Samuel W. FlintJun 6
Rob,  value 71 
Computer touchers - including and maybe especially systems people - need Need NEED the humanities so that we understand how the systems we build interact with actual humans
Jun 5 at 4:47amWeb
Show threaditgrrl Jun 5

@ricci …which of course first needs computer-touchers to understand how the systems we build are interacted with by humans (and is why WE desperately need Need NEED to understand the humanities)

 
 
edit: I think I mis-read your toot as “we need people in the humanities to understand…” as opposed to what I think you meant which is “…we need (to understand) the humanities…” so I guess I’m basically just +1-ing your toot 🤪

Show threadRob,  value 71 Jun 5
@itgrrl YES
Show threaditgrrl Jun 5
@ricci edited my toot 🙃
Show threadRob,  value 71 Jun 5

@itgrrl oh yeah maybe it wasn't very clear

Well I'm planning a thread of suggested reading for systems computer touchers soon so maybe that will be more clear

Show threaditgrrl Jun 5
@ricci I mean, we didn’t create the entire discipline of human-computer interaction ( #HCI ) just for shits & giggles… 🙃
Show threadRob,  value 71 Jun 5
@itgrrl the older I get, the more I appreciate HCI
Show threaditgrrl Jun 5

@ricci 💯

I just wish that Apple still did…

Show threadBen ZaninJun 6
@ricci @itgrrl subscribe
Show threadJoseph A di PaolantonioJun 5
@ricci Absolutely. Once upon a time there was a specialty within the system field, human factors, later ergonomics, often filled by someone with a psych degree of one form or another. So much of old timey system thinking hasn’t translated into computer systems. Exceptions are often highlighted by @RuthMalan in their workshops and training and writing. Every system is part of an ecosystem as are humans.
Show threadRob,  value 71 Jun 5
@jadp @RuthMalan I'm working on putting together a reading list, I'll try to post it here soon...
Show threadTzimisce FleshJun 5
@ricci Yes and also, we need humanities taught in ways that focus on understanding people rather than dry recitation of facts (and "facts").
Literature and history are quite interesting subjects, but "read 5 books about why patriotism is great and memorise those 17 dates" is not exactly enriching engagement with the topic.
Show threadOwl EyesJun 5
@ricci IMHO the toxicity would possibly go down with a study of #psychology, especially when studying what the dark triad personality types are characterized by. When I studied the humanities, they had no sense or clue of what the nature of the dark triad personality types were. The humanities sort of "shoveled water" at a macro level, while psychology could explain things at a root, individual level where "the buck stopped" somewhere: individual action.
Show threadOdradekJun 6
@d1 @ricci problem: the methodology of mainstream psychology (psychotherapy is in parts different) still is heavily influenced by neopositivsm so tries to be a science. this may help its connectability to computer science (and analytical philosophy), but it is missing some conecpts of society/culture humanities could bringt to the table
Show threadOtte Homan - remember GeordieJun 5
@ricci if only the humanities graduates would rebrand themselves as UI/UX people ...
Show threadFelix 🐊Jun 5

@ricci A local kid ran for office this last election and part of his platform was reducing a 4 year degree to 2 years by removing GE requirements--the same requirements that would require all students to take classes on critical thinking, writing and literacy, and race studies in my jurisdiction.

I'm reminded of the sentiment of my former classmates who criticized a harmless personality test we took in a dev class as simply determining if someone was liberal/left-learning or not, based on the "open-mindedness" metric.

Doing senior-level work at uni at that point, what did they even learn? We're in game development. If they don't have an ounce of empathy for their co-workers or product's audience, no one wants to work with them OR buy their product. Why did they waste their time and parents' money then? I just don't get it.

This isn't to say one needs a formal education to understand the humanities or be a good human, but to go through the trouble determined to have a closed mind is wild.

Show threadChristina RichardsJun 5
@ricci as a bonus, studying the humanities unlocks new classes of obscure in-joke!
Show threadChristina RichardsJun 5
@ricci a Jargon File for the humanities would be a real cross-disciplinary coup
Show threadPete GontierJun 5
@ricci I mean, sure, but also so we can interact with actual humans *while* we build those systems.
Show threadschrotthaufenJun 5
@ricci @frumble And yet, 10+ years later, people still get derided for saying this…
Show threadꓜꓟеꓝ☠Jun 6
@ricci i adore the term "computer toucher" and will refer to myself and other nerds as such, in perpetuity 🤪
Show threadOdradekJun 6
@ricci weizenbaum/floyd?