Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ 25 Books Every Technologist Should Read

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

What this list shows me is that the '25 books' isn't the list of books you must read, but rather, for the author, the list of books they have read. Even assuming the same framework (which depicts technology as being about designing systems to produce outcomes) I can think of alternative (and, IMHO, deeper and better) books in each category. Why the military texts for 'understanding systems' when we woulkd be better served with analogies from business (Senge, say) or ecology (Bronfenbrenner). Similarly, for design, I'd be more likely to draw from architecture (Lockton, for example) than science fiction. But if I did want to talk about worldmaking, I'd be reading about knowledge construction (van Fraassen or Goodman). But that's me. There is not one best list. There's your list, and your choices (war and SF versus ecology and construction) not only reveal who you are, in some important ways they also define who you are. Via Aaron Davis.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
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Last Updated: Apr 28, 2024 7:31 p.m.

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