I became a reader in my pre-teens when I discovered D&D and The Hobbit. After that I read as much fantasy as I Could find and everything I could get ahold of from TSR (The Original creators of D&D). In between Conan and hobbits I worked in computer programming magazines and books. Later I worked in Libraries both in Junior high and College; then took a degree in History despite my love of computers, mostly because I loved reading history and wanted to know what really happened. I wasn't disappointed...well I was, but I learned the real story of America and for that I consider myself lucky, if some what disillusioned.
After earning my history degree, I went deeply back into computers. After all, there were jobs and I was already a passable developer! A lto of this was inspired by my conclusion that since the lessons of history are largely ignored, I might as well focus on the future.
A naively optimistic embrace the "Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow", served up to me straight from Disney's Tomorrowland. Young and somehow sill optimistic, I really wanted to help usher in this great future right now! I also never shook the computer bug, And then the internet happened!
After fully becoming a disciple of tech my reading morphed to the concrete. Totally dominated by computer learning and new technology with the occasional sci-fi when I needed a mental work break. This at least led me to Cory Doctorow, and back to a critical path of accessing the world starting with my own professional industry.
Over the years I've really missed my deeper reading in the realm of philosophy and ideas. In my history major I focused on the study of intellectualism, for crying out loud! Those long years of consuming mostly tech had started resulted in the feeling that part of my brain atrophied while another part grew. I've been needing balance.
During the recent holiday season, I settled in to indulge in some fun reading and to my surprise it unlocked the floodgates! That single book of fiction led to crave reading again and at just the right time I stumbled across Binding Chaos by Heather Marsh, a unique and eye opening examination of what our world as become and how we can leverage Stigmergy to act to improve this world for everyone. Motivated to understand the world as it is and maybe provide some useful input one day, I'm now digging deeply into my own niche of research centered around philosophy and technology merging both of my passions.
I have quickly filled up my reading list and settled on using 2 different reading trackers, Bookwyrm and Storygraph, and building long reading lists. More on those in another post though less I digress! Give me a follow on Bookwyrm if you like and say hi!
After a lifetime in tech, I have strong opinions on the field that I championed all my adult life and had a small hand in encompassing all of our lives (sorry, some regrets on that). Some of my new found energy in reading is focused on deriving a better understanding what impact the tech industry has on society and how to curb the inevitable negative impacts the we have all experienced. From generative AI to social media or politics I want to sharpen my views and allow my learning to guide me in my own personal FOSS projects.
Tech was meant to facilitate a better life for all humans not tech oligarchs (which are debatably human) and their VC facilitators. Those of us in Tech need to hark back to Tron Legacy, and recall not just the truly inspired score from Daft Punk but Tron's own revelation. We "Fight For the Users".
