Hello World

Hello World,

It's funny the way things go. About four years ago, I was just finishing my Masters thesis in computer science, on a subject on artificial intelligence, and I was quite sure that this would be the end of my studies. I had been doing the study besides a full time job in robotics and software engineering -yup, I'm a geek! I do a lot of programming in JAVA and .NET and quite enjoy doing that!
However fate pushed me into the slipstream of Harry Kunneman, my supervisor for my Ph. D. research that I have been working on at the University for Humanistics in Utrecht, the Netherlands in, you might've guessed it, 'humanistics'. Now for those who haven't got the foggiest clue in what 'humanistics' is -I used to be one of them myself-, the short and quick answer is that it is something like applied philosophy. For the past four years I've therefore been digging into the 'lingua democratica' between technology and philosophy. In other words, I've been looking into ways to come to a form of synthesis between the worlds of technologists and the humanities.

Now, don't get me wrong here, I know that there are a lot of philosophers who reflect on technology, and there are also -as I found out- researchers from the humanities who have certain opinions on technology and technologists. These opinions are not always friendly, and sometimes their critique justified. There are obviosuly also a lot of techies who like philosophy and don't mind reading Kant, Heidegger or the 'ole Greek thinkers.
However, it is my experience that techies normally don't have too much patience for anything that, or anyone who, doesn't give straight answers to issues, or makes life more complicated than necessary. These personal experiences on this particular issue get some credibility as 'fact', if one takes into account that the 'unlikely bedfellows' of engineers and philosophers are getting their own scientific workshops nowadays!
It is also my experience that we engineers usually have two stances towards philosophy; either we're cool with it and take interest, or we ignore it because we've got better things to do.

While this may be okay in general, it does not stop others thinking about technology (and technologists!), and as the impact of technology in our modern times is raising some concern, there is a chance that decisions about technology are made by those who least understand it.
Maybe we technologists have to admit at some point that we don't get it either...
Anyway, this little space in the wide, wide virtual world of the Internet is taking a geek's perspective on technology, philosophy and ethics.
As I progress in my own search for synthesis, I hope to share some of my thoughts, books, articles, and ongoing programming activities with some lonely travellers who are heading in the same direction of perpetual technological novelty.