"the obsession with constructing futures at the expense of the present" - my favorite line. I think there is another level to being a technologist. One where you are enlightened to the the reality outside of your little "hustle bubble" but choose the life regardless. Because of love. Because of passion for building things, and being busy and trying to uncover the next innovation, but realising that this isn't everything. That the world faces far more real strife than my late night code binge. I prefer stoic meditations. The hellenic views which formed very much in tandem with the advent of algebra in babylon.
That philosophy centers on control of your own mind and therefore control of the universe, because the universe only exists in many ways, as we construct it, in our own minds.
Ahren, I really appreciate this extended interpretation! And while that sentiment isn't really expressed here, it is one that I do fundamentally share. Despite "instrumental" connoting utilitarianism and my own mixed feelings about such an approach to [all of] life, it also suggests a belief that things can and should be different. There's something beautiful and incredibly empowering about choosing to live from that sense of responsibility.
The tension between present vs future orientation is one I constantly wrestle with, especially during this period of my life. I'd like to think there's a world in which I can "be a technologist" – actively participating in the critique and construction of new futures – and yet still go through each moment fully aware that the now is all we ever truly have.
You might find Cyberfeminism Index edited by Mindy Seu useful. It's a book collection of some 700 or so techno-critical activism entries. The link below takes you to the Joburg Launch of the book. There's a recorded session of the event where Seu makes other references e.g. to philosopher Sadie Plant who wrote Zeroes + Ones: Digital Women and the New Technoculture. I don't suspect you'll exactly find the historical/philosophical stuff you might be looking for. But I suspect you'll find a wider spectrum of people who might be in your field thinking through or asking similar questions, and that might lead to what you are looking for.
"the obsession with constructing futures at the expense of the present" - my favorite line. I think there is another level to being a technologist. One where you are enlightened to the the reality outside of your little "hustle bubble" but choose the life regardless. Because of love. Because of passion for building things, and being busy and trying to uncover the next innovation, but realising that this isn't everything. That the world faces far more real strife than my late night code binge. I prefer stoic meditations. The hellenic views which formed very much in tandem with the advent of algebra in babylon.
That philosophy centers on control of your own mind and therefore control of the universe, because the universe only exists in many ways, as we construct it, in our own minds.
But that's just me.
Ahren, I really appreciate this extended interpretation! And while that sentiment isn't really expressed here, it is one that I do fundamentally share. Despite "instrumental" connoting utilitarianism and my own mixed feelings about such an approach to [all of] life, it also suggests a belief that things can and should be different. There's something beautiful and incredibly empowering about choosing to live from that sense of responsibility.
The tension between present vs future orientation is one I constantly wrestle with, especially during this period of my life. I'd like to think there's a world in which I can "be a technologist" – actively participating in the critique and construction of new futures – and yet still go through each moment fully aware that the now is all we ever truly have.
You might find Cyberfeminism Index edited by Mindy Seu useful. It's a book collection of some 700 or so techno-critical activism entries. The link below takes you to the Joburg Launch of the book. There's a recorded session of the event where Seu makes other references e.g. to philosopher Sadie Plant who wrote Zeroes + Ones: Digital Women and the New Technoculture. I don't suspect you'll exactly find the historical/philosophical stuff you might be looking for. But I suspect you'll find a wider spectrum of people who might be in your field thinking through or asking similar questions, and that might lead to what you are looking for.
https://www.racegenderclass.org/programme/cyberfeminism-index