{"product_id":"we-just-build-hammers-coraline-ada-ehmke-9798868812484","title":"We Just Build Hammers: Stories from the Past, Present, and Future of Responsible Tech","description":"\u003cp\u003ePhilosopher Noam Chomsky is famously quoted as saying that technology is neither good nor bad, but a neutral tool. He likens it to a hammer, which can be used by carpenters and torturers alike. While the neutrality of tech is an idea that appeals to many technologists, this perspective is out of alignment with today's realities of ad-tech, surveillance capitalism, algorithmic manipulation, and rising techno-fascism. This book challenges technologists to consider for themselves whether they're really just \"building hammers\"- technologies whose potential for good balances their potential for harm- or if they are unwittingly contributing to systems that exacerbate inequality, inequity, and injustice.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn light of imminent threats like these, many technologists are starting to question how what they build is being leveraged or abused to accelerate a global societal decline. Every era of massive technological change finds technologists facing difficult questions about the broader implications of their work. Every generation of technologists wrestles with crises of conscience about their real-world impact, and must consider how to prevent their work from being used to cause harm. Through the power of storytelling, you'll come to recognize the danger of the comforting myth that technology is neutral; understand the outsized responsibility that comes with technology's outsized impact on the world; learn to navigate the ethical complexities of their own work; and be inspired to imagine (and work for) more equitable, alternative techno-social futures.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eWe Just Build Hammers\u003c\/em\u003e applies a lens of speculative and science fiction to connect you with a historical lineage of thinkers and activists in the responsible tech movement. Its narrative spans a century of major technological upheavals: from the advent of the atomic age to the formative years of computing; from the hacker visionaries of the turn of the century to the tech justice revolutionaries of today.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat You Will Learn\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cul\u003e \u003cli\u003eGain a historic grounding and a science fiction perspective to help untangle a difficult and fraught topic of tech ethics\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eReview ethical considerations in the development of new technologies\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eWork with tools to help tech workers navigate the increasing complexity of the techno-social world we operate in\u003c\/li\u003e \u003c\/ul\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWho This Book is For\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDesigned to appeal broadly, not just to engineers and technologists, but to anyone interested in the history and future of ethics and technology.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Coraline Ada Ehmke\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798868812484\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Apress\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/04\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 259\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback","brand":"Coraline Ada Ehmke","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46618132218111,"sku":"9798868812484","price":59.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_7d10db1a-bf30-45b0-9675-8fa949542ae6.jpg?v=1740069253","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/we-just-build-hammers-coraline-ada-ehmke-9798868812484","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}