https://www.technorealism.org/ overview faq signup journal readings Technorealism Technorealism In this heady age of rapid technological change, OVERVIEW we all struggle to maintain our bearings. The ----------------- developments that unfold each day in communications and computing can be thrilling and disorienting. One understandable reaction is to wonder: Are these changes good or bad? Should we welcome or fear them? +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | The answer is both. Technology is making life | | | more convenient and enjoyable, and many of us | | | healthier, wealthier, and wiser. But it is also | | | affecting work, family, and the economy in | | | unpredictable ways, introducing new forms of | | | tension and distraction, and posing new threats | | | to the cohesion of our physical communities. | | | | | | Despite the complicated and often contradictory | | | implications of technology, the conventional | | | wisdom is woefully simplistic. Pundits, | | | politicians, and self-appointed visionaries do | | | us a disservice when they try to reduce these | | | complexities to breathless tales of either | | | high-tech doom or cyber-elation. Such polarized | | | thinking leads to dashed hopes and unnecessary | | | anxiety, and prevents us from understanding our | | | own culture. | | | | | | Over the past few years, even as the debate over| | | technology has been dominated by the louder | | | voices at the extremes, a new, more balanced | | | consensus has quietly taken shape. This document| | | seeks to articulate some of the shared beliefs | | | behind that consensus, which we have come to | | | call technorealism. | | | | | | Technorealism demands that we think critically | | | about the role that tools and interfaces play in| | | human evolution and everyday life. Integral to | | | this perspective is our understanding that the | | | current tide of technological transformation, | | | while important and powerful, is actually a | | | continuation of waves of change that have taken | | | place throughout history. Looking, for example, | | | at the history of the automobile, television, or| | | the telephone -- not just the devices but the | | | institutions they became -- we see profound | | | benefits as well as substantial costs. | | | Similarly, we anticipate mixed blessings from | | | today's emerging technologies, and expect to | | | forever be on guard for unexpected consequences | | | -- which must be addressed by thoughtful design | | | and appropriate use. | | | | | | As technorealists, we seek to expand the fertile| |Technorealism.Org| middle ground between techno-utopianism and | | is an important | neo-Luddism. We are technology "critics" in the | |historical site. | same way, and for the same reasons, that others | | On its original | are food critics, art critics, or literary | |launch, it raised| critics. We can be passionately optimistic about| |issues, regarding| some technologies, skeptical and disdainful of | | values and | others. Still, our goal is neither to champion | |technology, which| nor dismiss technology, but rather to understand| | were rarely | it and apply it in a manner more consistent with| | debated | basic human values. | | elsewhere. | | | | | |These values and | Below are some evolving basic principles that | |issues, however, | help explain technorealism. | |are as important | | | today as they | | | ever were. This | | |site is therefore| PRINCIPLES OF TECHNOREALISM | |being preserved, | | | and protected, | | |for your current | | | and future | 1. Technologies are not neutral. | | enjoyment. | A great misconception of our time is the | | | idea that technologies are completely free | | | of bias -- that because they are inanimate | | | artifacts, they don't promote certain kinds | | | of behaviors over others. In truth, | | | technologies come loaded with both intended | | | and unintended social, political, and | | | economic leanings. Every tool provides its | | | users with a particular manner of seeing the| | | world and specific ways of interacting with | | | others. It is important for each of us to | | | consider the biases of various technologies | | | and to seek out those that reflect our | | | values and aspirations. | | | | | | | | Additional | | | Content: | 2. The Internet is revolutionary, but not | | | Utopian. | |Wiki Open Guides | The Net is an extraordinary communications | | | tool that provides a range of new | | | opportunities for people, communities, | | | businesses, and government. Yet as | |+--------------+ | cyberspace becomes more populated, it | || ITIL | | increasingly resembles society at large, in | ||--------------| | all its complexity. For every empowering or | || The open | | enlightening aspect of the wired life, there| ||collaborative | | will also be dimensions that are malicious, | ||guide to ITIL,| | perverse, or rather ordinary. | || the IT | | | ||infrastructure| | | || library. | | | |+--------------+ | 3. Government has an important role to play on | | | the electronic frontier. | | | Contrary to some claims, cyberspace is not | |+--------------+ | formally a place or jurisdiction separate | || Prince2 | | from Earth. While governments should respect| ||--------------| | the rules and customs that have arisen in | || An open | | cyberspace, and should not stifle this new | ||collaboration | | world with inefficient regulation or | || for the | | censorship, it is foolish to say that the | || Prince2 | | public has no sovereignty over what an | || information | | errant citizen or fraudulent corporation | || technology | | does online. As the representative of the | || project | | people and the guardian of democratic | || management | | values, the state has the right and | || method | | responsibility to help integrate cyberspace | |+--------------+ | and conventional society. | | | | | | Technology standards and privacy issues, for| | | example, are too important to be entrusted | | | to the marketplace alone. Competing software| | | firms have little interest in preserving the| | | open standards that are essential to a fully| | | functioning interactive network. Markets | | | encourage innovation, but they do not | | | necessarily insure the public interest. | | | | | | | | | | | | 4. Information is not knowledge. | | | All around us, information is moving faster | | | and becoming cheaper to acquire, and the | | | benefits are manifest. That said, the | | | proliferation of data is also a serious | | | challenge, requiring new measures of human | | | discipline and skepticism. We must not | | | confuse the thrill of acquiring or | | | distributing information quickly with the | | | more daunting task of converting it into | | | knowledge and wisdom. Regardless of how | | | advanced our computers become, we should | | | never use them as a substitute for our own | | | basic cognitive skills of awareness, | | | perception, reasoning, and judgment. | | | | |This site is now | | | owned | | | by the | 5. Wiring the schools will not save them. | |Historical Site | The problems with America's public schools | | Preservation | -- disparate funding, social promotion, | | Group, although | bloated class size, crumbling | |the copyright on | infrastructure, lack of standards -- have | | the original | almost nothing to do with technology. | | content is | Consequently, no amount of technology will | |retained by David| lead to the educational revolution | | Shenk. | prophesied by President Clinton and others. | | | The art of teaching cannot be replicated by | | | computers, the Net, or by "distance | | | learning." These tools can, of course, | | | augment an already high-quality educational | | | experience. But to rely on them as any sort | | | of panacea would be a costly mistake. | | | | | | | | | | | | 6. Information wants to be protected. | | | It's true that cyberspace and other recent | | | developments are challenging our copyright | | | laws and frameworks for protecting | | | intellectual property. The answer, though, | | | is not to scrap existing statutes and | | | principles. Instead, we must update old laws| | | and interpretations so that information | | | receives roughly the same protection it did | | | in the context of old media. The goal is the| | | same: to give authors sufficient control | | | over their work so that they have an | | | incentive to create, while maintaining the | | | right of the public to make fair use of that| | | information. In neither context does | | | information want "to be free." Rather, it | | | needs to be protected. | | | | | | | | | | | | 7. The public owns the airwaves; the public | | | should benefit from their use. | | | The recent digital spectrum giveaway to | | | broadcasters underscores the corrupt and | | | inefficient misuse of public resources in | | | the arena of technology. The citizenry | | | should benefit and profit from the use of | | | public frequencies, and should retain a | | | portion of the spectrum for educational, | | | cultural, and public access uses. We should | | | demand more for private use of public | | | property. | | | | | | | | | | | | 8. Understanding technology should be an | | | essential component of global citizenship. | | | In a world driven by the flow of | | | information, the interfaces -- and the | | | underlying code -- that make information | | | visible are becoming enormously powerful | | | social forces. Understanding their strengths| | | and limitations, and even participating in | | | the creation of better tools, should be an | | | important part of being an involved citizen.| | | These tools affect our lives as much as laws| | | do, and we should subject them to a similar | | | democratic scrutiny. | | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------| | | | | | Since March 12, 1998, over 2500 people have | | | signed their names to these principles. Here's | | | the current list of names, and here's how you | | | can add your own. | | | | | | Contact the drafters of the document. | | | | | | | | | | | | Read a Spanish adaptation of technorealism | | | (temporarily unavailable). | | | | | | Read an Italian adaptation of technorealism. | | | | | | Read a Japanese adaptation of technorealism | | | (temporarily unavailable). | | | | | | Technorealism | | | http://www.technorealism.org | | | | | | overview | faq | signup | journal | readings | | | | | |Site designed by Robbin Murphy | | | | | |COPYRIGHT 1998-2021 | | | | | | | | | | | | | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+