A Rant About “Technology” (2005)

5 hours ago

Le Guin rejects the claim that her science fiction avoids technology because she writes 'soft' SF.
She argues that all genuine science fiction inherently includes technology, even if focused on minds, societies, or cultures.
Technology is defined as 'the active human interface with the material world,' encompassing basic tools and systems, not just advanced gadgets.
The word 'technology' is often misused to only refer to complex, recent innovations, while ignoring simpler but equally technological objects like matches or paper.
Le Guin suggests readers ask if they know how to make an object to appreciate its technological sophistication.
She distinguishes her work as 'easy science fiction' with technology hidden inside, like bones versus an exoskeleton.

Choosing boring technology reduces unknown unknowns and long-term maintenance burdens.
Technology maintenance costs are high, and legacy systems are difficult to replace.
Practices (e.g., test && commit || revert) are easier to adopt and abandon than technology.

Innovation and invention proceed slowly; the world took 20 years to invent a decent can opener.
Most recent innovation is 'zeroth order'—rearranging existing technologies (e.g., Uber, Airbnb) without inventing anything new.
First-order innovation (e.g., Google) requires inventing something that isn't possible with current technology.

The author finds it uncomfortable when people view them as exceptionally smart due to their work on compilers and build systems.
Learning computing skills comes from experimentation and hard work, not innate magic; others can learn too.
Everyone has their own specialization, and not knowing computer internals doesn't make someone dumb.

NLNOG is a community of Dutch network operators that hosts events with talks on both technology and human topics like toxic environments, autism in IT, and digital legacies.
The speaker presented the fourth part of a work trilogy, focusing on evaluating and dealing with new technologies and change.
New technologies can be hype, nonsense, or genuinely useful; avoid blindly following trends or stagnating with outdated tech.

The article critiques the idea that AI is creating entirely new professions by drawing parallels between modern luxury escorts in Silicon Valley and historical figures like Japanese geishas and French courtesans.
It argues that underlying human motives, such as the desire for attention, conversation, intellectual companionship, and status, remain constant, even as technology and cultural contexts evolve.
AI is framed not as a creator of new markets but as a modern explanation for an old pattern, where each generation simply uses new language to describe similar societal needs.

Choosing boring technology reduces unknown unknowns and long-term maintenance burdens.
Technology maintenance costs are high, and legacy systems are difficult to replace.
Practices (e.g., test && commit || revert) are easier to adopt and abandon than technology.

Innovation and invention proceed slowly; the world took 20 years to invent a decent can opener.
Most recent innovation is 'zeroth order'—rearranging existing technologies (e.g., Uber, Airbnb) without inventing anything new.
First-order innovation (e.g., Google) requires inventing something that isn't possible with current technology.

The author finds it uncomfortable when people view them as exceptionally smart due to their work on compilers and build systems.
Learning computing skills comes from experimentation and hard work, not innate magic; others can learn too.
Everyone has their own specialization, and not knowing computer internals doesn't make someone dumb.

NLNOG is a community of Dutch network operators that hosts events with talks on both technology and human topics like toxic environments, autism in IT, and digital legacies.
The speaker presented the fourth part of a work trilogy, focusing on evaluating and dealing with new technologies and change.
New technologies can be hype, nonsense, or genuinely useful; avoid blindly following trends or stagnating with outdated tech.

The article critiques the idea that AI is creating entirely new professions by drawing parallels between modern luxury escorts in Silicon Valley and historical figures like Japanese geishas and French courtesans.
It argues that underlying human motives, such as the desire for attention, conversation, intellectual companionship, and status, remain constant, even as technology and cultural contexts evolve.
AI is framed not as a creator of new markets but as a modern explanation for an old pattern, where each generation simply uses new language to describe similar societal needs.

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