Class 8 - Safety // physical and emotional health
Apéritif
RFC as koan
- J. Reynolds, RFC 1135: The Helminthiasis of the Internet (December 1989)
Emulator as koan
Themes
- information security
- juxtoposition of computer virus fears vs AIDS crisis fears
- lack of safety in how we use computers (e.g. leaving traces of ourself in the data we produce)
- stress from working
Prompts
- Who is missing? Who gets sick, dies, or has to quit their no/low-pay startup job because they need to earn a living? Who in tech gets left behind?
- What do the concerns represented or ignored by technology tell us about their creators? Examples?
Description
Episodes: - S2E9 “Kali”, S2E10 “Heaven Is a Place”, S3E1 “Valley of the Heart’s Delight”
Some strife is a normal part of life (e.g. marrying Joe MacMillan despite all the red flags), some of it is compounded by the stress of working within the tech industry (the now-stereotypical culture of Silicon Valley workaholism), and some of it is directly a result of the work (Gordan’s health issues attributed to lead and cocaine). How did we get here then, where are we now, and where are we going?
This is a good opportunity to pause and think about what stories are not being told within the histories of technology.
Readings
- Cynthia Joyce, Race Matters in Cyberspace, Too (June 1997)
- Jamie Zawinski, the netscape dorm (July 1994) (the disclaimer is also worth reading)
- Jamais Cascio, The Ecology of Computer Viruses (April 1999)
- Jennifer New, ain’t gonna work on billg’s farm no more (Sept 1997)
- Sumana Harihareswara. Pipeline and blog with context (May 2015)
- Warren Brown, Jobs Growth in ’80s Linked to Computer, Washington Post (December 1981)