last week i ran the third annual philosophy retreat, this time in vienna. here i share an overview about it, with some glimpses into what we did, and a general reflection about the topics discussed, including ai, power, civic responsibility, & meaning. decafquest.com/vienna-philos…

Ever since i was a kid i always "wanted to push back on that a little”

quit and live on a farm, 1907 edition

philoquest 2027, preliminary list

Bailar en beirut, new from Vetusta Morla, in which they remember their 2004 performance at the anti-crise festival in Beirut. "Legend has it that the impact it had on us was so profound that on the final night of our stay there, standing at the rooftop of the ottoman house where the festival took place, we made a pact to always do everything we can to keep this great adventure going." youtu.be/TdnjvSKg1yE

plato ca. 360 bc

- Salamanca

a world without work decafquest.com/programs/tech…

Socrates gets sentenced to death - his wife xanthippe - plato

two bridges 🌉, the roman bridge in the background

"In his 1976 book, Weizenbaum wrote about something he called “civil courage”. “Every individual must act as if the whole future of the world, of humanity itself, depends on him. Anything less is a shirking of responsibility and is itself a dehumanizing force, for anything less encourages the individual to look upon himself as a mere actor in a drama written by anonymous agents.” That might sound a little grandiose for a book that is, at least ostensibly, mostly about computer programming. But as someone who escaped the Holocaust as a boy, Weizenbaum knew that it is a dangerous thing when people begin to see other people as “non-player characters” — and even more dangerous if they begin to see themselves that way. My sense is that the era of “AI malaise” is coming to an end — at least, everywhere except the place that is supposedly in charge of it. Admittedly, trying to shape the application of technology through human debate, compromise and action can be wearying and effortful. Participating in politics, at the level of the workplace, the community or the nation, can be frequently enraging and unsatisfying. But it is better than watching passively as a handful of people race to make the future, when even they don’t seem to think they can be trusted with it." - Sarah O’Connor

i used to be angry, so i decided to read philosophy. heidegger to be exact. now im still angry, but at least I understand that this anger is ontological. turns out philosophy can provide a different path to reorient my attunement. maybe i should read kant next.

tech bros discovering (or not yet) that the word ontology in philosophy doesn't exactly mean the same thing as 'ontology' in software dev.

Registration is now open for the Philosophy of Software Architecture course with @TechnologyTulip ! To complete your registration and learn more about the course, please visit this link: decafquest.com/programs/work… - The course will take place in December 2026 - 3 sessions, Dec. 10, 17, 21, mark your calendars - Sessions will take place at 7 PM Central European time - Online synchronous via Zoom - All three sessions will be recorded and shared with the participants - All course-related material including the Zoom link will be made available and shared via email one week before the course starts.