Episode 029: p=eMPathy with Ariel Waldman, Ashe Dryden, and Brad Grzesiak

April 19th, 2017 · 1 hr 13 mins

About this Episode

00:16 – Welcome to “The Tale of Space Cat Burritos” …we mean, “Greater Than Code!”

02:26 – Space Technology and the Cultural Portrayal of Science

NASA Explorers Program

08:24 – The Influence of Science Fiction on the Current Developments in Science

NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Program (NIAC)

The Comet Hitchhiker

Supernatural Horror in Literature By H. P. Lovecraft

14:47 – What is sci-fi telling us about the world we live in now?

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu

The Expanse Series

18:34 – “Hard” vs “Soft” Science Fiction; “Hard” Conference Talks vs “Soft” Talks

Coraline Ada Ehmke: Metaphors Are Similes. Similes Are Like Metaphors @ Rubyfuza 2017

24:43 – Understanding How People Work to Build Better Technology; Fighting for Accessibility in Science

Henrietta Lacks

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

33:11 – Machine Learning

“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.” – Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park

37:52 – Scarcity and Exploitation: Looking at Power Dynamics and Relationships Between Groups and People

Conway’s Law

41:34 – Reasons We Prefer to Focus on Technology; Siloing and Specialization

50:16 – Control: Who is the manager? Treating People Equally

52:46 – Congruency and Being Congruent: It’s a People Problem!

Gerald Weinberg

[The Secrets of Consulting: A Guide to Giving and Getting Advice Successfully by Gerald M. Weinberg]((https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Consulting-Giving-Getting-Successfully/dp/0932633013)

“Emotions are valid inputs to every thought process.” – Coraline Ada Ehmke

The Heart of Whiteness: Ijeoma Oluo Interviews Rachel Dolezal, the White Woman Who Identifies as Black

Ashe’s Tweets

01:01:44 – How do we know we are right?

The Orange Juice Test

The Art of Negotiating the Best Deal by Seth Freeman

Reflections:

Rein: These issues go straight up to the top in terms of the philosophical ladder we’re trying to climb of what do we value? How do we get other people to share our values? It doesn’t get easier by ignoring that the problem is that difficult and pretending that it’s just technical.

Coraline: It’s the responsibility of technologists to think about the social impact of the technical solutions they are making, whether that means by being better informed and striving to be generalists, or by making sure we are being inclusive and giving voice to people with different perspectives and levels of expertise on our teams to make sure we are addressing problems deeply and not just from one particular silo.

Ashe: Understanding how we are looking at a problem ethically, how we’re looking at it technically, and how we’re looking at it from a human point of view? What are the potential effects?

Brad: The laws of nature still exist in the absence of humans. Humans are the reason things are messy and complicated.

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