TechTakes

1401 readers

139 users here now

Big brain tech dude got yet another clueless take over at HackerNews etc? Here's the place to vent. Orange site, VC foolishness, all welcome.

This is not debate club. Unless it’s amusing debate.

For actually-good tech, you want our NotAwfulTech community

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

dgerard@awful.systems

Devs and the Culture of Tech - Final part (unserious.substack.com)

submitted 2 months ago by UnseriousAcademic@awful.systems to c/techtakes@awful.systems

11 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Hello all. People were very kind when I originally posted the start of this series. I've refrained from spamming you with every part but I thought I'd post to say the very final installment is done.

I got a bit weird with it this time as I felt like I had an infinite amount to say, all of which only barely got to the underlying point i was trying to make. So much that I wrote I also cut, it's ridiculous.

Anyway now the series is done I'm going to move on to smaller discrete pieces as I work on my book about Tech Culture's propensity to far-right politics. I'll be dropping interesting stuff I find, examples of Right Libertarians saying ridiculous things, so follow along if that's your jam.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] AnarchistArtificer 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I think one of my favourite parts was this footnote in part 4:

"Though the idea that politics is ingrained into material design choices is a growing consensus within recent Science and Technology studies work. I once wrote a piece on the role of software design in shaping people’s interpretation of texts - because that’s how I get wild on Friday nights.

(N.b. link preserved from original)

This is obviously a joke, but the truth in the joke is that you're a huge nerd, and it makes me happy to see people like you on the internet. There was a while where I perceived the tech-people you critique as "my people", but ultimately the euphoria of finding community dissolved into isolation and dread, as I grew to understand the impact of the cultish culture of tech.

[–] UnseriousAcademic@awful.systems 1 points 2 months ago

the truth in the joke is that you're a huge nerd

Oh absolutely. Yes I think partly my fascination with all of this is that I think I could quite easily have gone the tech bro hype train route. I'm naturally very good with getting into the weeds of tech and understanding how it works. I love systems (love factory, strategy and logistics games) love learning techy skills purely to see how it works etc. I taught myself to code just because the primary software for a particularly for of qualitative analysis annoyed me. I feel I am prime candidate for this whole world.

But at the same time I really dislike the impoverished viewpoint that comes with being only in that space. There's just some things that don't fit that mode of thought. I also don't have ultimate faith in science and tech, probably because the social sciences captured me at an early age, but also because I have an annoying habit of never being comfortable with what I think, so I'm constantly reflecting and rethinking, which I don't think gels well with the tech bro hype train. That's why I embrace the moniker of "Luddite with an IDE". Captures most of it!