The Alchemy of Us – by Ainissa Ramirez
Recommendation: 8/10. Date read: 12/22/20.
Details eight inventions—clocks, steel rails, copper communication cables, photographic film, light bulbs, hard disks, scientific labware, and silicon chips—and ties together not only how the invention came about, but how each invention came to shape humanity and culture. It’s an interesting examination of how technology is both a reflection of the environment it was born in and how it can alter the ways we think about and interact with the world for generations. Ramirez breathes life into each invention with stories from interesting figures throughout history—if you enjoy Bill Bryson, you’ll enjoy this. It’s also a sobering reminder of ethical considerations and responsibilities that those building technology have in our society.
See my notes below or Amazon for details and reviews.
My Notes:
Technology shapes us for generations:
Prose was shortened by the telegraph—removed all unnecessary words avoided flowery language and adjectives. Shaped American English. At a telegrapher’s office when news broke, there was a 15-minute limit and messages had to be brief (you were also charged per word). Led to code language in newsrooms (POTUS, SCOTUS, OK).
Technology reflects biases of the time:
Early film was only developed to properly capture the characteristics and features of white individuals. Pictures of blacks were always underexposed and lost features of their faces/turned them into ink blots.
“Technologies we make are not innocuous and their use is not always for the greater good. Technologies, such as photographic film, also capture the issues and beliefs and values of the times.” AR
“These devices capture the biases that exist in our world and, in turn, speak to whom a culture values. As our technologies become more pervasive in our lives, whom they were built for and optimized for will be an important discussion.” AR
Depth:
“If we were to read a book, we would be fully submerged in the details and nuance of another world and swim in the deep end. The internet, however, is a worldwide wading pool. We slosh in the superficial because we have reached a critical point for what our brains can hold.” AR
Creativity:
“Creativity is not just the warehousing of ideas, but a process of giving the brain time to simmer on these ideas. Creativity requires preparation, but it also needs incubation.” AR
Creativity requires you to be exposed to and absorb the world. But it also requires time alone so you’re able to achieve a state of relaxed concentration and give yourself the cycles to examine and reassemble the fragments in your own way.
The way most use the internet hinders deep thinking: “Our hunting and gathering minds exist in an age where there is nothing to physically hunt or gather, so our brains get trapped in the cycle of hunting and gathering ‘follows’ and ‘likes’ on social media.”