What is Technofascism? Part Two
Video at: https://youtu.be/MlPlaSD_-j8
Okay. The next topic which I would like to get onto in my defence of the phrase "technofascism", indeed in my support of the phrase, is to talk about the sociological aspect of Fascism, which is more or less ubiquitous fear. Now there have obviously been so many good books and documentaries and discussions of this, of this very deep and very broad subject, but one part that I'd like to single out to talk about is what I think is our very modern fear which we sometimes call FOMO - fear of missing out - and this is connected to many things, to vanity and insecurity, to our intrinsic need to feel a sense of belonging to a group, and so on.
What is Technofascism? Part One
Video at: https://youtu.be/OyNbEc9VgsQ
So today I'm going to talk about "techno fascism". Many of you will have heard me use this phrase in other talks and lectures, and some people find it cute, and some people kind of object to it. They say "hey, isn't that a bit strong?" So I'd like to explain and defend, and to situate the phrase a little bit. I don't think it's particularly extreme, I think it's really quite fitting in many ways. It's certainly a great shorthand that encapsulates many complex ideas that would be hard to fit under one banner.
Update on the Isle of Wight coronavirus app trial - will it work?
Video at: https://youtu.be/9dxnUBfXsIs
So, here's an update from the coronavirus app trial taking place on the Isle of Wight. Today I've received a letter advising me to download and install the contact tracing app developed by NHSX, so I've done that. I've also set up a Bluetooth scanner on my wife's phone, to figure out what data the NHSX app is actually sending over Bluetooth, and as advertised, it sends a number of pings to other devices which are somewhat anonymous, in that the data is recorded of the ping but you don't see a name come up or anything like that on the other phone.
The Good Stuff, Episode One
Video at: https://youtu.be/NMH_d8tMiEw
Andy: Welcome to the Good Stuff, with me Andy Farnell...
Kate: ...and me, Kate Brown.
Andy: Kate is a attachment based psychoanalytical psychotherapist from the UKCP...
Kate: And you are a computer scientist specializing in ...
Andy: You can say Andy is a computer scientist with a very big beard
Kate: Yes, an enormous beard, people! You should see it! It's enormous! It's huge.
Andy: It's getting there.
Kate: You are channeling your inner Father Christmas right now.
Andy: I've got my lock-down beard.
Kate: So, Dan has asked us to talk about immunity passports and I want to set the parameters of what I'm able to talk about with some knowledge, and what I'm not able to talk about with much knowledge.
I'm not an immunologist so I don't know about the research that would govern the idea of immunity passports.
I'm also not a computer scientist who understands how such a plan would be implemented and I'm rather reliant on on your expertise in that area.
I think the reason why Dan has asked me to be here this evening and to talk and think about a wider issue of immunity is because what is likely to be the case is that very strong unconscious feelings will be behind the current social discourse about immunity, and whether immunity passports are a good thing or a bad thing.