September 15, 2006

2 Letters 2B Human

I've used this term "humanist technologist" to describe what I do. I know that I am neither the first nor the last. I guess a year ago I was wondering on this note. And perhaps today I have an answer for now.

While participating in a PhD oral examination here at the Media Lab for wearable fashion designer Amanda Parkes, the predicament of the technologist became clear to me. The default motto of the technologist is that more technology is better. This is something extremely important for the world. Technologists create progress. Progress is about things happening. We wouldn't want a world where nothing happened at all.

I do, because I can.   technologist
I do, because I care.   humanist

With just the switch of one letter for two (n to re), technology can become humanized. I hope that care prevails over can for the next few years while we weather the utter complexity of the systems that surround us.

Posted by maeda at September 15, 2006 06:32 PM
> Life | Posted at 06:32 PM

Thoughts On Simplicity   By John Maeda