[liberationtech] Terry Winograd and Evgeny Morozov

[Reed Black]

On Mon, Jul 1, 2013 at 2:57 PM, David Johnson <david at bostonreview.net> wrote:
> Dear all,
>
> I highly recommend this really excellent interview between Terry Winograd
> and Evgeny Morozov about his new book, To Save Everything, Click Here ...
>
> http://www.bostonreview.net/books-ideas/whats-wrong-technological-fixes

There is a flock of writers whose basic message seems to be "things
are always more complicated than you think; stop looking for unifying
principles for they will never fit perfectly." Unfortunately I haven't
seen any of these authors offer tenable solutions, only helplessness
in the face of chaos.

I'm reminded of the joke about the mathematician and the engineer.
Each was told he could advance half-way across the room to a beautiful
woman, and he could repeat the process as many times as he liked. The
mathematician, being familiar with Zeno's paradox, knew that no matter
how many times he advanced toward the woman... he would never reach
her. And so the mathematician turned away with despair.

The engineer got right to it, knowing that he could get close enough
for all practical purposes.


One should want that mathematician in government, and that engineer
offering optional services.