2013 - Hanset, et al - A Study Guide for Douglas Rushkoff's Program Or Be Programmed.pdf

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A STUDY GUIDE TO
PROGRAM OR BE PROGRAMMED: TEN COM-
MANDMENTS FOR A DIGITAL AGE
BY
JENNIFER HANSEN
WILL LUERS
SETAREH ALIZADEH
DR. DENE GRIGAR
A Study Guide for Douglas Rushkoff’s
PROGRAM
OR BE
PROGRAMMED
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The following study guide aims to provoke further thoughts and extend the conversation
surrounding Douglas Rushkoff’s book
Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a
Digital Age.
It has been created for a wide variety of readers––from high school to
adults––and purposes––from book clubs to study groups.
Rushkoff proposes 10 commands that are each based on one of the “biases” of digital media. In
computer programming a “command” is a directive to a computer to perform a specific task. But
Rushkoff’s commands are not directives for human behavior as much as a code of ethics that,
like the 10 commandments of Judaism in what was a new text-based age, help us navigate a
new age of computer mediation and abstraction.
Digital technologies continue to increase the capabilities of mankind. These
technologies, however, come with biases. If we aren’t aware of these
biases, we’ll find ourselves at the mercy of the technology
designed to serve
us.
While there’s still time, we must take matters into our own hands and
learn to program!
Rushkoff, Douglas, dir.
Program or Be Programmed.
2010. Film. 31 Jan 2013
2
I. TIME
RUSHKOFF’S PRINCIPLE OF:
DO NOT BE “ALWAYS ON”.
We live in a world dictated by time. However, to our digital devices, time is
an unknown concept. This situation has caused us to become more
concerned with the newest information rather than the most relevant. In
order to remain effective, efficient humans, we must apply the concept of
time to our digital devices. We hold the power to
 decide
when we interact
digitally. Being conscious of this notion will result in the quality and
effectiveness of the information we produce and share electronically. By
allowing ourselves to be “turned off,” we are actually becoming more
connected than being “always on.”
Questions for Discussion
• When is it socially inappropriate to be online?
• Why do we sometimes aimlessly surf the web?
• What does Rushkoff say about the nature of computer programming that causes digital technology to be biased away from continuous time?
And what are some examples of the asynchronous (asynchronous means “not at the same time”) bias of digital technology?
• What prevents people from claiming their own time in the face of digital distraction? How are these interruptions and distractions any different
from those that plagued us before we had cell phones in our hands or pagers on our hips?
• While the chapter focuses on the early, more asynchronous styles of communication on early networks, even newer technology such as stream-
ing video and Facetime applications bring us onto each other’s screens in something like real time, or what we refer to as “synchronous” time.
Do these new forms of digital communication negate the basic premise of digital non-nowness? Or do they simply hide a greater imposition on
what we think of as time?
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I. TIME
RUSHKOFF’S PRINCIPLE OF:
DO NOT BE “ALWAYS ON”.
The First Commandment in Rushkoff’s
Program or Be Programmed
is “do not be
always on.” He proposes that networked digital technology is biased away from
continuous time, depending instead on command intervals to parse existence. As the
speed and availability of networked connections grow, we become more and more
attached to the constant stream of information that is always running, updating to our
phones, laptops and inboxes. In this chapter, Rushkoff explores how this tendency to
be “always on” changes our ability to engage with the world around us. He reminds us
that paying attention to the digital distractions is still a choice and that we don’t have
to surrender our time to technology that has no use for it.
TRY AN ACTIVITY
Live for 24 hours without being online. Keep a journal
about your experience. Report in your journal about
how often you missed being online or
absent-mindedly went online, forgetting you were
not going to go online for 24 hours? Discuss in
your journal how you felt about giving up email,
Facebook, Words with Friends, or other activities
you may engage in with
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others or alone online.
Reflect on your experience with the group.
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“do not be
always on”
– Rushkoff
“
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EXPLORE FURTHER WITH THESE LINKS
The 10,000 Year Clock
Rushkoff’s PDF Study Guide
Turkle, Sherry.
Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology
& Less from Each Other.
Cambridge, MA.: Basic Books, 2011.
The National Day Of Unplugging
“live in person”
– Rushkoff
“
Solnit, Rebecca. 2004.
River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge
and the Technological Wild West.
Penguin Books.
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