Nolen Gertz: Do digital technologies make us more nihilistic?

<p>Nolen Gertz, author and assistant professor of applied philosophy at the University of Twente, talks with David van Overbeek about his latest book Nihilism and Technology.</p>
<p>In our times, digital technology is ubiquitous and immediately at our disposal. Yet, while we feel empowered by these technologies, we experience displacement and unease at the same time. According to assistant professor of applied philosophy Nolen Gertz (UT) this has something to do with the way that modern digital technologies mediate our relation to the world. Sometimes even in ways that go unnoticed. And that can be dangerous.</p>
<p>In order to think properly about digital technologies Gertz wants us to get rid of the neutral-view, or “the idea that technologies are neutral instruments”, as he calls it. Rather, we should view technologies as tools that actively shape and mediate our relation to the world, and thus the way we engage with it. “For example: the ubiquity of smartphones makes us rely less and less on human interactions and more on smartphone interactions, meaning that we do not need to ask anyone for directions anymore, instead we ask Google.” Interestingly, Google Maps presents itself as filling a void, but it also creates this void itself. Gertz: “Technologies do not only help us solve problems, but make us look at life as a problem as well.”</p>
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<p>Read the in-depth article at: http://voordeommekeer.nl/digitalisering-en-de-nieuwe-wereld/nolen-gertz…;
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<p>Conversation topics:<br />00:30 What is nihilism and what does it have to do with technology?<br />05:30 How does Facebook and Google mediate our relation to the world?<br />08:30 Technologies do not only help us solve problems, but it<br />11:30 Perhaps we want technologies to distance ourselves from others.<br />12:40 Techno-hypnosis of Netflix and Chill<br />17:20 The danger of techno-hypnosis<br />20:28 The data-driven activity: Fitbit <br />22:55 The danger of black box algorithms<br />25:09 How can governments regulate Silicon Valley firms when it is painfully clear that they do not understand these technologies?<br />28:38 Can we step outside of technologies?<br />33:01 Silicon Valley instills us with complicity<br />36:00 Social media reveals the cruelty within us<br />40:45 Why is it so difficult to discuss the influence of these technologies on the political level?</p>
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<p>Voor de Ommekeer TV is een initiatief van journalist Paul van Liempt, filosoof Ad Verbrugge en David van Overbeek. Het is onderdeel van platform Voor de Ommekeer, dat mensen uit verschillende disciplines bij elkaar brengt om na te denken over grote veranderingen die op komst zijn door een combinatie van snelle technologische ontwikkelingen en globalisering.</p>
<p>Voor de Ommekeer TV wordt gemaakt in samenwerking met de VU, centrum Ethos en FreedomLab.</p>
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