Cybernetics, Virtue Ethics, and Design

Anyone interested in the topic of cybernetics and the ‘ethical architecture’ of digital spaces and communities might be interested in this paper (and the long traditions of ‘systemic design’ and ‘ethics’ from which it comes).

Ever wonder how the ‘tech bros’ gave the world platform capitalism, social media… and a digital shanty town rife with crime, racist bias and worker exploitation? The tech bros would probably answer ‘unintended consequences’. The Venture Caps would see the mess as a further opportunity for profit.

I’d like to think there is a new generation of folks who care about the digital (and physical) spaces they inhabit would think more carefully about the consequences of the tools they deploy… doing the ethical thinking about consequences up front, and then building some feedback into the design…

There are communities out there we can learn from

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