David Weinberger at the Ethos Roundtable November 17, 2009

The Ethos Roundtable is an informal group of people who are interested in 1) measuring and extending ethos, and 2) using technology for positive social change. We meet once a month in Harvard Square (Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA) for discussions and presentations.

Here's a summary from David of our upcoming session on the moral architecture of the web:

Of course technology is neither good or bad in itself. You could use a hammer to build a home for the needy or to hit the needy on the head. Yet, it also seems wrong not to be able to draw any moral distinction between, say, the H1N1 vaccine and a device designed to torture people. In that light, is the Web good or evil…or at least good-ish or evil-ish? In this speculative talk, we'll look quickly at the usual theories about what makes something moral or immoral, and wonder how the distinctive architecture of the Web fits.

Here's a little bit about our featured guest:

"Dr. David Weinberger writes about the effect of technology on our ideas. He is a co-author of the bestselling "The Cluetrain Manifesto" and the author of "Small Pieces Loosely Joined." His latest book is "Everything is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder." He writes the well-known blog Joho . His work has appeared in Harvard Business Review, USA Today, Wired, Salon, The Guardian, Foreign Policy and many others. He is a commentator on National Public Radio and is a columnist for KMWorld and Il Sole 24 ore. He has been a strategic marketing consultant to startups and Fortune 500s, and has been an Internet adviser to presidential campaigns. He is a Fellow at the Harvard Berkman Center for Internet & Society and has a Ph.D. in philosophy."

At the conclusion of our Ethos Roundtable session, we will stroll down the hall to enjoy the good company, food, and drink at the 501 Tech Club that is so generously provided by TechFoundation. The 501 Tech Club is the monthly gathering of technology professionals who work with nonprofit organizations.

All Ethos Roundtable attendees are welcome at the Boston 501 Tech Club, and vice versa.

Please remember that there's never any need to make a reservation to attend Ethos Roundtable events. Just come if you can, and feel free to invite others! However, if you're planning to attend the Boston 501 Tech Club event at 6:00 pm, we ask that you send an email to Kathleen Sherwin of TechFoundation (ksherwin AT techfoundation DOT org). Since TechFoundation is providing the free food, it's courteous to let them know how much to order.

See you in November!

Official Website: http://ethosroundtable.blogspot.com