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">Repeat to ourselves: some problems don’t have fully technological solutions. Some problems can’t just be solved by changing infrastructure. Who else might help with a problem? What other approaches might be needed as well?</li></ul><h3 name="5b39" id="5b39" class="graf graf--h3 graf-after--li">There’s no one coming. It’s up to us.</h3><p name="ee7f" id="ee7f" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h3">My final point is this: no one will tell us or give us permission to do these things. There is no higher organizing power working to put systemic changes in place. There is no top-down way of nudging the arc of technology toward one better aligned with humanity.</p><p name="5f6f" id="5f6f" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">It starts with all of us.</p><h3 name="c0b4" id="c0b4" class="graf graf--h3 graf-after--p">Afterword</h3><p name="7bb1" id="7bb1" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h3">I’ve been working on the bigger themes behind this talk since …, and an invitation to 2017’s Foo Camp was a good opportunity to try to clarify and improve my thinking so that it could fit into a five minute lightning talk. It also helped that Foo Camp has the kind of (small, hand-picked — again, for good and ill) influential audience who would be a good litmus test for the quality of my argument, and would be instrumental in taking on and spreading the ideas.</p><p name="599a" id="599a" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">In the end, though, I nearly didn’t do this talk at all.</p><p name="90ff" id="90ff" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Around 6:15pm on Saturday night, just over an hour before the lightning talks were due to start, after the unconference’s sessions had finished and just before dinner, I burst into tears talking to a friend.</p><p name="26e7" id="26e7" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">While I won’t break the societal convention of confidentiality that helps an event like Foo Camp be productive, I’ll share this: the world felt too broken.</p><p name="313f" id="313f" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Specifically, the world felt broken like this: I had the benefit of growing up as a middle-class educated individual (albeit, not white) who believed he could trust that institutions were a) capable and b) would do the right thing. I now live in a country where a) the capability of those institutions has consistently eroded over time, and b) those institutions are now being systematically dismantled, to add insult to injury.</p><p name="db01" id="db01" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">In other words, I was left with the feeling that there’s nothing left but ourselves.</p><p name="ec54" id="ec54" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Do you want the poisonous lead removed from your water supply? Your best bet is to try to do it yourself.</p><p name="f59e" id="f59e" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Do you want a better school for your children? Your best bet is to start it.</p><p name="8654" id="8654" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Do you want a policing policy that genuinely rehabilitates rather than punishes? Your best bet is to…</p><p name="eab0" id="eab0" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">And it’s just. Too. Much.</p><p name="f926" id="f926" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Over the course of the next few days, I managed to turn my outlook around.</p><p name="557f" id="557f" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">The answer, of course, is that it is too much for one person.</p><p name="e6b0" id="e6b0" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p graf--trailing"><strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">But it isn’t too much for all of us.</strong></p></div></div></section><section name="217d" class="section section--body section--last"><div class="section-divider"><hr class="section-divider"></div><div class="section-content"><div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"><h3 name="5142" id="5142" class="graf graf--h3 graf--leading">Notes</h3><p name="09e1" id="09e1" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h3">Ideas don’t come into being on their own. Here are some of the people who have influenced me and some of the reading that I’ve built upon when putting together my thoughts.</p><h4 name="ba6a" id="ba6a" class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--p">Some people</h4><p name="0f5a" id="0f5a" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h4">If you’re interested in following people who produce some of the raw material that I used to put together this talk, you should follow:</p><ul class="postList"><li name="6c60" id="6c60" class="graf graf--li graf-after--p"><a href="https://twitter.com/lifewinning?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" data-href="https://twitter.com/lifewinning?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Ingrid Burrington</a></li><li name="fea3" id="fea3" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maciej_Cegłowski" data-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maciej_Cegłowski" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Maciej Cegłowski</a>, <a href="https://techsolidarity.org" data-href="https://techsolidarity.org" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Tech Solidarity</a></li><li name="d841" id="d841" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li"><a href="https://twitter.com/tcarmody" data-href="https://twitter.com/tcarmody" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Tim Carmody</a></li><li name="eba7" id="eba7" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li"><a href="https://twitter.com/rachelcoldicutt" data-href="https://twitter.com/rachelcoldicutt" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Rachel Coldicutt</a></li><li name="e9b9" id="e9b9" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li"><a href="https://twitter.com/debcha" data-href="https://twitter.com/debcha" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Debbie Chachra</a></li><li name="2e46" id="2e46" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li"><a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/histoftech?lang=en&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Eappleios%7Ctwcamp%5Esafari%7Ctwgr%5Esearch" data-href="https://mobile.twitter.com/histoftech?lang=en&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Eappleios%7Ctwcamp%5Esafari%7Ctwgr%5Esearch" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Mar Hicks</a></li><li name="0fa4" id="0fa4" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li"><a href="https://twitter.com/s_m_i" data-href="https://twitter.com/s_m_i" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Stacy-Marie Ishmael</a></li><li name="04a9" id="04a9" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li"><a href="https://twitter.com/sarahjeong" data-href="https://twitter.com/sarahjeong" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Sarah Jeong</a></li><li name="1c38" id="1c38" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li"><a href="https://twitter.com/alexismadrigal?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" data-href="https://twitter.com/alexismadrigal?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Alexis Madrigal</a></li><li name="ffc2" id="ffc2" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li"><a href="https://twitter.com/meyerweb?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" data-href="https://twitter.com/meyerweb?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Eric Meyer</a></li><li name="919b" id="919b" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li"><a href="https://twitter.com/timmaughan" data-href="https://twitter.com/timmaughan" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Tim Maughan</a></li><li name="1468" id="1468" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li"><a href="https://twitter.com/safiyanoble?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" data-href="https://twitter.com/safiyanoble?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Safiya Nobel</a></li><li name="29e8" id="29e8" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li"><a href="https://twitter.com/thistimeitsmimi" data-href="https://twitter.com/thistimeitsmimi" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Mimi Onuoha</a></li><li name="1d3b" id="1d3b" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li"><a href="https://twitter.com/hautepop" data-href="https://twitter.com/hautepop" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Jay Owens</a></li><li name="05a3" id="05a3" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li"><a href="https://twitter.com/sevensixfive?lang=en" data-href="https://twitter.com/sevensixfive?lang=en" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Fred Scharmen</a></li><li name="09b1" id="09b1" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li"><a href="https://twitter.com/thejaymo" data-href="https://twitter.com/thejaymo" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Jay Springett</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/stacktivism?lang=en" data-href="https://twitter.com/stacktivism?lang=en" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Stacktivism</a></li><li name="eec7" id="eec7" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li"><a href="https://twitter.com/zeynep" data-href="https://twitter.com/zeynep" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Zeynep Tufecki</a></li><li name="550d" id="550d" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li"><a href="https://twitter.com/sara_ann_marie?lang=en" data-href="https://twitter.com/sara_ann_marie?lang=en" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Sara Wachter-Boettcher</a></li><li name="2ee1" id="2ee1" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li"><a href="https://twitter.com/gsvoss" data-href="https://twitter.com/gsvoss" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Georgina Voss</a></li><li name="fe69" id="fe69" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li"><a href="https://twitter.com/Wolven" data-href="https://twitter.com/Wolven" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Damien Williams</a></li><li name="52fd" id="52fd" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li"><a href="https://twitter.com/RickWebb?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" data-href="https://twitter.com/RickWebb?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Rick Webb</a></li></ul><h4 name="7efb" id="7efb" class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--li">Some reading</h4><ul class="postList"><li name="1f5a" id="1f5a" class="graf graf--li graf-after--h4"><a href="https://medium.com/@jamesbridle/something-is-wrong-on-the-internet-c39c471271d2" data-href="https://medium.com/@jamesbridle/something-is-wrong-on-the-internet-c39c471271d2" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" target="_blank">Something is wrong on the internet</a>, James Bridle</li><li name="badc" id="badc" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">Maciej Cegłowski, <a href="http://idlewords.com/talks/" data-href="http://idlewords.com/talks/" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">talks</a></li><li name="ab1d" id="ab1d" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li"><a href="https://medium.com/doteveryone/how-do-you-solve-a-problem-like-technology-a-systems-approach-to-digital-regulation-c0c0d8e11bdf" data-href="https://medium.com/doteveryone/how-do-you-solve-a-problem-like-technology-a-systems-approach-to-digital-regulation-c0c0d8e11bdf" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" target="_blank">How do you solve a problem like technology? A systems approach to regulation</a>, Rachel Coldicutt</li><li name="1942" id="1942" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li"><a href="https://medium.com/doteveryone/the-tech-industry-needs-a-moral-compass-3ce1665a287f" data-href="https://medium.com/doteveryone/the-tech-industry-needs-a-moral-compass-3ce1665a287f" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" target="_blank">The tech industry needs a moral compass</a>, Rachel Coldicutt</li><li name="57a3" id="57a3" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li"><a href="https://www.versobooks.com/books/2453-radical-technologies" data-href="https://www.versobooks.com/books/2453-radical-technologies" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Radical Technologies</a>, Adam Greenfield</li><li name="8fed" id="8fed" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li"><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/10/what-facebook-did/542502/" data-href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/10/what-facebook-did/542502/" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">What Facebook Did to American Democracy</a>, Alexis Madrigal</li><li name="2598" id="2598" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li"><a href="https://medium.com/@jamesbridle/something-is-wrong-on-the-internet-c39c471271d2" data-href="https://medium.com/@jamesbridle/something-is-wrong-on-the-internet-c39c471271d2" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" target="_blank">The year we wanted the internet to be smaller</a>, Kaitlyn Tiffany</li><li name="5c5f" id="5c5f" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li"><a href="https://logicmag.io/03-dont-be-evil/" data-href="https://logicmag.io/03-dont-be-evil/" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Don’t Be Evil: Fred Turner on Utopias, Frontiers, and Brogrammers</a>, Fred Turner, Logic Magazine</li><li name="d487" id="d487" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li"><a href="http://www.sarawb.com/technically-wrong/" data-href="http://www.sarawb.com/technically-wrong/" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Technically Wrong</a>, Sara Wachter-Boettcher</li><li name="a0da" id="a0da" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li"><a href="https://shift.newco.co/my-internet-mea-culpa-f3ba77ac3eed" data-href="https://shift.newco.co/my-internet-mea-culpa-f3ba77ac3eed" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">My Internet Mea Culpa: I’m Sorry I Was Wrong, We All Were*</a>, Rick Webb</li></ul><h4 name="42cb" id="42cb" class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--li">With thanks to</h4><ul class="postList"><li name="0c28" id="0c28" class="graf graf--li graf-after--h4">Farrah Bostic</li><li name="f62c" id="f62c" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">Debbie Chachra</li><li name="e8dc" id="e8dc" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">Tom Carden</li><li name="f77a" id="f77a" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">Heather Champ</li><li name="09a0" id="09a0" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">Dana Chisnell</li><li name="0a30" id="0a30" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">Tom Coates</li><li name="1d7c" id="1d7c" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">Blaine Cook</li><li name="113e" id="113e" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">Rachel Coldicutt</li><li name="3133" id="3133" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">Clearleft and the <a href="https://clearleft.com/posts/the-artificial-intelligence-retreat-team" data-href="https://clearleft.com/posts/the-artificial-intelligence-retreat-team" class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Juvet A.I. Retreat</a> attendees</li><li name="7e3e" id="7e3e" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">Warren Ellis</li><li name="cee6" id="cee6" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">Cyd Harrell</li><li name="1d73" id="1d73" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">Dan Hill</li><li name="5bab" id="5bab" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">Jen Pahlka</li><li name="af87" id="af87" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">Matt Jones</li><li name="f1da" id="f1da" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">Derek Powazek</li><li name="1fa5" id="1fa5" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">Robin Ray</li><li name="f753" id="f753" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li">Nora Ryan</li><li name="9948" id="9948" class="graf graf--li graf-after--li graf--trailing">Matt Webb</li></ul></div></div></section>
