More Human Voices at The Long Now
The magical technology narrative has had its day
Dear Stewart Brand,
I saw Francis Fukuyama respond to his (many) critics in 2007 at Fort Mason, and it helped me appreciate the talks and open debate you host with the Long Now Foundation. But in 2015, I watched Danny Hillis present on “how history really works” — it was both funny and sad to hear his homemade theories skip over the human foibles shaping history and technology — including foibles of his own.
The just-so stories in those two talks made me wonder,
How long will dominant narratives of history and technology hold center stage at the Long Now?
There are more grounded, humble, and accountable narratives out there.
Happily, I’ve also seen talks from other people with grounded, critical views. The best I’ve seen yet comes from Allison Parrish.
At this year’s Open Hardware Summit, Parrish told the tale of how men of The Midnight Computer Wiring Society violated the “The Hacker Ethic” outlined in the book Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution. By secretly tinkering with a campus mainframe, they crashed a simulation thatMargaret Hamilton tried to run the next day. Parrish says author Steven Levy describes Hamilton as a “nag” and worse, leaves out any recognition for her accomplishments — she would later write code for the Apollo spacecraft.
Parrish ends her talk by taking apart the “rules” in the book, which she believes no hacker would truly abide by anyway, and suggests we consider a set questions. For example, “Who gets to use what I make?” and “How are my own personal values reflected?”
People like Parrish offer a constructive, inquisitive, and feminist view on the powers that shape technology.
Long Now members would welcome voices like Parrish’s — human alternatives to the thesis that technology has its own consciousness and knows what it wants.
Try it for yourself! Enjoy a transcript of Parrish’s talk, or the 32min video:
After 9 years of being a Long Now fan, I would be thrilled if you invited Allison Parrish and people like her to get center stage.
Like other Long Now members I’ve talked with over the years, I believe this would open the horizon for a new kind of story, for 02017 and beyond.
Sincerely,
Danny Spitzberg
PS this is 95% of the letter I emailed you, edited for clarity and positivity.
