2 Matching Annotations
  1. Oct 2020
    1. but rituals aren't about knowledge at all— they're about practice. You must develop a daily mantra, a spell, a routine, whatever you want to call it, and then perform it religiously.

      i disagree that this is about the rituals not being visible enough. We lack the awe for our work because most of it is in service to ill masters, building consumerized systems that mechanize & automate society, versus being a part of something greater.

      we need to struggle for Human Computer Symbiosis. that requires bolder top down approaches to computing than the application can afford us. yet here we are, building apps and far off clouds that may help us, but with which humans will never be an equal much less dominant partner. human will must be respected.

      once we right our cause, the awe & energy of our work will restore.

    2. And so, engineers are faced with two realities. One reality is the atmosphere of new technology, its incredible power to transform the human condition, the joy of the art of doing science and engineering, the trials of the creative process, the romance of the frontier. The other reality is the frustration and drudgery of operating in a world of corporate politics, bureaucracy, envy and greed— a world so depressing, that many people quit in frustration, never to come back.

      alas most technology itself is more Prescriptive & mechanistic than it is Holistic & creative. most users live in an easy to use commercialized mechanized environment, their entire lives. they are afforded some capabilities to be creative, but the regime of computing at large is oppressive & controlling, is increasingly un-personal, far away, in some cloud we cannot see or control.

      techies have let computing become a bad part of reality. and in my mind, its because not enough of us have opted to use it personally, in personal manners, to set up forward bases for a more liberated computing experience, first for ourselves, for the alpha geeks, & to have that radical departure into optimism light the way for others, to get glimpses of what better ways might be.

      we must live the better existence ourselves, techies.