Favoriting Techtonic with Mark Hurst: Playlist from June 11, 2018 Favoriting

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Conversations with creators and thinkers who are charting the way forward in a tech-saturated society. Tech, community, video games, and whatever else is next.

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Favoriting June 11, 2018: Brett Frischmann, co-author, "Re-Engineering Humanity"

Listen to this show: Pop-up listen Pop-up player!



This week: Brett Frischmann, co-author (with Evan Selinger) of the new book Re-Engineering Humanity.

Pointers to Brett's work:

@BrettFrischmann on Twitter

Brett's page at Villanova, where he is professor in law, business, and economics

Book site for Re-Engineering Humanity - also on Indiebound

Recent tech news:

"I'll call the police," say new techie scooters in Oakland if you touch them without paying.

Net neutrality expired today (good explainer from WaPo)

"Zuckerberg lied to Congress," says David Carroll, professor at Parsons. My suggestion is that we just charge them the $3.4 trillion they owe for violating the consent decree (see Jason Kint's calculation), liquidate the company, and use the proceeds to build a citizen-owned, non-addictive, democracy-respectful social network."

• Speaking of which, project I need to look into: Platform.coop, supporting platform co-ops.

Big Tech's re-engineering of humanity is not inevitable. So don't give up. Mar Hicks writes, "Technofatalism isn't logical; it's a highly destructive failure of imagination & unwillingness to resist the status quo. It's the sullen twin of technophilia. Both assume tech can & will determine society. It's not that simple. We have a fighting chance. But we have to fight."

Brilliant, spot-on video about Facebook from The Daily Show, imagining Facebook as a bar.

Venture capitalist Fred Wilson has unplugged his Alexa. "If anyone in our house is uncomfortable with devices listening to our conversations, I don’t want to subject them to that. . . This raises a broader question about these voice devices which is whether the value they offer outweighs the creepiness they create in the home. For us, the answer has been a resounding no."



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Artist Track Album Comments Images Approx. start time
  Turning humans into robots: Brett Frischmann, talks about his new book "Re-Engineering Humanity," co-authored with Evan Selinger.
Tomaš Dvořák  Game Boy Tune   Favoriting Machinarium Soundtrack   
Favoriting
 
  Mark's intro      
Favoriting
 
  Interview with Brett Frischmann      
Favoriting
0:15:49 (Pop-up)
  Your calls and comments 201-209-9368      
Favoriting
0:38:58 (Pop-up)
Xordox  Diamonds   Favoriting Neospection  this song on bandcamp 
Favoriting
0:54:22 (Pop-up)


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Listener comments!

Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:01pm
listener james from westwood:

Evening, Mark and all!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:01pm
Bas NL:

Hi Mark! Hi all!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:01pm
Rich in Washington:

Hello, Techtonicites!
  6:01pm
Warren in Australia:

All ears.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:03pm
Buffalo's Tom:

Hello, everyone!
  6:03pm
melinda:

Howdy Techtons
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:04pm
dale:

i'm having a gin and techtonic as we speak.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:04pm
ultradamno:

Panicky Scooters, would be a good band name.
Avatar 6:05pm
Jeff Moore:

Fuck you, douchebag scooter.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:05pm
dale:

i'd call a johnnycab instead.
Avatar 6:06pm
Carmichael:

I would astral project instead.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:06pm
ultradamno:

Would you get charged with scooter molesting?
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:06pm
Michael 98145:

Scooter Anxiety Disorder
Avatar 6:07pm
Carmichael:

What if you're just sniffing?
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:07pm
dale:

www.youtube.com...
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:07pm
Rich in Washington:

there was just a story up here in the Portland area about those scooter companies coming up here, with condo-commandos being able to dump the scooters willy nilly.
I wonder if the voice thing is also to deter people from picking them up and dumping them in the streets, as I have heard people say they will do if they, like in SF, find them blocking doors, etc.
Avatar 6:09pm
Jeff Moore:

Fuck you, douchebag comically large Reese's coffee cup wielding telecom shill.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:09pm
Ken From Hyde Park:

Happy Techtonicities, all!
Avatar 6:09pm
Jeff Moore:

"Shared"
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:11pm
northguineahills:

Gamera! Gamera!
Gamera is really neat!
Gamera is filled with meat!
We've been eating Gamera!
  6:12pm
matt:

twitter, facebook, tumblr, Instagram and linkedin are all bored (and boring) white people?
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:12pm
northguineahills:

(apropos of nothing)
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:13pm
northguineahills:

Leaving work at a sane hour, catcha near the end at home!
  6:14pm
melinda:

@Jeff I like your style
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:16pm
ultradamno:

I don't know but if it still does it but Comcast/Xfinity's Twitter-bot was real aggressive about claiming the company was in favor of net neutrality (including contradicting posts pointing out the lie of it) while they lobbied against it.
  6:18pm
melinda:

The creepy factor is huge, I draw the line there.
Avatar 6:18pm
Jeff Moore:

"What are you doing to do with yours?"

I've never had one, because they're an obviously bad idea.
Avatar 6:19pm
geezerette:

Sales resistance is a valuable skill.
Avatar 6:20pm
herb.nyc:

Those Alexa devices, ugh. the wnyc people often say "tell yr speaker ..." to preface an ad. Not ad, product placement.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:21pm
listener james from westwood:

ngh bringing the mst!
  6:21pm
Johnzon:

Listening to the show on the bus Heading back to Detroit from a protest in Lansing
https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:21pm
Buffalo's Tom:

I'm not yet that lazy wherein I need to be able to bark orders at an ever-listening presence to get through the day.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:22pm
ultradamno:

Bluetooth speakers like Riva is as close as I get. The appeal of asking a virtual personality to basically search google for me mystifies me.
Avatar 6:23pm
geezerette:

Teach your children to read paper maps. It's empowering and fun.
  6:25pm
WebHamster Henry:

Are others hearing the left channel? I’m not.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:25pm
Rich in Washington:

I hear both channels.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:26pm
Rich in Washington:

I'm listening on a mixer with a pan pot and it sounds about equal in both channels.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:26pm
Mark Hurst:

Hi everyone! Thanks for the comments. WHHenry, I hear both channels here in the studio.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:28pm
Rich in Washington:

one of the fun things about texting people in the same room, party, event, etc., is you can talk in a manner where whispering would be necessary, but polite.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:29pm
Rich in Washington:

impolite, I meant.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:29pm
ultradamno:

Eye contact, vocal tone, gesturing, little things like that
  6:29pm
melinda:

Texting people in the same room is weird.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:30pm
Mark Hurst:

Rich - to be provocative - how did people manage to navigate dicey social situations for 1000s of years before texting?
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:32pm
Tommy in Neversink:

NO ..it IS dehumanizing to be texting with your girlfriend in the same room..in fact , it's bizarre
Avatar 6:32pm
geezerette:

@Ultradamno: Exactly, all the natural ways in which we've evolved to "read" each other.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:32pm
Michael 98145:

sort of like passing notes in class. in an empty classroom.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:33pm
Ken From Hyde Park:

ImI just going to wait for the chip they plant in your brain. Not going to sit there barking out orders to a speaker like a sucker!
Avatar 6:34pm
geezerette:

Comply or leave.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:34pm
Mark Hurst:

Frischmann's book makes a strong case that doing these little things, "what does it matter?" over time normalizes the behavior of just doing whatever the tech cos want.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:35pm
Michael 98145:

i used to feel weird on the bus to -not- be staring at my phone screen
  6:36pm
Johnzon:

I'm with you Ken...
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:37pm
Rich in Washington:

MH: For some reason, I am picturing European aristocrats using their folding fans to cover their mouths as they make fun of their host, guests, etc.
Avatar 6:37pm
Jeff Moore:

When you discuss Terms and Conditions (accepting thereof without reading) it's impossible not to think of the South Park HumancentiPad episode:

en.wikipedia.org...
Avatar 6:37pm
geezerette:

Anyone else remember H.G. Wells "The Time Machine"? The fate of people in the future? Their total, thoughtless passivity? They were actually cattle.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:37pm
Mark Hurst:

Yes - and with monocles!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:38pm
Rich in Washington:

I've been, as an exercise, NOT staring at my phone when in a public place, business, etc., while waiting for something. It's really weird. I imagine people wonder why I am staring off into space, acknowledging people's presence, etc.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:39pm
Michael 98145:

@gz'ette, and they were tasty!
Avatar 6:40pm
geezerette:

ha! Michael!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:41pm
Michael 98145:

sadly, my career choice has led me to identify with the Morlocks
  6:42pm
melinda:

I can sort of see texting as a way to avoid being heard, but the person in question here didn't offer that as an explanation, they didn't really know why they were doing it.
  6:42pm
Dr. Peter:

Great interview
Avatar 6:43pm
geezerette:

Most of us would, if they knew what those were.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:43pm
ultradamno:

I would like to propose supermarkets become a tech free zone. When you are in the dairy aisle, buy some cheese or move on, stop milling about staring at your devices, I have things to do!
  6:43pm
JakeGould:

A good name for a hair salon near a college campus would be “Terms and Conditioners.”

Just increased the noise ratio! *rimshot* *drunk shouting me down in the back* *howls* *howls* *homeless person shouting* *howls*
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:43pm
Buffalo's Tom:

I love the BBC for those reasons among others.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:44pm
listener james from westwood:

Amazing DIY WFMU-related constructions:
• Archives
• Free Music Archive
• Playlists & message board
• Mobile app
• Audience Engine
• Irwin's triple-walled environment tank
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:45pm
Michael 98145:

what listener james just said
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:46pm
Phil with the phone:

@JakeGould What about Perms and Conditioners
  6:46pm
JakeGould:

@Phil: COLLEGES HAVE TERMS!!!
Avatar 6:47pm
geezerette:

My worst fear concerning today's topic is that imagination is beginning to atrophy, by design.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:47pm
chris:

hi, Mark and folks. great thought provoking questions tonight.
  6:48pm
JakeGould:

@geezerette: But aha! There is the rub… The one thing all pundits agree on is abstract thought and ideas will be more and more valued even with AI. So there you go.
Avatar 6:48pm
Listener John from NJ:

NOTE RE: Cellphone use:"Ten percent of people admit to checking their phones during sex, according to a study released from SureCall, a manufacturer of cellular signal boosters." www.wxyz.com...
  6:48pm
JakeGould:

@ListenerJamesFromWestwood: What about Daddy Garbage’s lava lamp collection?
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:49pm
chris:

being human is much of the time in conflict with technology. where humans are explicitly imperfect, technology is usually desired to be the opposite. however, i would hate to live in a world where tech didn't exist to let us know what Hawkins was thinking.
  6:49pm
hoeg:

Hi Mark and people, podcast listener checking in live for a change.
I use my sansa clip, it makes sound and doesn't distract me with anything else ;-)
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:49pm
listener james from westwood:

Chip shmip. Anyone who's encountered some semi-literate MAGA-chud friend of a friend bloviating on your FB posts knows the unmoderated brain-to-FB connection is already working at damn near supralight speed.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:49pm
Michael 98145:

PK Dick was a prophet
Avatar 6:49pm
geezerette:

Ha ha ha! @Mark! :D
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:50pm
chris:

as is your neighbor to the north, Bill Gibson, Michael.
  6:50pm
Johnzon:

socialism. A homeless man once described a socialist to me as someone who wants what is best for the largest number of people. I'm not talking about the various versions of socialism that have failed or succeeded to varying degrees in the past, but a democratic modern version designed by and for the people. Put technology to work for all people, not the few. We can avert ecological disaster and lift our species out of poverty etc. but it will take a revolution because those in power, who control the technology, will not give up their power easily.
  6:51pm
melinda:

I like being the weird one staring into space.
  6:51pm
JakeGould:

Here is anecdote about the NYC subway… I wanted to watch a TV show on my iPhone but had no headphones. I looked around and realized the subway car was mostly empty and most people had headphones on… SO IF I JUST PLAYED THE TV SHOW THROUGH THE SPEAKER WHO CARES THEY ARE NOT LISTENING TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD!!!
Avatar 6:51pm
geezerette:

@Jake, by the minority, I fear.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:51pm
Buffalo's Tom:

Hey Mark, have you ever looked into Off the Hook on WBAI yet? I think someone mentioned it here before and I concur it's really good. And their (2600's) fun conference in NYC is next month!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:52pm
Michael 98145:

our post-scarcity world appears to be intent on squeezing all wealth to the top.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:52pm
Tommy in Neversink:

I don't don't have an internet phone..just basic cell
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:52pm
Rich in Washington:

We need to usher boredom back into our lives, if even for a moment.
Boredom has made me do some of the best, craziest stuff ever.
I think boredom is essential to creativity.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:52pm
common:

look at a tree!
  6:53pm
melinda:

You do become aware of how unaware everyone else is.
  6:53pm
WebHamster Henry:

I’m a dedicated cloud watcher!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:53pm
chris:

here, here, Rich!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:53pm
Tommy in Neversink:

WOW.. I got an on air read
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:54pm
Rich in Washington:

@Melinda: aliens would have no trouble invading us. No one would notice it happening.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:54pm
Rich in Washington:

or maybe it already happened...
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:54pm
Michael 98145:

we are Borg
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:55pm
Guido from Cologne:

I'm considering getting back to paper maps.
  6:55pm
Warren in Australia:

Avoid tech neck
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:55pm
chris:

have i shared this story: google maps has my address wrong (wrong city, even), so i wrote them to tell them this, and they responded they were right. hahahahhaaha!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:55pm
Tome:

..... they smell better
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:55pm
northguineahills:

I can't stick to looking at my phone in public. I'm a space cadet, my head is in the clouds, I also have no idea what's going around me. (although I make a mental photo (and recording) of my surroundings in my brain every few minutes.)

cartographer here, I have plenty of paper maps....
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:56pm
Buffalo's Tom:

Rich, in talking to some of my co-workers lately I think it might be the latter.
  6:56pm
JakeGould:

There was some study about Venmo and how it has ruined sharing meals. Because venmo does exact math, instead of people saying, “Just give me $10 and we’re good.” But Venmo will do EXACT MATH so it’s an IOU like, “Please pay me $12.67.”
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:56pm
Tommy in Neversink:

Aliens would probably have advanced texting abilities and could takeover all texting posing as the government and tell everybody those aren't aliens they are seeing
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:56pm
ultradamno:

Are Siri users just people who grew up with a fantasy of having a little robot buddy like in Lost In Space?
  6:56pm
L. Maybud:

Yes, please do a show about mapping data!
  6:57pm
WebHamster Henry:

I like Google Earth- mostly to visit deserts and Siberian coastlines.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:57pm
northguineahills:

Most Google Maps data is created via shareware, most is created from volunteers who fill in the details around the world.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:57pm
Rich in Washington:

Is it like Czech neck, which you get from doing the made-up drug Cake (Chris Morris fans will get it).
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:57pm
Buffalo's Tom:

I love Jeff Hackworthy's You Might Be a Techneck bit.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:57pm
chris:

without looking at trees, Martin Buber would not have written, I and Thou.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:58pm
Tommy in Neversink:

I love Google man on the street ....sorry
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:58pm
Rich in Washington:

Thanks, Mark! my synapses just doubled!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:58pm
northguineahills:

I've been to every square inch of Google Earth. I pretty much have half of it memorized.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:58pm
listener james from westwood:

I MISS LIZ BERG!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:58pm
northguineahills:

I never use GPS. I already have the maps memorized.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:59pm
chris:

RDP!!!!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:59pm
northguineahills:

what james said...
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:59pm
Michael 98145:

i found this world thanks to Liz B podcasts
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:59pm
ultradamno:

Thirllwel!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 7:00pm
chris:

bleep bloop, Mark and all.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 7:01pm
Michael 98145:

does anyone know why it's "hang up" ...?

heh :)
  7:02pm
WebHamster Henry:

Update: my earbuds are busted
  7:02pm
WebHamster Henry:

Hear you next week, maybe in stereo.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 7:03pm
Michael 98145:

danged technology
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