Winning Slowly
148 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 14 ratingsThere are plenty of podcasts that will tell you how the latest tech gadget or “innovation” will affect the tech landscape tomorrow, but there aren’t that many concerned with the potential impact of that tech in a decade—much less a century. In a culture obsessed with now, how can we make choices with a view for tomorrow, next year, and beyond? 25–35-minute episodes released the first and third Wednesdays of the month.
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Episodes
Farewell… at least for now!
November 29, 2021 15:00 - 23 minutes - 44.1 MBShow Notes You heard that right, everyone. Who knows, maybe we’ll be back someday, though! (Long-time listeners: stick around for the last bit of this episode. Trust us.) Music “Winning Slowly Theme” by Chris Krycho. Something special Respond We (still!) love to hear your thoughts. Hit us up via Twitter, Facebook, or email!
8.23: Things Get Weird When You Add New Technology
December 30, 2020 21:00 - 47 minutes - 44.3 MBReviewing what we learned in 2020—and ranking what we read! So many books! Also: MARIMBAAAAAAAAAAA!!! Show Notes The books we covered this season: Phaedrus, Plato: 8.02, 8.03 The Postmodern Condition, Lyotard: 8.04, 8.05 The Age of Spiritual Machines, Ray Kurzweil: 8.06, 8.07 Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton: 8.08, 8.09 The Printing Press as an Agent of Change, Elizabeth Eisenstein: 8.10, 8.11 Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness, Simone Browne: 8.12, 8.13 The Real World ...
8.22: Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore
December 17, 2020 05:45 - 29 minutes - 27.7 MBNeal Stephenson at double speed and with a smile on his face. Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, Robin Sloan Show Notes Robin Sloan Sourdough Ruby George Saunders Cory Doctorow Credits Music “Getaway Car”, by Ezekiel Songs originally written by Make Sure. Used by permission, please don’t use without permission. “Winning Slowly Theme” by Chris Krycho. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0, meaning you can do whatever you want with this music… as long as you share it for others to likewise do ...
8.21: Twitter and Tear Gas—Examined
November 19, 2020 03:45 - 33 minutes - 31.4 MBThe things we learned from Zeynep Tüfekçi’s examination of social media and sociopolitical change. (We liked this book a lot.) Twitter and Tear Gas, Zeynep Tüfekçi Show Notes Zeynep Tüfekçi her recently-launched newsletter Insight 52-Cent Party Cultural Revolution Tianenmen Square Twitter and the 2020 US election Twitter’s own take Hunter Biden Electoral college Ben Thompson Matt Levine’s newsletter Money Stuff His latest issue before going on parental leave back in August pro...
8.20: Twitter and Tear Gas—Explained
November 05, 2020 02:45 - 31 minutes - 29.3 MBWalking through Zeynep Tüfekçi’s masterful explanation of the relationship between social media and protest movements. Twitter and Tear Gas, Zeynep Tüfekçi Show Notes Things we mentioned on the show, in the order we mentioned them: Zeynep Tüfekçi her recently-launched newsletter Insight modern Turkey Zapatistas Occupy Wall Street 1999 World Trade Organization protests Arab Spring Tea Party China’s treatment of the Uyghurs Capacities/capabilities The Capability Approach, Stanfor...
8.19: Contact—Examined
October 22, 2020 02:00 - 36 minutes - 34.1 MBThinking about Carl Sagan's views on belief, and how they relate to religion and science Contact, Carl Sagan Show Notes After reading Carl Sagan’s 1985 novel Contact and watching the 1995 movie of the same name, we discuss a major epistemological question: what are the acceptable grounds for belief? Are religious belief and scientific proof compatible? Sagan’s surprisingly nuanced views give us interesting ways forward. Things we mentioned on the show, in the order we mentioned them: Ca...
8.18: Contact—Explained
October 07, 2020 14:00 - 27 minutes - 26.2 MBAnother book from the ’80s, but hey: at least this one is fiction! Contact, Carl Sagan Show Notes We read Carl Sagan’s 1985 novel Contact and watched the 1995 movie of the same name. In this episode, our overview of the book: its plot and its basic interests. Things we mentioned on the show, in the order we mentioned them: Carl Sagan Cosmos: TV show and book Neil Degrasse Tyson Fermi Paradox Wow! signal Very Large Array Arecibo Observatory Neil Patrick Harris (wait for it, it’ll ...
8.17: Evolution as a Religion—Examined
September 16, 2020 14:00 - 34 minutes - 32.2 MBWe argue with Mary Midgley on how she did what she did, more than what she did. Evolution as a Religion, Mary Midgley Show Notes Descartes’ belief that people can’t be rational without God; see paragraph six Richard Dawkins’ The Selfish Gene David Hume Immanuel Kant John Rawls, the specific claim Stephen most has a problem with is the veil of ignorance concept explained in this page (although this is not mentioned in the episode) Jacques Monod Wickedness: A Philosophical Essay Robi...
8.16: Evolution as a Religion—Explained
September 02, 2020 14:00 - 28 minutes - 26.3 MBWhat had Mary Midgley so incredibly angry in the 1980s, and what did she do about it? Evolution as a Religion, Mary Midgley Show Notes Richard Dawkins’ The Selfish Gene “Superman” and Friedrich Nietzsche David Hume Immanuel Kant The other book Chris is reading on politics &c. currently: Politics and the Order of Love, Eric Gregory Here’s another great cover of the book from the ’80s! Have to climb to Omega, man! Upcoming Book October (8.18 and 8.19): Contact, Carl Sagan November ...
8.15: The Real World of Technology—Examined
August 20, 2020 02:45 - 41 minutes - 38.6 MBWe point out several concerns that we have with the arguments Dr. Franklin makes in her lectures-turned-book: the ineffectiveness of her holistic and prescriptive technologies frame, her deeply cynical view on policy, and other thorny places that her arguments lead (like the Soviet Union). The Real World of Technology, Ursula Franklin Show Notes Cold War peace movement Peace movements in Canada Second-wave feminism (to which Dr. Franklin’s feminism approximately belongs to) History of...
8.14: The Real World of Technology—Explained
August 06, 2020 14:00 - 41 minutes - 38.7 MBThe Real World of Technology, Ursula Franklin Show Notes Cold War peace movement Peace movements in Canada Second-wave feminism (to which Dr. Franklin’s feminism approximately belongs to) Third-wave feminism (to which Dr. Franklin’s feminism approximately does not belong to): Oklahoma historically dumping stuff in rivers Arkansas historically dumping stuff in Oklahoma’s rivers Oklahoma contemporarily dumping stuff in rivers Here’s the great cover of the book from the ’80s–note that...
8.13: Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness—Examined
July 23, 2020 03:30 - 37 minutes - 35.6 MBDiscussing Simone Browne’s epistemology, ideas, and arguments: what persuaded us, and what didn’t? Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness—Explained, Simone Browne Show Notes Critical theory Critical race theory Black feminism Intersectionality White as default in AI, potentially due to biased/non-diverse training data Finding God in the Lord of the Rings Looking for God in Harry Potter Surveillance Studies David Hume The two main subjects we mentioned on the show as relev...
8.12: Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness—Explained
July 08, 2020 14:00 - 34 minutes - 32 MBDigging into Simone Browne’s application of critical race theory to surveillance studies. Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness—Explained, Simone Browne Show Notes The two main subjects we mentioned on the show as relevant were critical theory (and specifically critical race theory) and surveillance studies. Notably, while Browne describes herself as a black feminist and makes reference to the adjacent idea of intersectionality, she never explicitly refers to critical (race) theo...
8.11: The Printing Press as an Agent of Change—Analogs to the Internet
June 17, 2020 16:45 - 35 minutes - 32.7 MBThe printing press and the internet are often compared. How similar in impact are they really? The Printing Press as an Agent of Change, Elizabeth Eisenstein Show Notes Eisenstein’s outline: dissemination standardization reorganization data collection preservation amplification reinforcement cultural effects the Republic of Letters Links to things mentioned on the show: On context collapse: 2.02: Basketballs ≠ Pumpkins Our strongest take on “big data:” 6.06: A Kind of Blindnes...
8.10: The Printing Press as an Agent of Change—Explained
June 03, 2020 14:30 - 34 minutes - 31.7 MBDigging into Elizabeth Eisenstein’s magisterial and seminal work on how print changed culture. The Printing Press as an Agent of Change, Elizabeth Eisenstein Show Notes We almost entirely ended up talking about the contents of this book specifically! And we weren’t joking about how dense it is: A picture Chris snapped of p. 113 of The Printing Press as an Agent of Change We did mention a couple other episodes of the show: 8.08: Jurassic Park—Explained on friction 7.09: Frictioneers ...
8.09: Jurassic Park—Examined
May 20, 2020 14:30 - 36 minutes - 34.6 MBDon’t go into science for the money: you will get killed by dinosaurs. Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton (and the movie!) Show Notes We put dinosaurs mostly in the background and talk about what Crichton really wanted to discuss: the science/industrial complex, the limits of science to interpret or re-create nature, the limits of discovery, and disciplinary power. Things mentioned on the show People trying to recreate mammoths in Siberia to fix … climate change? The world’s fastest super...
8.08: Jurassic Park—Explained
May 06, 2020 14:00 - 27 minutes - 25.9 MBWhat the well-known novel and movie have to say about science, ethics, epistemology, and hubris. Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton (and the movie!) Show Notes Things mentioned on the show Media OS—see TVTropes’ “Extreme Graphical Representation” for many examples. The Expanse TV series overview book series overview Caliban’s War: the book in which “complex simple systems” appear Nuclear meltdowns Three-Mile Island Chernobyl Fukushima Upcoming books Note that we’ve ended up changi...
8.07: The Age of Spiritual Machines—Examined
April 15, 2020 13:00 - 41 minutes - 39.6 MBDigging into Kurzweil’s deficient view of culture and human nature—from sex and family to epistemology and human dignity. The Age of Spiritual Machines, Ray Kurzweil Show Notes Things mentioned on the show Stephen’s music blog 7.06 and 7.07: The ERLC AI Statement Parts 1 and 2 Mass Effect and Mass Affection The Matrix I, Robot Tolkien, Aüle, dwarves: Dwarves: Origin at Tolkien Gateway Aüle: The Creation of the Dwarves at Lord of the Rings Wiki Turing test and Alan Turing Lanier ...
8.06: The Age of Spiritual Machines—Explained
April 01, 2020 15:35 - 34 minutes - 32.3 MBReading Ray Kurzweil’s prognostications about the future—and coming to terms with his ruthless optimism. The Age of Spiritual Machines, Ray Kurzweil Show Notes Things mentioned on the show The Age of Intelligent Machines Moore’s Law Universal constants, and especially the speed of light You Are Not a Gadget, by Jaron Lanier The Shallows, by Nicholas Carr René Descartes Ludwig Wittgenstein Paul Feyerabend Thomas Kuhn and particularly The Structure of Scientific Revolutions Daniel...
8.05: The Postmodern Condition—Examined
March 18, 2020 13:00 - 39 minutes - 37.2 MBThe Postmodern Condition, Jean–François Lyotard Lyotard’s postmodernism, the politics of power, and aesthetics: what do we keep and what do we reject? Show Notes Errata Chris, because he was slightly sick, forgot that although we were recording in February, the episode was coming out in March. This threw off everything we said about dates for the rest of the episode. Whoops! (The book schedule is adjusted accordingly below.) Things mentioned on the show “Information wants to be free” ...
8.04: The Postmodern Condition—Explained
March 04, 2020 19:15 - 35 minutes - 33.4 MBNote: Hey listeners, sorry for the weirdness—I (Chris) accidentally published this pointing to the audio for last week’s episode. All fixed now! Jean-François Lyotard on postmodernity, science, and kitschy art. The Postmodern Condition, Jean–François Lyotard Show Notes We do our best to explain this dense piece of French aesthetic theory, its arguments with German idealist philosophers, and its very strong feelings about non-avant-garde art. Errata Chris, because he was slightly sick, ...
8.03: Phaedrus Examined
February 19, 2020 14:00 - 32 minutes - 37.8 MBShould we even keep reading this book—with its criticisms of books? Show Notes We dig into our disagreements with and appreciations of Plato’s Phaedrus! Other things mentioned on the show: C. S. Lewis’ Introduction to Athanasius’ On the Incarnation Marshall McLuhan Ellul and Mumford 2.02: Basketballs ≠ Pumpkins Chat apps Slack and Twist Next month’s book: The Postmodern Condition, Jean–François Lyotard Music “Electric 1 (Part B)” by Elkhorn “Winning Slowly Theme” by Chris Krycho....
8.02: Phaedrus Explained
February 05, 2020 20:40 - 30 minutes - 27.8 MBWhat did Plato actually argue two and a half millennia ago? Show Notes We really only did one thing in this episode: talked about Plato’s Phaedrus! What did Plato say? How did he say it? What does it mean? There are, though, lots of interpretations. Relevant to our next episode: people have cited Lyotard a lot. Oh… and Alan Jacobs is back on Twitter. The Andy Matuschak post referenced in the episode Music “Oak Forest” by Ivan Muela “Winning Slowly Theme” by Chris Krycho. Sponsors M...
8.01: A Book Club!
January 29, 2020 15:00 - 32 minutes - 29.8 MBAn overview of Season 8: a book (and movie!) club devoted to the canon (as we define it!) for technology and ethics. Show Notes The authors and topics we discussed in detail on the show: Phaedrus – linked here are a wide array of translations Elizabeth Eisenstein, The Printing Press as an Agent of Change Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities Hardcore History Music “To My Brain” by Aryl Barkley “Winning Slowly Theme” by Chris Krycho. Sponsors Many thanks to the p...
Jake Meador: In Search of the Common Good
December 05, 2019 02:15 - 59 minutes - 55.1 MBHey listeners, we had a miscommunication leading to the episode originally being published with the wrong intro music—sorry to any of you who got that earlier version! This new version has the right intro music (and one edit fix Chris caught listening back through the episode as a bonus). Sorry about any hassle or confusion! An interview with author and editor (and our friend) about his new book! Show Notes An interview with author and editor (and our friend!) Jake Meador—focused especial...
7.13: A Healthy Tension
November 21, 2019 17:00 - 44 minutes - 40.8 MBChris and Stephen talk about an interesting article… and then pivot to the nature of this podcast and some of their healthy differences—about the show, and in approach to these questions in general. Show notes Isaac Asimov’s Caves of Steel Alan Jacobs’ Pinboard “The Web Falls Apart” Chris’ newsletter Across the Sundering Seas the last couple weeks, on progress and decline: Flux (#27) Edges (#28) Jaron Lanier Your Undivided Attention, Episode 9: The Dictator’s Playbook Chris’ Christ...
7.12: An Experiment in Moral Imagination, Pt. 3
October 23, 2019 14:00 - 36 minutes - 33.2 MBSustainable long-distance transportation, or really great virtual reality? Fight! Show notes Which would make for healthy localist cities in 80 years: sustainable long-distance transportation, or really great virtual reality? Chris says sustainable long-distance transporation. Stephen says VR. Fight! (In which the phrase “I don’t think that’s true!” appears more than any other episode of the show… ever.) Links Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury The Opolis Cities/metropolitan areas on the Ea...
7.11: An Experiment in Moral Imagination, Pt. 2
October 05, 2019 23:00 - 35 minutes - 33 MB“Go Do Earth Things”, or, How 80 Years of Non-Technocratic Thinking Might Improve Phoenix, AZ Show notes What will the world be like 80 years from now if we avoid technocratic thinking? We discuss the far future of ecologies, urban planning, and … open-source code economy. Listen all the way through for the closing note about the next episode and one of the most incredible bloopers we’ve ever produced. Best efforts notwithstanding, we couldn’t actually find a news story about the Woodmoor...
7.10: An Experiment In Moral Imagination, Pt. 1
September 11, 2019 16:00 - 43 minutes - 40.4 MBShow Notes Press pause on the dystopias. Set aside interventions. Dream a little of a non-technocratic world. We’ve mostly been in the weeds of thinking about specific interventions around technologism this season. Today, we press pause and just spend some time imagining—dare we say, dreaming—of what a non-technocratic world might look and feel like. Links psychohistory The Dispossessed, Ursula K. Le Guin Confessions, Augustine The Expanse Kim Stanley Robinson, New York 2140 and Mars...
7.09: Frictioneers
August 29, 2019 02:30 - 37 minutes - 34.7 MBCan adding a little friction back to user interfaces save us? Show notes We talk about the currently-trendy concept of (design) friction and how it is necessary but not sufficient for right action on the Internet. Links Facebook admits that it intentionally defrauded children by making it easy to buy in-game purchases The creator of the retweet button now thinks it was a bad idea (Mea culpa: We stated this article was written in Wired but it was in BuzzFeed) Dark patterns Alt-Meat Tro...
7.08: Literally Metaphorically Listen for Earthquakes
August 08, 2019 03:30 - 37 minutes - 35.2 MBShow Notes We pause from issue-focused episodes and try to pull together the threads of the season so far to take a step toward our ethic of technology. Stephen imitating Lewis Mumford saying “I said that!!!” Links Donald Trump cannot block critical Twitter users, court rules The Lindy effect – John D. Cook on the expected lifetimes of technology: …if all you know is that a technology has survived a certain amount of time, you can estimate that it will survive about that much longer. ...
7.07: The ERLC AI Statement, Part 2
July 19, 2019 03:30 - 45 minutes - 42 MBData privacy, just war, the sovereignty of God… there’s a lot here! Show Notes We dig into the rest of the ERLC’s statement on AI—everything from security and privacy to just war and the sovereignty of God. Links Artificial Intelligence: An Evangelical Statement of Principles In Search of the Common Good, Jake Meador Minority Report Deepfakes Fake ‘drunk’ Nancy Pelosi video goes viral, and it wasn’t even that hard to make (Mashable) 6.06: A Kind of Blindness—Smart cities, “big data”...
7.06: The ERLC AI Statement, Part 1
July 03, 2019 15:00 - 43 minutes - 39.9 MBPeople reflecting proactively on ethics? Sold! …mostly. Mostly! Show Notes The ERLC published a statement on artificial intelligence and ethics. We give them an ‘A’ but have some substantive disagreements. Links Artificial Intelligence: An Evangelical Statement of Principles Mass Effect - Mass Affection I, Robot Ray Kurzweil The Singularity Newton’s Wake, Ken Macleod 6.03: I’m Not Puttin’ That Chip in My Cheek—Bodily modification, from hip replacement to magnets in your fingers. 6...
7.05: Chattanooga, China, and Subsidiarity
May 23, 2019 04:30 - 35 minutes - 32.7 MBLocalism is great! …but it is no panacea. Show Notes We look at everything from American racial history to the differences between Chattanooga’s and China’s “local” internets. Stephen gesticulating wildly! Links The New Sewer Socialists, Evan Malmgren, Logic An alternate ending to the tragedy of the commons, Nadia Eghbal, on Elinor Ostrom’s Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action Ostrom noticed there are many situations where common resources are all...
7.04: Not Better Enough
May 09, 2019 04:05 - 38 minutes - 35.8 MBRejecting solutionism, the problems of the humane, and wise change. Show Notes We dig into the challenge of taking a non-solutionist approach and rejecting a technocratic view of the world… while not rejecting “interventions” and making real progress along the way. Corrections Stephen accidentally referred to Chris’ reference in his newsletter to C. S. Lewis’ foreword to St. Athanasius’ On the Incarnation as “On the Annunciation”—the annunciation is a related but distinct bit of Christia...
7.03: Ari Wallach
April 25, 2019 03:15 - 49 minutes - 45.1 MBAn interview with the founder of Longpath about his vision for the future and trans-generational ethics. Show Notes We chat with Ari Wallach of Longpath about his vision for the future and the importance of trans-generational ethics. (There’s obviously a lot we both find valuable and disagree with here… keep your ears open for reflection on some of those differences in the future!) Corrigenda Buckminster Fuller didn’t invent the trimtab—but he did invent the metaphor of the social aspect...
7.02: People Who Don’t Want To Do Things
April 10, 2019 23:30 - 42 minutes - 38.8 MBAny positive vision of the future must contend with people who like the current way of doing things. We discuss personal and communal liturgies as potential ways to address the issue. Show Notes John Deere discussion in 6.13 $200M lobbying from oil companies 43 Democrats not even voting on a thing they support $200M in lobbying from oil companies Jake Meador’s articles: “Whose Reaganism? Which Republicanism?” (Mere Orthodoxy) “America’s Farming Crisis, Laid Bare by Midwest Floods” (C...
7.01: Do We Really Need to Keep the Internet Around?
March 27, 2019 14:00 - 38 minutes - 35.7 MBSeason 7’s charter—by way of a rollicking argument about Alan Jacobs’ The Year of Our Lord 1943 and Tolkien’s idea of eucatastrophe. Show Notes Major figures we discuss in this episode: Alan Jacobs’ recent work The Year of Our Lord 1943: Christian Humanism in an Age of Crisi Jacques Ellul C. S. Lewis T. S. Eliot Jacques Mauritain Simone Weil J.R.R. Tolkien The Lord of the Rings The Silmarillion eucatastrophe: from “On Fairy Stories” (published in The Monsters and the Critics) Ot...
[Bonus] 7.01 Outtake: Twitter is Strongbad
March 27, 2019 02:01 - 1 minute - 1.26 MB7.01 will be in your ears tomorrow. For today: how Stephen copes with Twitter.
Jessica C. Blank
February 04, 2019 17:00 - 54 minutes - 51 MBDocumentary theater and the power of storytelling for social change. Show Notes An interview with writer, director, and actor Jessica C. Blank, focusing on her approach to using writing and acting as a means of accomplishing social change. We talk about her work on The Exonerated and How To Be a Rock Critic, as well as her theory of story and the way it can help create common ground even when people have deep disagreements. Links Most importantly: Jessica’s website her Instagram All t...
6.13: A Four-in-One Special
January 01, 2019 05:30 - 37 minutes - 34.6 MBWrapping up Season 6 by covering the topics we intended to cover before Chris’ experience with burnout broke everything. Show Notes On burnout: Chris’ New Rustacean episode Chris’ blog posts Shannon Vallor and Technology and the Virtues “Why American Farmers Are Hacking Their Tractors With Ukrainian Firmware” Music “Tiananmen Square” by Cameron Blake “Winning Slowly Theme” by Chris Krycho. Sponsors Many thanks to the people who help us make this show possible by their financial su...
6.12: Beer Rules
November 08, 2018 04:02 - 40 minutes - 37.6 MBRegulation as neither bogeyman nor panacea, but a way of protecting out the right spaces for genuine competition to emerge. Show Notes Back in September, we recorded this episode live, both of us in person, at Pikes Peak Brewing Company in Monument, Colorado—as Stephen was out visiting Chris and just hanging out for a weekend. We talk a bit about the history of the beer industry in the 20th and 21st century, with an eye to the way that government intervention can variously make things much...
6.11: Very Thoughtful Ethics Dogs
August 31, 2018 02:20 - 37 minutes - 34.2 MBReflecting on the limits of AI, and the limits we should put on AI. Show Notes AI is coming and it’s going to take all of our jobs! …or, not, depending on who you ask and how optimistic they are or aren’t about the limits of AI as we understand it today. Regardless: how should we think about roboticizing all the jobs? Links A telling quote: OH (from an awesome Lyft driver): “Today has been great. I’ve been blessed by the algorithm.” Immediately had an eerie feeling that this could beco...
100!
August 16, 2018 12:34 - 40 minutes - 37.5 MBOur 100th episode spectacular – with a look at where we have come from and where we are going. Show Notes It’s been four and a half years and 100 episodes of Winning Slowly! We pause to take a bit to reflect on what we’ve done, what we’re about, and where we hope to go from here. We also reflect on some of our craziest titles along the way. (“Buying Me Off With Warm Fuzzies”? “Juice Up the Weird Edges of the Ecosystem”? These got wild at times.) Links Cameron Morgan Vallor’s book: Techn...
6.10: The Future of Something Like Work
July 20, 2018 13:00 - 32 minutes - 30.7 MBThe end of work, post-work, universal basic income—and a more hopeful frame than these. Show Notes Economists, guilt-ridden Silicon Valley inventors and investors, and others have been looking at the future of work. One possible conclusion? That it’s going away. We don’t think that’s quite right—and we don’t think it would be good if it did. Not exactly, anyway. Links current US unemployment rate Tolkien on subcreation: see his essay On Fairy-Stories notes on J. S. Bach’s reception ove...
6.09: Granular Levels of Tomato Tracking
July 07, 2018 22:45 - 34 minutes - 32.1 MBBlockchain, the necessity of regulation, and the regulatory challenges posed by truly global technologies. Show Notes Blockchain and the associated currencies and techniques derived from it have been in the news a lot for the last few years. And it’s an incredibly interesting technology, which basically only has benefits for individual users – but has some profoundly distortive effects at scale, on everything from economics to energy consumption. So what do we do about it? Links Cryptoki...
6.08: People Do Reject Technologies, Part 2
June 22, 2018 13:15 - 36 minutes - 33.8 MBNuclear weapons, nuclear waste, and how to argue well with intractable disagreements. Show Notes Sometimes, the rejection of a technology is far less clear cut than in last week’s discussion of Google Glass. With nuclear weapons (and nuclear waste), for example, decades of rejection by many people has not stepped further development and proliferation. What do we do when we face intractable disagreements, especially about things we think represent grave moral evils? Links Hiroshima and Na...
6.07: People Do Reject Technologies, Part 1
June 14, 2018 00:45 - 30 minutes - 28 MBGoogle Glass, snap judgments, and how we form ourselves to make those snap judgments well. Show Notes Google Glass failed miserably. Why? Because people sometimes do reject technologies. But why? People’s snap judgments are far from infallible, of course, but in this case they seem to have been correct. How can we train our snap judgments to be correct more often? And how can we interrogate and sharpen our own judgments? Links Google Glass background and commentary: Google X and the Sci...
6.06: A Kind of Blindness
May 16, 2018 14:00 - 31 minutes - 28.7 MBSmart cities, “big data”, and the meaninglessness of mere information. Show Notes We attempt to take down the idea that more data is the solution to our problems. Without wisdom, and without an ethical frame, numbers mean nothing. Links The metadata of experience, the experience of metadata – Nick Carr China’s New Frontiers in Dystopian Tech – Rene Chun at The Atlantic “Smart” refigerators DDOS-ing things Massive Dyn DDOS Attack: Experts Blame Smart Fridges, DVRs And Other IoT Devices...
6.05: Crispr
May 15, 2018 02:00 - 34 minutes - 31.6 MBWhat are the limits on gene editing? Should we be doing it at all? If so, under what circumstances? Who determines where it's okay to use Crispr? Show Notes What are the limits on gene editing? Should we be doing it at all? If so, under what circumstances? Who determines where it’s okay to use Crispr? Links Crispr Makes It Clear: The US Needs a Biology Strategy, and Fast Human Embryo Editing Gets the Ok—But No Superbabies Music “Kept” by Jason Van Wyk “Winning Slowly Theme” by Chris ...