Convivial Technology

• https://convivial.tech/#convivial_technology
• It’s not good when tools subjugate humans, right?
  • What does that actually mean?
  • When person A uses a tool to subjugate person B, it’s not exactly “tools subjugating humans.”
  • It could be described as a situation where some form of constraint occurs without the intention of any specific individual, like discussing the constraints of naturally occurring systems, such as issues faced by individuals in capitalism.
• Critique of Complementary Technology

  • However, on the other hand, a world where humans can naturally use technology without being conscious of it, as depicted there, could lead to a situation where technology becomes a black box, and even further, a world where people are unaware that technology has been black-boxed. In that scenario, there might be a lurking danger of inadvertently becoming subservient to technology again, as mentioned earlier.

  • Seems very close in ideology to != AI, Human Augmentation.
• Agency in usage and agency in creation
  • Both seem to be lost, right?
  • Increasing the number of creators
• I also want to read the original text Tools for Conviviality

  • Illich also points out in “Tools for Conviviality” that there is a conflicting relationship between humans and tools, emphasizing the importance of recognizing this first.

    • All you need to do is recognize that there are two conflicting ways of using tools. One way brings about specialization of function, institutionalization of value, and concentration of power, turning people into bureaucrats and appendages of machines. The other way expands the range of individual capabilities, management, and spontaneity.

  • So, what distinguishes convivial tools that enhance human autonomy and creativity from dominant tools that deprive humans of agency and subjugate them? Illich introduces the concept of the “two watersheds” here.

• Two Watersheds
  • When a parameter in a tool reaches a certain threshold, it becomes productive, but surpassing another threshold leads to counterproductive outcomes, a discussion akin to the concept of Concave in Convex and Concave Dispositions.