How embedded is this notion of property in our thinking? I equate it with the notion of the self and what one ‘deserves’. That some are born feeling justified to have things. It’s also a nature vs nurture debate though. Can someone be shaped to not feel this need. To feel the need of the community more. Is that stable? It seems thats a big question in the Dispossessed. Is such an altruistic society stable.
There’s a motif of a wall throughout the book. A wall that people, ourselves and institutions put up. It blocks change and progress in getting to truly know someone, in truly understanding ourselves maybe and in expressing ideas (in the case of the institution).
What would one do if we couldn’t own what we did? Is similar to the question of what would you do without pay but seems more fundamental. In the book Shevek can not take credit for his ideas if he is to release them. All that matters is the book, its contents. Not who wrote it. There’s a deserving tone to credit here too. Why should it matter, why do we care?
I should really start seeing myself as a computer scientist. Or, more generally, applying a computational way of thinking to problems.
This is an excellent talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qzVV7eEiaI and I think its changed my view on a computer scientist in Science. There is a replication crisis in Science that will surely be a problem. My issue is finding problems and practicing ‘data carpentry’. Or maybe my role could be to contribute to the ease of data carpentry for actual scientists?