“The point is, there's this new sense of skepticism and questioning toward tech, even if it is pretty inchoate. What I hope the book helps to do is help people clarify what is amiss, by presenting a critique that is grounded in economics.” PeopleIfsBookHelpingEconomicsQuestioningSkepticismGroundedCritiquePresenting Author:Astra Taylor
“It's always the balance between the individual's subjective experience and the social structural condition. As individuals we have access to more than we've ever had before. Giving up our data seems a small price to pay, especially if, as you say, we don't feel we have anything to hide.” IfsGivingFeelsSeemsIndividualSocialPayConditionsBalanceGiving UpAccessDataSubjective Author:Astra Taylor
“It's the same thing in a way with privacy. You can say "I'm not doing anything wrong, therefore this doesn't concern me," but what does it mean about our society if we're all being watched and recorded? The personal experience - negotiating this as individuals - doesn't describe the social reality and the broader social costs.” IfsWayMeanDoeRealityIndividualSocialCostConcernPrivacyOur SocietyPersonal ExperiencesNegotiating Author:Astra Taylor
“As a citizen I might be well-behaved and have nothing salacious or radical about me, I might be a total bore, but I might suffer somehow if other people are being spied on and blocked from doing important work that might have a collective benefit down the road. The personal doesn't necessarily translate to the social.” PeopleIfsWellsImportantMightSufferingSocialCitizensBenefitsRadicalCollectivesTranslateBoresDown The RoadBlockedImportant Work Author:Astra Taylor
“My point, though, is that if lines have indeed shifted, it's not so much that the younger generation just doesn't care, it's that we have ceded more and more of our public life over to the private sector. If you grow up with advertising at school, you have come of age in a sold-out world.” IfsWorldCareAgeSchoolGrowsLinesGrowing UpGenerationsAdvertisingPublic LifePrivate SectorYounger GenerationSold Out Author:Astra Taylor
“I think somebody who is more self-reflective should ask why they personally aren't going on that path. If amateurism is so great, why didn't you stay one? You have to look at the larger economy, a backdrop of unemployment; it's shitty out there.” IfsThinkingShouldLooksSelfAsksEconomyPathUnemploymentBackdrop Author:Astra Taylor
“As an individual navigating this reality, you have to make choices to survive. Sometimes you happily work for free if it's something you love and believe in. I'm not categorically saying that working for free is bad. I'm just looking at the broader implications of it, and also challenge this idea - and again, this is an argument made by certain people in the tech world - that amateurs are automatically more pure and will triumph over stodgy professionals.” PeopleIfsWorldBelieveMadeIdeasSometimesRealityCertainChoicesIndividualChallengesPureArgumentTriumphImplicationsSomething You Love Author:Astra Taylor
“We haven't developed a progressive vocabulary. We say something is "public," but we just mean it's viewable online. Or we say it's "open," but we just mean it's accessible. I would like for us to think about terms critically and maybe change our vocabulary a bit. What if pubic actually meant publicly-funded, or social meant socialized.” IfsThinkingMeanSocialBitsTermHavensOnlineWhat IfProgressiveVocabulary Author:Astra Taylor
“All the utopianism of the early days of the Internet seems to have dissipated. But I don't want us to lose that utopianism altogether, even if it was naïve and ill-informed and sometimes silly. Rather I want us to ask about the obstacles that are preventing the good stuff from coming to fruition. Let's investigate and think about creating something worthwhile instead of assuming that there is an inevitable track of increased centralization, consolidation, and commercialization that we can't do anything about.” IfsThinkingWantSometimesSeemsAsksStuffLosesInternetCreatingAssumingIllTrackObstaclesSillyInevitableWorthwhileWant UPreventingFruitionCreating SomethingConsolidationCentralizationCommercialization Author:Astra Taylor
