December 17, 2012 at 10:21 pm
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Holidays and other Social Technologies
Bill Nicolich: www.SQLFave.com.
Daily tweet of what's new and interesting: AppendNow
December 18, 2012 at 3:30 am
Non video games are still extremely popular - I've funded a few projects on Kick starter and I've seen several board games (dungeons and dragon types of things) that have been massively successful.
Its definitely good to get out and about from your comfort zone every now and then. You may be just getting your opinions reinforced from a selected group of individuals who may not be representative of everyone.
SQL Central might be a case in point.
cloudydatablog.net
December 18, 2012 at 6:47 am
Thanks for a very thought-provoking piece. I was once an Anthropology major and many things you said about a wider definition of cultural events as technologies resonated strongly with me.
For me, I'm going to go in the middle where values and things tend to collide...
In chaos theory, all the mathematically interesting things happen on the razor thin line between two discrete and different sets.
Sigerson
"No pressure, no diamonds." - Thomas Carlyle
December 18, 2012 at 6:50 am
I enjoy a good night of dominoes. That would be frowned upon in the workplace. We do have decorations up.
December 18, 2012 at 7:34 am
So, It's others that have put forward the notion that there are some bad consequences of computer tech sort of taking over the broad definition of technology.
Neil Postman thinks it leads to diminished appreciation for what a caring teacher brings to a classroom - or lack of scrutiny about dubious innovations in medicine.
One consequence that I'm exploring here a little is that techies themselves can become less-well-rounded and then fail at team-based design and loose voice within the wider business culture.
It's Alistair Cockburn that suggests there are three moves in team-based design: invent, decide, communicate.
Techies can get out of whack if they get too narrowly focused on the technical details of invent - hoping that this will solve the various problems associated with a project.
Bill Nicolich: www.SQLFave.com.
Daily tweet of what's new and interesting: AppendNow
December 18, 2012 at 7:36 am
Forget board games, I want great graphics in my games today. Video games in todays technology are absolutely awesome!:-D
"Technology is a weird thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other. ...:-D"
December 18, 2012 at 7:52 am
Bill Nicolich (12/18/2012)
One consequence that I'm exploring here a little is that techies themselves can become less-well-rounded and then fail at team-based design and loose voice within the wider business culture.It's Alistair Cockburn that suggests there are three moves in team-based design: invent, decide, communicate.
Techies can get out of whack if they get too narrowly focused on the technical details of invent - hoping that this will solve the various problems associated with a project.
I get what you're saying about having an awareness of other aspects of one's culture besides work-related issues. However, I've seen too many managers who will not yield any decision-making power and who communicate downward yet don't 'listen' upward. This leaves many of us with 'invent' as our only way to contribute to the team goal.
Don't get me wrong, I like team-building exercises (preferably beer and pizza!) and I'd rather work as part of a team. I'm just saying that the team concept can be implemented with varying degrees of success depending on the manager's skill at doing it.
Sigerson
"No pressure, no diamonds." - Thomas Carlyle
December 18, 2012 at 8:00 am
December 18, 2012 at 8:01 am
Carse's concept of looking at life as a game isn't anything new. It's been a key part of Scientology, for example, since the early 1950s. There's actually nothing in his book that couldn't be read in or derived from the book Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought (http://www.amazon.com/Scientology-Fundamentals-L-Ron-Hubbard/dp/1403144206/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1355842358&sr=1-1&keywords=fundamentals+of+thought).
The concept of technology being broader in scope than electronics/computers is actually inherent in the word itself. It comes from Greek, teckne (skill/art), and logia (to speak, in the sense of speaking to teach or study), and is thus simply the study of skill or art in any field.
There was a time when writing (for example) was high-tech, and some people didn't really like or trust the idea. Socrates, for example, feared that learning to read and write would ruin young men's ability to memorize vast amounts of data. He was right that it does that, but most societies have found the trade-off to be more positive than negative, overall.
- Gus "GSquared", RSVP, OODA, MAP, NMVP, FAQ, SAT, SQL, DNA, RNA, UOI, IOU, AM, PM, AD, BC, BCE, USA, UN, CF, ROFL, LOL, ETC
Property of The Thread
"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everyone agrees it's old enough to know better." - Anon
December 18, 2012 at 8:49 am
About the area in the middle where you can "integrate the values and then go from antithesis to synthesis": I like to view it as a Mandelbrot set. The vast majority of the values are either in the set or not. On the edges, however, you have infinite complexity. It is on the edges where all of the interesting things occur.
December 18, 2012 at 11:06 am
GSquared (12/18/2012)
Carse's concept of looking at life as a game isn't anything new. It's been a key part of Scientology.
Thanks for the book citation. I'll have to look and see what's there. Carse has something interesting with finite versus infinite games - however awkwardly said.
The concept of technology being broader in scope than electronics/computers is actually inherent in the word itself.
True. Postman points this out - and then looks at what the word has come to mean in society today. What people don't think to include is language, teachers, culture or questions. Those things disappear from attention unless someone calls attention to them and sort of inrich the discussion by bringing them up.
Bill Nicolich: www.SQLFave.com.
Daily tweet of what's new and interesting: AppendNow
December 18, 2012 at 11:15 am
Bill Nicolich (12/18/2012)
GSquared (12/18/2012)
Carse's concept of looking at life as a game isn't anything new. It's been a key part of Scientology.Thanks for the book citation. I'll have to look and see what's there. Carse has something interesting with finite versus infinite games - however awkwardly said.
The concept of technology being broader in scope than electronics/computers is actually inherent in the word itself.
True. Postman points this out - and then looks at what the word has come to mean in society today. What people don't think to include is language, teachers, culture or questions. Those things disappear from attention unless someone calls attention to them and sort of inrich the discussion by bringing them up.
I guess I'm so used to looking at a broad scope that it never occurs to me that the scope could be narrowed.
I carry a pocket-knife. Humanity's first invention (as opposed to discovery), and still one of the most useful pieces of technology ever. And I think of it that way. I guess that probably says something about me. Not sure what, or if it's good/bad/indifferent.
- Gus "GSquared", RSVP, OODA, MAP, NMVP, FAQ, SAT, SQL, DNA, RNA, UOI, IOU, AM, PM, AD, BC, BCE, USA, UN, CF, ROFL, LOL, ETC
Property of The Thread
"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everyone agrees it's old enough to know better." - Anon
December 18, 2012 at 11:37 am
I don't see why we can't talk about our social and behavioral responses to technological advances without having to redefine perfectly functional words like the word "technology" itself. Is it really that hard to discuss relationships between areas of interest and how they combine or not without doing this word redefinition?
December 18, 2012 at 11:40 am
patrickmcginnis59 (12/18/2012)
I don't see why we can't talk about our social and behavioral responses to technological advances without having to redefine perfectly functional words like the word "technology" itself. Is it really that hard to discuss relationships between areas of interest and how they combine or not without doing this word redefinition?
I missed where we redefined that word.
- Gus "GSquared", RSVP, OODA, MAP, NMVP, FAQ, SAT, SQL, DNA, RNA, UOI, IOU, AM, PM, AD, BC, BCE, USA, UN, CF, ROFL, LOL, ETC
Property of The Thread
"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everyone agrees it's old enough to know better." - Anon
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