64 Matching Annotations
  1. Last 7 days
  2. Mar 2024
    1. My belief is that societies cannot organize effectively to cope with the impacts of climate change without a shared understanding of the future that awaits.

      quote - shared futures - climate crisis and appropriate language - (quote below)

      • My belief is that
        • societies cannot organize effectively
        • to cope with
        • the impacts of climate change
        • without a shared understanding of
        • the future that awaits.
      • Currently, representations of the net-zero future
        • don’t do that.
      • They are a denial of the best of human nature.
      • They shut down the possibility of
        • imagining something different
        • in favor of a fantasy of more of the same,
          • minus catastrophic climate change.
      • With a better, shared understanding of the world we’re moving toward,
        • we can better organize ourselves to live in that world,
          • whatever that might mean,
          • whatever that might look like.
    1. if you’ve ever heard of the futures cone, it’s this idea of you know, this kind of widening aperture; the further out you look, the less predictable things are.
  3. Jan 2024
  4. Dec 2023
    1. And this is where the asynchronicity comes in: The "results" list does not actually contain the results from running our functions. Instead, it contains "futures" which are similar to the JavaScript idea of "promises." In order to allow our program to continue running, we get back these futures that represent a placeholder for a value. If we try to print the future, depending on whether it's finished running or not, we'll either get back a state of "pending" or "finished." Once it's finished we can get the return value (assuming there is one) using var.result().
    1. we should be focusing on in terms of our Clear Vision of a desirable future
      • for: futures, clear vision of desirable future, desirable future - 4 pillars

      • desirable future: 4 pillars

        • security
          • we can manage, alleviate, adapt to the dangers of the polycrisis
        • opportunity
          • people can express their agency and grow and explore
        • justice
          • equality and fair distribution of wealth. Everyone deserves to live a life based upon holistic wellbeing
        • identity
          • we all need to feel like we belong
    1. almost all wealthy countries now is dominated 00:13:37 by the car it's not about moving people it's about moving lumps of metal around with one person in them You' have to move away from that
      • for: inefficiencies - example - cars, low carbon futures - reduce cars
    1. there are sort of 00:17:41 two broad um programs or ideas that deal with this or that try to engage with this issue they have pockets of support 00:17:52 one is the idea of a green New Deal or a global Green New Deal and the other one is degrowth and and I don't think that either of those work for different reasons
      • for: quote, climate futures - both green new deal and regrowth don't work, green new deal - criticism, degrowth - criticism
      • for: plan B, climate futures, dystopian future, civilization collapse

      • title: If We’ve Lost the Climate War, What’s Plan B?

      • subtitle: Why a carbon tax won’t save us, and what’s next.
      • author: Crawford Kilian
      • date: Nov 22, 2023

      • summary

        • a good article that shows the complexity and unpredictability of a collapse scenario and system justification theory, which sounds like the boiling frog syndrome
      • for: futures - neo-Venetian crypto-networks, Global Chinese Commons, GCC, cosmolocal, coordiNation, somewheres, everywheres, nowheres, Global System One, Global System Two, Global System Three, contributory accounting, fourth sector, protocol cooperative, mutual coordination economics

      • summary

      • learned something new
        • I learned a number of new ideas from reading Michel's article. He gives a brief meta-history of our political-socio-economic system, using Peter Pogany's framework of Global System One, Two and Three and within this argues for why a marriage of blockchain systems and cosmolocal production systems could create a "fourth sector" for the transition to Global System Three.
        • He cites evidence of existing trends already pointing in this direction, drawing from his research in P2P Foundation
    1. This dissatisfaction with the dominant role of the state, or similar dissatisfaction by what others consider the failing market-based neoliberal order, may now go into different directions
      • for: different possible socio-economic-political futures

      • comment

        • Michel outlines the possibilities then selects the last one as the one he situates himself in and will write on, namelyl:
          • A dream to integrate:
            • markets,
            • networks,
            • state functions, AND what we could call
            • ‘the Commons’
  5. Nov 2023
    1. hang on a second here you mean i can't drive my car i'm i can't heat my house i can't turn on the lights whenever i want to like well people rightly have all kinds of questions and they can't yet imagine and i would say this is part 00:12:05 of the failure of leadership they can't imagine what that alternative life looks like
      • for: alternative futures

      • comment

        • we need to provide a detailed vision to the public of what such an alternative future looks like
    1. here is the human 00:50:39 journey the big arrows indicate the way that it in fact developed in history the small errors indicate that of the seven point seven billion of us on the planet people are moving in every direction 00:50:52 from each of those phases and some in each of those phases want to hang on to those phases are not move that's what those great black circles are the little black circles our people who want to 00:51:04 just hang on to what they've got and not move but others are on the move and what's more they're on the move in every possible direction
      • for: cultural evolution - diverse movements, cultural transition - diverse movements

      • summary

        • Bill Reese and Rubin Nelson believe that the dynamic / relational quadrant of indigenous culture is the most viable futures
      • for: future cities - Africa, CommuniTgrow, urban planning - Africa, African cities, futures - African cities, 2 Billion Strong, Gita Govin, Richard Rubin, Alistair Rendall

      • title:

        • 2 Billion Strong
          • A Regenerative Solution to Building Sustainable African Cities
      • author
        • Gita Govin
        • Richard Rubin
        • Alistair Rendall
      • date: 2012
      • summary
        • This book outlines the vision from sustainable architectural firm CommuniTGrow for a template for a future sustainable African city. The first project launching in 2024 is the Milkwood Development in Cape Town:
  6. Sep 2023
    1. as andy clark puts it quite succinctly is why do we spend so much time puzzling about why we are aware
      • paraphrase
        • Karl Friston takes Andy Clark's perspective
          • the real problem is a meta problem
            • why do we spend so much time trying to make sense of our sense-making?
        • Karl talks about futures and different pathways to the futures
        • Humans seem to have this unique property to plan futures, some of which are counter-factual
    1. Social tipping points and physical tipping points are interrelated. With environmental stress, the former could arrive before the latter, and then cascades develop. Hamburg Climate Futures Outlook 2023: https://www.cliccs.uni-hamburg.de/results/hamburg-climate-futures-outlook.html
      • for: TPF
      • comment
        • Hamburg climate futures outlook 2023 report supports need for something on the scale of the planned TPF
      • for: futures - food production, futures - water production, desalination, ocean solar farm, floating solar farm, floating city
      • title: An interfacial solar evaporation enabled autonomous double-layered vertical floating solar sea farm
      • author: Pan Wu, Xuan We, Huimin Yu, Jingyuan Zhao, Yida Wang, Kewu Pi, Gary Owens, Haolan Xu
      • date: Oct. 1, 2023
      • source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1385894723041839?via%3Dihub#f0005
      • comment
        • Since this simple design integrates fresh water and food production, it can be integrated as a module for a floating city.
  7. Aug 2023
    1. We are already seeing the emergence of ‘tech-free’ camps and vacation packages. Experiencing life ‘offline’ will become a generational goal, much like the Millennial generation introduced ride sharing and home sharing. Ironically, it will be technology that enables this trend, and premiums will be paid for uninterrupted time to focus or to simply enjoy being alive. This may also indicate a new kind of disparity between economic strata, with the more-wealthy affording privacy, peace and quiet while the lower strata remain fodder for 24/7 social media aggregators and botnets.
      • for: futures, digital futures, online vs offline role reversal, inequality
      • quote
      • paraphrase
        • We are already seeing the emergence of
          • ‘tech-free’ camps and
          • ' tech-free' vacation packages
        • Experiencing life ‘offline’ will become a generational goal,
          • much like the Millennial generation introduced ride sharing and home sharing.
        • Ironically, it will be technology that enables this trend, and premiums will be paid for uninterrupted time to focus or to simply enjoy being alive.
        • This may also indicate a new kind of disparity between economic strata, with
          • the more-wealthy affording privacy, peace and quiet while
          • the lower strata remain fodder for 24/7 social media aggregators and botnets.
      • author: Sam Adams
        • 24 year veteran of IBM
        • senior AI research scientist, RTI International
    1. Technological change is an accelerant and acts on the social ills like pouring gasoline on a fire
      • for: quote, quote - Stowe Boyd, quote - progress trap, quote - unintended consequences, unintended consequences, progress trap, cultural evolution, technology - futures, futures - technology, progress trap
      • quote:
        • Technological change is an accelerant and acts on the social ills like pouring gasoline on a fire
      • author: Sowe Boyd
        • consulting futurist on technological evolution and the future of work
      • paraphrase
        • In an uncontrolled hyper-capitalist society,
          • the explosion in technologies over the past 30 years has only
            • widened inequality,
            • concentrated wealth and
            • led to greater social division.
          • And it is speeding up with the rise of artificial intelligence,
            • which like globalization has destabilized Western industrial economies while admittedly pulling hundreds of millions elsewhere out of poverty.
        • And the boiling exhaust of this set of forces is pushing the planet into a climate catastrophe. -The world is as unready for hundreds of millions of climate refugees as it was for the plague.
        • However, some variant of social media will likely form the context for the rise of a global movement to stop the madness
          • which I call the Human Spring
        • which will be more like
          • Occupy or
          • the Yellow Vests
        • than traditional politics.
        • I anticipate a grassroots movement
          • characterized by
            • general strikes,
            • political action,
            • protest and
            • widespread disruption of the economy
          • that will confront the economic and political system of the West.
        • Lead by the young, ultimately this will lead to large-scale political reforms, such as
          • universal health care,
          • direct democracy,
          • a new set of rights for individuals and
          • a large set of checks on the power of
            • corporations and
            • political parties.
        • For example,
          • eliminating corporate contributions to political campaigns,
          • countering monopolies and
          • effectively accounting for economic externalities, like carbon.
    2. with new technologies come new crimes and criminals – opportunities for all!

      -for: quote, quote - Jennifer Jarratt, quote - progress trap, progress trap, unintended consequences, technology - unintended consequences, quote - unintended consequences, cultural evolution, technology - futures, futures - technology, progress trap - quote: with new technologies come new crimes and criminals – opportunities for all! - author: Jennifer Jarratt - co-principal of Leading Futurists LLC

    3. Technology’s greatest contribution to social and civic innovation in the next decade will be to provide accurate, user-friendly context and honest assessment of issues, problems and potential solutions
      • for: quote, quote - Barry Chudakov, quote - progress trap, progress trap, cultural evolution, technology - futures, futures - technology, progress trap, indyweb - support, future - education
      • quote
      • paraphrase
        • Technology’s greatest contribution to social and civic innovation in the next decade
        • will be to provide
          • accurate, user-friendly context and
          • honest assessment of
            • issues,
            • problems and
            • potential solutions / comment - indyweb /
        • We are facing greater accelerations of
          • climate change,
          • social mobility,
          • pollution,
          • immigration and
          • resource issues.
        • Our problems have gone from complicated to wicked.
        • We need
          • clear answers and
          • discussions that are
            • cogent,
            • relevant and
            • true to facts.
        • Technology must guard against becoming a platform to enable targeted chaos,
        • that is, using technology as a means to
          • obfuscate and
          • manipulate.
        • We are all now living in Sim City:
        • The digital world is showing us a sim,
          • or digital mirror,
        • of each aspect of reality.
        • The most successful social and civic innovation I expect to see by 2030
        • is a massive restructuring of our educational systems based on new and emerging mirror digital worlds. / comment: This bodes well for Indyweb for education/
        • We will then need to expand our information presentations to include
          • verifiable factfulness that ensures any digital presentation faithfully and
          • accurately matches the physical realities.
        • Just as medicine went from
          • bloodletting and leeches and lobotomies to
          • open-heart surgery and artificial limbs,
        • technology will begin to modernize information flows around core issues: urgent need, future implications, accurate assessment.
        • Technology can play a crucial role to move humanity
          • from blame fantasies
          • to focused attention and working solutions.”
    1. people from all different aspects all different kinds of business people in in governments not just the finance people but the environmental 00:20:09 section and so on they need to get together and discuss calmly and and productively what we can do to move it 00:20:20 to creating a new mindset foreign s but also our common sense and we can only work out a future economy if people come in from these different sectors and 00:20:41 talk together not in a controversial way but in a way of we must find a solution because humanity is not exempt from 00:20:53 Extinction
      • for: extinction, hope, futures, radical collaboration, indyweb, TPF, SRG
      • quote
        • people from all different aspects
          • all different kinds of business people
          • in governments
          • not just the finance people
          • but the environmental section and so on
        • they need to get together and discuss
          • calmly and
          • productively
        • what we can do to creating a new mindset
        • and we can only work out a future economy if people come in from these different sectors and
        • talk together
          • not in a controversial way but
          • in a way of we must find a solution
        • because humanity is not exempt from extinction
      • author
        • Jane Goodall
    1. What is the culture of the future?
      • for: futures, decarbonizing - cultural sector, climate futures - cultural sector, climate futures - cultural industry
      • paraphrase
        • more local performances
        • more local purchases
        • leverage point for regional transition
        • reduce capacity
        • slowdown
        • reconceive / eco-conceive the arts so that it may endure
        • educate and change public policy
  8. Jul 2023
    1. Labor in a fully func-tioning Ecological Civilization will include three essentialelements.
      • for:UBI, universal basic income
      • for: UBI, universal basic income, futures
      • The physical labor required to maintain life’s essential conditions against the forces of entropy.
      • The intellectual labor required to constantly test and advance the individual and collective maps of our ever-evolving territory.
      • The spiritual labor required to continuously renew our sense of individual and collective connection to all that is.

      • comment

        • two of these are articulating the entanglement of the individual and collective.
  9. May 2023
    1. The question I want everyone to leave with is which of these possible futures would you like to make happen? Or not make happen?
      1. Passing the reverse Turing test
      2. Higher standards, higher floors and ceilings
      3. Human centipede epistemology (ugh what an image)
      4. Meatspace premium
      5. Decentralised human authentication
      6. The filtered web

      Intuitively I think 1, 4, and 6 already de facto exist in the pre-generative AI web, and will get more important. Tech bros will go all in on 5, and I do see a role for it (e.g. to vouch that a certain agent acts on my behalf). I can see the floor raising of 2, and the ceiling raising too, but only if it is a temporary effect to a next 'stable' point (or it will be a race we'll loose), grow sideways not only up). Future 3 is def happening in essence, but it will make the web useless so there's a hard stop to this scenario, at high societal cost. Human K as such isn't dependent on the web or a single medium, and if it all turns to ashes, other pathways will come up (which may again be exposed to the same effect though)

  10. Feb 2023
    1. In the first edition of the Hamburg Climate Fu-tures Outlook published in 2021
      • = First Edition of Hamburg Climate Futures Outlook (2021)

        • : Question: Is it plausible that the world will reach deep decarbonization by 2050?
          • Answer: No
      • = Second Edition of Hamburg Climate Futures Outlook (2023)

        • : Question: What affects the plausibility of attaining the Paris Agreement temperature goals?
    2. Lacking thefeasibility of a robust probabilistic assessment, wehave developed an alternative framework to assessthe plausibility of climate futures (Chapter 2).
      • alternative method for assessing plausibility of = climate futures called the = social plausibility framework
    3. based on present knowledge of social drivers andphysical processe

      climate futures based upon: - social drivers - physical processes

    4. Hamburg Climate FuturesOutlook

      = Hamburg Climate Futures Outlook 2023

    5. Among the many possible climatic futures, not allare plausible.
      • There are a number of possible = climate futures
      • but not all are plausible
  11. Dec 2022
    1. One of the things that actually is something that needs unpacking and hasn't been done yet is the role of coal. When we manufacture a solar panel, to get a solar cell, you've got to heat that silicon up to 2,200 degrees Celsius. 01:20:17 At the moment we use coke and coal. Now if we take away coke and coal, how do we do that? And there are options, but they're things like using biofuel, or hydrogen, or electric arc. And so scaling that problem up basically means it's not going to work. So when we lose coal, we lose manufacture. So what we could talk about next for example, is the true role of what the three fossil 01:20:43 fuels actually do for us. Oil, gas, and coal. Nate Hagens: Yeah, I think that's a good conversation. I just last week talked to Art Berman about what the products are in a barrel of oil. And the light things that our chemical inputs like butane and ethylene come off first, then gasoline, then diesel, then the asphalt and things. So if for some reason we don't need gasoline anymore, we still have to burn off the gasoline 01:21:13 to get to the heavy things that we absolutely do need, like the 10 trillion worth of diesel machinery in the world. So oil is going to be with us. Probably in smaller amounts, well definitely in smaller amounts. But we can't live without it at the present. So to have that broader conversation with you on the three main fossil fuels, that would 01:21:36 be a good conversation. Simon Michaux: What do they really do for us? Nate Hagens: Yeah, what do they really do for us? What do we really need? And what do we not need?

      !- Futures Thinking: The value of Coal, Oil and Gas in our current industrial society - If we do away with coal, we cannot manufacture - How do we find a solution to this? - Efficacy - can we get rid of / redesign infrastructure so that we can eliminate unnecessary use of coal / oil / gas? - ie. relocalize to eliminate need for energy intensive transportation, locally produced bio-fertiilzed food production to get rid of fossil fuel fertilizers, replace 24/7 refrigerators in every home with fruit and veg underground cold cellars and only very small fridge or freezer with ultra insulation for very low energy consumption

    2. So to the people listening or watching this, what kind of closing thoughts do you have to summarize what we just talked about and to leave them to think about or apply to their own lives? 01:17:49 Simon Michaux: So I would say to them that they're in better shape than anyone before, even as scary as it is and the unknown we're walking into. And there is no one plan. So like diversity of species in a jungle environment is a strength for the long-term survival of that jungle, diversity of ideas have the same strengths. 01:18:13 So we need them all for our long-term survival. We can't face one consensus, it's just like a broad brush direction. So we've got to put these ideas out there and discuss amongst ourselves. And understand that this is very, very challenging, and none of us actually know what we need to do. 01:18:37 Even though our skills are not necessarily what we need. We're almost like a blank canvas in terms of skills. But in terms of our self knowledge and our ability to think, our opinions mean something. We believe in human rights. We have education. Men and women are educated now. So we are in better shape now than we've ever been. 01:19:04 Instead of banging on about the problems and our past failings, we should probably try to face the future with open hearts, and actually think positive with the understanding that this is going to be rough.

      !- Futures Thinking : summary - our generation has the most wisdom to deal with the problem, even though it is an unprecedented problem - We need diversity of opinions and perspectives. Like in evolution, that diversity will emerge an optimal solution - To consciously culturally evolve, we need to put all ideas on the table and discuss openly - An open, interpersonal, people-centered knowledge ecosystem such as Indyweb is suitable for such a process

  12. Oct 2022
    1. BCN: Where do you expect to see your traded volumes growing in the next few years and why? JL: Developing financial derivatives is a key direction for Kucoin in the next few years. We are committed to developing and optimizing products for people with different risk preferences. For example, we have launched Trading Bot, a free intelligent trading tool providing efficiency, convenience, and powerful strategies to cryptocurrency traders, especially for novices who have little trading experience but can help them quickly get to know the crypto world. For investors with a higher risk appetite, we are constantly optimizing services provided by Kucoin Futures. This August is also the 2nd anniversary of Kucoin Futures. Looking back on our first day, from the initial launch in August 2019, Kucoin Futures has become one of the top 10 global Futures trading platforms today. Currently, we support contract products of 60+ cryptocurrencies. The transaction is available on both web and app to meet the different needs of traders. The total number of registered Kucoin Futures users has exceeded three million. These are the best proof to show us a way for better development in the future.
    1. Top futures trading platform KuCoin Futures was launched in August 2019. Since then, it has become one of the top 10 global Futures trading platforms. It supports contract products of over 60 cryptocurrencies and has more than 3 million registered users. KuCoin has established 19 local communities in North America, Europe, SEA, and other regions, providing users with 24/7 multi-language customer services and highly localized services. KuCoin Futures supports 13 languages to facilitate easy trade for global users. The exchange launched the industry’s first LITE version of the Futures platform to help many novice users easily experience Futures Trading. They have published various tutorials to lower the threshold of Futures trading and onboard users.
  13. Sep 2022
    1. The question looming over the book is not whether the future will be horrifying but whether there’s even the possibility of a future that isn’t.
    1. Fossil fuel combustion and growth in industrial and military power have gone hand with colonial conquest and control.In the 1990s, the idea of ‘contraction and convergence’, developed by the UK-based Global Commons Institute, gained a lot of traction in climate negotiations: ‘the Contraction and Convergence strategy consists of reducing overall emissions of greenhouse gases to a safe level (contraction), resulting from every country bringing its emissions per capita to a level which is equal for all countries (convergence)’.https://lnkd.in/eKq4vKep

      !- for : futures - very appropriate description of what appears to be the most sensible futures for civilization

    1. Now consider a hypothetical from science fiction. William Gibson’s two most recent books (The Peripheral and Agency) occur in two time periods — one in the near-future, the other in the far-future. Gibson’s far future is a techno-optimist paradise. It is filled with the future tech that today’s most wild-eyed futurists only dream about. Heads-up displays! Working robots that you can pilot with full telepresence! Functional seasteads! It is a world of abundance and wealth and fantastical artistry. But it is also a world that is notably… empty.

      Using Gibson’s Jackpot as a thought experiment for evaluating longtermism

    1. a big setback for the Republican-led states that have been suing the president over the metric, known as the social cost of carbon: a measure, in dollars, of how much damage results from emitting 1 ton of carbon dioxide. Being able to discuss the damage in terms of a precise dollar amount is important because it allows policymakers to show when the benefits of preventing global warming are greater than the costs. At some point it just becomes cheaper to switch to sustainable systems instead of coping with all the wildfires, floods, droughts, and heat waves that result from unsustainable systems.

      The idea of social cost of carbon (SCC) is fascinating: seemingly it aims to make the social costs of climate crisis objective by giving them a price tag. But then it becomes clear that the price tag depends on political / value judgements concerning the future, on which the idea of "discounting" depends.

  14. Jul 2022
    1. The internet, as a mediator of human interactions, is not a place, it is a time. It is the past. I mean this in a literal sense. The layers of artifice that mediate our online interactions mean that everything that comes to us online comes to us from the past—sometimes the very recent past, but the past nonetheless.
  15. Jun 2022
  16. Jan 2022
    1. Similarly, the democratic and participatory ideals associated with "interactive technologies are not the product of the technologies but of our social and cultural interactions with them. Recognizing this distinction reminds us of the need to struggle to define technology’s future directions through social and political actions, not simply through our design principles.

      Here Jenkins makes a key distinction in his emphasis that social and cultural interaction with technology is always more important than the technology itself.

  17. Nov 2021
    1. Critical to historical and ongoing carbon lock-in has been the pervasive failure in industrial, modern societies to imagine desirable ways of living that are neither wedded to the carbon economy nor dependent on narratives of progress reliant on perpetual economic growth (see Section 4.1). This scarcity of plausible imaginaries underpins many of the factors discussed in this article and persists for a number of interconnected reasons.

      It is critical to create stories and narratives of what an ecologically regenerative society living within planetary boundaries looks like at a local level that we are familiar with. We need enliven and enact futures studies and backcast to our current reality.

      Imaginative storytelling by the artists is critical at this time so that we can imagine and not be so afraid of what a transformed future looks like. Indeed, if we do it right, it can be FAR BETTER than our current unbalanced civilization.

  18. May 2021
  19. commonplace.knowledgefutures.org commonplace.knowledgefutures.org
    1. This almost appears to be a small, community-based commonplace book.

      And apparently published on PubPub.

      <small><cite class='h-cite via'> <span class='p-author h-card'>Samuel Klein</span> in Samuel Klein on Twitter: "@flancian See also https://t.co/KMmU7pDuQx" / Twitter (<time class='dt-published'>05/18/2021 19:30:42</time>)</cite></small>

  20. Jan 2021
    1. It was the language we conjured to bear the unbearable, to speak the present without the future.
  21. Oct 2020
  22. link-springer-com.uaccess.univie.ac.at link-springer-com.uaccess.univie.ac.at
    1. ites of heightened, future-oriented public debate aboutpossible futures

      tag

    2. ites of heightened, future-oriented public debate aboutpossible futures

      tag

  23. Dec 2019
  24. Oct 2018
    1. What would it look like to be constantly coded as different in a hyper-surveilled society — one where there was large-scale deployment of surveillant technologies with persistent “digital epidermalization” writing identity on to every body within the scope of its gaze?
  25. Aug 2018
    1. About

      Greetings! Potemkin here (one of the primary authors), just getting the hang of this annotation system. It's open-source. I like the idea of using annotation to facilitate deeper discussion, and perhaps as a more civilized and precise method of commenting or interacting with a website. I think this can facilitate virtual study groups and other remote collaborations. Exciting stuff!

      Please annotate, comment on blog posts that are open for comments, and let's try to build a positive, supportive, open ecosocialist community dedicated to creating Better Worlds and Brighter Futures!

  26. Jul 2018
    1. Ian O’Byrne, an assistant professor of education at the College of Charleston, wrote, “As an educator and researcher who studies these digital places and tools, I’m in front of screens a lot. I experiment and play in these spaces. I’m also writing and researching the impact of these screens and their impact on the well-being of others as it relates to children and adolescents. The problem in this is that one of the other hats that I wear is as a parent and husband. I am not only critical of my engagement and use of these digital technologies, but I’m also cautious/cognizant of their role as a mediator in my relationships with my children and significant other. These screens and digital tools play a strong role in our lives and interactions in and out of our home. In our home we have screens and devices all over the place. We have a video server that is ready to serve content to any one of these screens on demand. We have voice-assistive devices listening and waiting for our commands. I believe it is important as an educator and researcher to play with and examine how these devices are playing a role in our lives, so I can bring this work to others. Even with these opportunities, I’m still struck by times when technology seems too intrusive. This is plainly evident when I’m sitting with my family and watching a television show together, and I’m gazing off into my device reading my RSS feed for the day. Previously I would enjoy watching the funniest home videos and laughing together. Now, I am distant. The first thing in the morning when I’m driving my kids in to school and stop at a red light, previously I would enjoy the time to stop, listen to the radio, look at the clouds or bumper stickers on cars around me. Now, I pull out the phone to see if I received a notification in the last 20 minutes. When I call out for the voice-activated device in my home to play some music or ask a question, my request is quickly echoed by my 2-year-old who is just learning to talk. She is echoing these conversations I’m having with an artificial intelligence. I’m trying to weigh this all out in my mind and figure what it means for us personally. The professional understanding may come later.”
    1. Soon we might add robots to this list. While our fanciful desert scene of robots teaching each other how to defuse bombs lies in the distant future, robots are beginning to learn socially. If one day robots start to develop and share knowledge independently of humans, might that be the seed for robot culture?
    1. The forces that Berners-Lee unleashed nearly three decades ago are accelerating, moving in ways no one can fully predict. And now, as half the world joins the Web, we are at a societal inflection point: Are we headed toward an Orwellian future where a handful of corporations monitor and control our lives? Or are we on the verge of creating a better version of society online, one where the free flow of ideas and information helps cure disease, expose corruption, reverse injustices?
    1. Sure, education is linked to the workplace. Students grow up to be workers, and the federal government has a role in ensuring states are providing a quality education, especially in districts with many black and brown children. However, to collapse education and labor into a single agency is to also reduce education’s role in developing full human beings. Students are more than widget makers for the economy. And black students, whose ancestors’ bodies were once reduced to instruments of labor in slavery, have the most to lose from a shortsighted, politically-driven merger of the U.S. education and labor departments.
  27. Jul 2016
    1. Colleges using data analytics have to make sure their students have “open futures” — that their programs create educational opportunities, not the other way around.

      Another side to Open Education: open opportunities. While they still mean “opportunities for success in the current system”, it’s compatible with a view of student success which goes beyond the current system.