I distinctly remember my father telling me to watch TV once — or rather: strongly recommending me to sit down and watch it together with him (and whoever else in the family happened to be around). It was a very special event: PBS was doing a series with Milton Friedman, called “Free to Choose“. We… Continue reading Who is Free to Choose?
Tag: technology
Consumer Culture Technology, Cancel Culture Technology & Other Cultural Technologies (?)
It is now approaching two decades since the company now known as Alphabet started its attack against rational media [1], and at the same time started promoting its own brand names (such as Google). Other companies in the irrational media space have likewise fed mainstream consumers with similar myths regarding their own algorithms. All of… Continue reading Consumer Culture Technology, Cancel Culture Technology & Other Cultural Technologies (?)
The further on I go, the less I know
Wittgenstein had a saying about “die Grenzen meiner Sprache”, namely that these correspond to “die Grenzen meiner Welt”. [1] In my not-so humble opinion, this quote misses something very fundamental about language: that it does not exist in any “particular individual” (see also the previous post, “Self Mythology“). Language is a technology that exists between… Continue reading The further on I go, the less I know
Lifetime Guarantee for How Natural Languages Scale
In the last episode, we looked at a few different scales — implicitly, from technology and product life cycles, through writing, biology and genetic information all the way across the universe back to the Big Bang itself. Seen this way, the irony of seeing writing and written langages as something permanent becomes crystal clear. Perhaps… Continue reading Lifetime Guarantee for How Natural Languages Scale
Reboot 2.0 — Are We Ready for a Renaissance in Open Source Information Technology?
In my opinion, the time is ripe for a reboot in open source information technology — yet exactly what that term “open source information technology” is supposed to mean might first need some clarification. There are quite a few possible misinterpretaions (“mis-” as in: “in disagreement with me” 😉 ). My point of view is… Continue reading Reboot 2.0 — Are We Ready for a Renaissance in Open Source Information Technology?
Routing Around Regulatory Bodies
Apparently, several centuries ago, William Shakespeare invented some new words. [1] Of course these words are less new now … some of them might even be considered rather ordinary or regular (or whatever). In contrast to Ludwig Wittgenstein’s supposition about how languages seem to limit what humans are capable of expressing, good ole Bill simply… Continue reading Routing Around Regulatory Bodies
Science vs. Technology
Believe it or not, this is where I want / need to address in a first step toward working out the “digital divide” concept I introduced in “More about Modes and Levels of Literacy>“. When I was young, I always thought science and technology were aligned, and that engineering was all about this sort of… Continue reading Science vs. Technology
What it means to own different kinds of technology
I guess most people own at least one pair of shoes, and some people own other kinds of technology for mobility — such as bicycles or cars. Many many different kinds of technology exist, and owning each particular technology has a particular kind of significance. For example: owning a bicycle means that the owner values… Continue reading What it means to own different kinds of technology
Literacy Study: The smug smile
I have been puzzling about this topic quite a bit — while the idea first came to me gradually, then in spurts, in the end what puzzled me most was how to frame it. There are probably innumerable approaches I could take — for example, how people sometimes talk about “reading a room”, “reading a… Continue reading Literacy Study: The smug smile
Infrastructure is a Historical Context that Can Span Several Centuries
Having become somewhat mindless and numb over the past few days, when I awoke this morning I had pretty much no significant topics swirling around in my brain. 😐 No worry — mainstream media came to the rescue! But first let me backtrack a little to the foundations … literally. Infrastructure is a part of… Continue reading Infrastructure is a Historical Context that Can Span Several Centuries
