«I have no liking for prisons, Master Li. Sometimes I suspect that we build our traps ourselves, then we back into them, pretending amazement the while. That this is the way of life, from the All-Highest down to the meanest creature in creation … But whether this is the case or no, it is still a worthy thing to open cages. It is still a virtuous act to free the imprisoned.»
«So the sages tell us.»
«Tools, of course, can be the subtlest of traps. One day, I know, I must smash the emerald.»
«My Lord?»
Sandman and Master Li in «Sandman» by Neil Gaiman
It’s fun to do presentations about topics you care about. I recently did a just-for-fun one on whether technology is a tool or a trap. It covers Attention Economy, Gamification, Persuasive Technology, Nudging, and Dark Patterns. Unfortunately it’s in German, but perhaps it’s interesting as well.
It was the first version of a presentation on that topic, I hope to do a similar one again and invest a bit more time than … roughly one and a half day.
