From Counterculture to Cyberculture
"In the early 1960s, computers haunted the American popular imagination. Bleak tools of the cold war, they embodied the rigid organization and mechanical conformity that made the military-industrial complex possible. But by the 1990s—and the dawn of the Internet—computers started to represent a very different kind of world: a collaborative and digital utopia modeled on the communal ideals of the hippies who so vehemently rebelled against the cold war establishment in the first place."
- Fred Turner, From Counterculture to Cyberculture
We explore the history of how computers came be to imagined as tools for "personal liberation, the building of virtual and decidedly alternative communities, and the exploration of bold new social frontiers." By studying the roots of Silicon Valley's techno-utopian culture, we better understand the institutions that we are a part of and contribute to. What brought the early visionaries of Silicon Valley—the counterculturalists and technologists—together, and what where they seeking? Within the context of this history we will discuss the current state of Silicon Valley tech companies and their relationship to their workers, users, and the rest of the world.
Readings
- Where the Counterculture Met the New Economy by Fred Turner
- From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the Rise of Digital Utopianism by Fred Turner
Discussion Questions
- What brought the early visionaries of Silicon Valley—the counterculturalists and technologists—together, and what where they seeking?
- How might growing public concerns about Silicon Valley's expanding power (e.g. concerns around surveillance, targeted misinformation, etc.) influence the culture?