How can we think about digital communication, let alone silence? Is it possible? Michael Sacasas is back to chat about a few of his last newsletter posts: the nature of silence, attention not as a resource, on hope vs. expectations, the arms race of escalation, manufactured needs, askesis or discipline, the commons vs. the public, and trustlessness and codes of law. (Recorded in July 2021) Transcript: https://hopeinsource.com/silence.Previous: https://hopeinsource.com/limits, https://hopeinsource.com/convivialMichael: https://twitter.com/LMsacasasHenry: https://twitter.com/left_padSections: [00:00] Impossible Silences [07:03] Silence as a Commons [15:10] Attending with the Body [23:27] Hope vs. Expectation [25:48] Vendor Lock-in [29:15] Rat Race or Arms Race? [32:33] What in Fact Do We Need? [36:33] Askesis of Perception [41:28] Isn't Just Something You Can Code into a Program [43:29] The Commons vs The Public [55:40] Trustlessness and Codes of Law ★ Support this podcast ★

Hope in Source

Attending to Silence

Why read Ivan Illich today? What does the thought of this radical historian have to bear on our modern tech world? In this episode, Madhu Suri Prakash and Dana L. Stuchul of Penn State University interview Michael Sacasas on his work as being a sort of bridge or interlocutor of Illich's thoughts. They talk about schooling and inequality in COVID, ways of thinking about technology, a life of planning vs. gift, convivial tools, redemption of work, and more. (Recorded in December 2020) Transcript: https://hopeinsource.com/illichIt's a guest podcast, as I just edited it!Previously: https://hopeinsource.com/convivial, https://hopeinsource.com/limits The International Journal of Illich Studies: https://journals.psu.edu/illichstudies/indexSections: [00:33] Working within the Christian tradition [03:04] Why start the newsletter? [07:16] Lost year of schooling [09:00] Inequality in COVID [14:03] What's Compelling about Illich? [17:28] Resisting the frame of control and embracing gift [22:03] Tesla as a "solution" [26:29] The challenge of needs [28:12] Progeny [30:24] Redeeming work [33:16] The body and senses [34:50] Playfulness [36:34] Why read Illich today? [40:43] Making Illich accessible [44:24] Starting point to his work? [47:27] Illich in Conversation ★ Support this podcast ★

Ivan Illich (Michael Sacasas)

How does the digital life shape our perceptions of ourselves? Maggie Appleton starts us off on a discussion of school in pandemic times which lead to a discussion of the disembodiment that technology can create, somehow bringing us further towards our thoughts on time and space? (Recorded in November 2020) Transcript: https://hopeinsource.com/disembodiment

Digital Disembodiment (Maggie Appleton)

How is the state of modern software like losing at Tetris? Stephen Kell joins Henry to chat about Ivan Illich's thought (counter-productivity, radical monopoly, critique of institutions) applied to modern software culture! We talk about the software/hardware arms race, how our default is more is better, tech being all-consuming, the tyranny of updates. (recorded in Dec 2020) Transcript: https://hopeinsource.com/tetris

Software Tetris (Stephen Kell)

What happens when we open up browser APIs like a filesystem? Omar Rizwan joins Henry to chat about his latest project, TabFS! We discuss possible extensions, tinkering with scripts vs being a whole "project", writing it yourself, few dependencies, determining your 1.0, literate documentation, and maintaining a newly popular open source project! (recorded in January) Transcript: https://hopeinsource.com/tabfs.

TabFS (Omar Rizwan)

How do we think about ourselves and the communities we move into? Sonya Mann and Henry continue a chat about the nature of conversion: about using jargon within a community, individuation, and transformation. Topics include the tools of a worldview, flavors of faith, the good of questions, essence and discovering yourself, hierarchies of reality, interwoven histories. (Recorded in September) Transcript: https://hopeinsource.com/essence.

Essence (Sonya Mann)

How does one come to faith, let alone come back to it? Sonya Mann graciously shares some raw thoughts on her re-conversion to Christianity. We cover a lot of ground, going through doubt and spiritual malaise, the phenomenology of faith, fractal reality, "happeningness". (Recorded in September) Transcript: https://hopeinsource.com/reconversion.

Reconversion (Sonya Mann)

What is Advent anyway? Alex Kim joins Henry to chat about the season of waiting, memory, our loss and discovery of tradition, teaching ritual as meaningful, a Christian conception of time, and opening ourselves up to hope. Transcript: https://hopeinsource.com/advent

Approaching Advent (Alex Kim)

Is technology just of chips and gadgets? Maggie Appleton joins Henry again in a 2-part chat to discuss how tech isn't such a static thing, building off of Mcluhan's thought of media and Dan Wang's article, "How Technology Grows". We cover how tech itself contains it's own process knowledge involving how it is used, built, and maintained as well as going into digital immortality and the protestant work ethic, and chat about how our cultures are intertwined with tech. Transcript: https://hopeinsource.com/process.

Technology as Process (Maggie Appleton)

Can there be knowledge without a knower? Maggie Appleton joins Henry again in a 2 part chat to discuss how knowledge is personal, through the work of Michael Polanyi. We cover how knowing is an activity, ambient technology, dualism, Bruno Latour, knowing as faith, learning through liturgy, Jesus as the embodiment of God. We end by asking how we should navigate the post-truth world. Transcript: https://hopeinsource.com/embodied.

Embodied Knowledge (Maggie Appleton)

What does a convivial society entail? Michael Sacasas joins Henry in the second part of a conversation about Illich and his views of the common good. We speak about Illich's critique against institutions, autonomy and interdependence, the story of the Good Samaritan, learning through apprenticeship and intimate participation, and outsourcing our choices. Transcript: https://hopeinsource.com/convivial.

The Convivial Society (Michael Sacasas)

Can we consider our limits as a gift? Michael Sacasas and Henry discuss an understated concept in our modern times, namely our limited nature. We are limited in our ability to control others (parenting), our speech (social media), and our bodies (morality). We pass through a mix of (sometimes heavy) topics: violent games and virtue ethics, parents as gardeners rather than carpenters, the issues of unprecedented scale, modernity as the application of technique, our inclination to believe more is better, and the art of dying. Transcript: https://hopeinsource.com/limits.

Natural Limits (Michael Sacasas)

What can we learn from someone's last tweets? Omar Rizwan joins Henry to chat about the Dynamicland way of thinking: communal, involving the whole person, user agency. We discuss user control, the problem of lists, industrial open source, materiality and embodiment, knowing through doing, and being aware of your emotions when programming. Also (of course) screenshots. (recorded in August) Transcript: https://hopeinsource.com/emotional. Omar: https://twitter.com/rsnous Henry: https://twitter.com/left_pad

Emotional Programming (Omar Rizwan)

What's life after removing yourself from social media? Philip Guo joins Henry (the last in the "trilogy") to chat about LAT, life after Twitter. We discuss being irrelevant, forcing yourself to think about different things, treating a newsletter like email, restraining your growth, moving to the digital suburbs, engaging with the past, directing your attention and production, being particular and local, making it normal again to not have to create. (recorded in July) Transcript: https://hopeinsource.com/digital-death.

MA 16: Philip Guo (#3) on Life After Digital Death

Why would you choose to leave the public internet on your own terms? Philip Guo joins Henry (for the 2nd time) to chat about his recent choice to make a minimal public web presence after being on the web for many years. We discuss the logistics of removing social media (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube), moving to longer forms of media (podcasts, essays, books), making introductory content, recognizing different stages of your career, being out of touch, freeing your mind for the next thing, not being ashamed of previous work, taking time to reflect, and friction. (recorded in May) Transcript: https://hopeinsource.com/unlisting.

MA 15: Philip Guo (#2) on Unlisting Yourself

What are the parallels between faith and open source software? Join Nadia Eghbal and Henry Zhu for an off-the-cuff conversation between friends. Check out hopeinsource.com and nadiaeghbal.com/public-faith for the backstory

hubhopper

Hope in Source

hubhopper