hodlbod on Nostr: We normally think of technology as governing space: instant communication erases ...

We normally think of technology as governing space: instant communication erases distances, extends control, perfects administration. We should think more, following Innis and Carey, of the governance of time: techniques for developing culture, memory, and purpose.

Technology cannot, by definition, be a driving factor in this work, because its role is to promote efficiency. In order to introduce friction between disparate groups, build shared symbols, and cultivate personal and community identity, we must resort to a different set of tools: oral storytelling, shared rituals, and politics.

This investment in a local, non-fungible group identity can in turn insulate us from the negative externalities of technological scale, and build institutions for better government of those same technologies.