I haven’t upgraded my IPhone to iOS10. Yet. And possibly, as a result of that, my Overcast-app where I listen to podcasts, has stopped to connect to the Internet, so I am not receiving the latest shows of the podcasts I enjoy listening to. I haven’t really made any real effort to make it work again, yet. I will. But in the meantime, I am greatly enjoying relistening to favorite episodes of mine, amongst them a handful of On Being shows that are simply outstanding.
One of those show’s is the sit-down Krista Tippett had with Anil Dash, on the moral reckoning of technology.
I’d never heard of Anil before I listened to this episode in January (and I revel in the unedited version rather than the edited one!) – and I haven’t researched him since either. But what I have done, is listen to this show, many times since. And given my recent insight, that I believe many people to be clueless to the fact that we a r e in a position to shape the future, our future, it is n o t something that “just happens”, this is a show I would recommend to each and every one out there.
To anyone who’s ever wondered about what kind of society technology will create. Will it be like the dystopian sci-fi movies depict it?
To anyone who’s wondered about the jobs that will be disappearing once self-driving cars take to the roads in full force. What will all the drivers of the world do then?
To anyone who’s ever wondered about the onslaught of online hatred and vitriole, and why nothing is being done about it, because sure it can be managed better than it is (not) today?
“I have these tools, and they’re novel now, and they will be boring very soon. And so, en route to them being boring, how can I be sure that they are just?”
That’s the ask Anil has for the tech industry – and really – for all of us. Because even though I am not making these applications, I am using them. And I have several choices to make: Should I use this or not? What would happen is everyone does? Will it be beneficial in the long run? Why should I use it? And how? How can I use it, in a manner that is serving me and mankind and planet earth as a whole? And if it isn’t serving – am I owning up to that fact, and taking my responsibility to not use it?
How can we – together – be sure that we are acting in a manner of being just?
In 2015 I ran a series on herothecoach.com with Sunday postings of podcasts to my liking. In 2017 I will be re-posting some of those blog posts, mixing them up with new podcast recommendations, such as this one.