Being Free in the Digital Age
James Williams
How can we lead meaningful lives amidst relentless and powerful forms of digital distraction? Ex-Google strategist turned Oxford ethicist James Williams invites us to rethink technology and take back control.
About the Instructor
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James Williams
Former Google Strategist James Williams is now an ethicist at the Oxford Internet Institute working on how the evolution of digital technology impacts society. His work Stand Out of Our Light won the Nine Dots Prize in 2018 and has been at the forefront of a new wave of digital ethics.
Course Syllabus
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Part One: Look OutHow is our attention being so effectively monopolised? Williams exposes the digital tricks corrupting our minds.
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Part Two: Look AwayHow can we liberate ourselves? Williams shares his vision of ethical tech designed to nurture, not distract.
Suggested Further Readings
Schüll, N. (2014) Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas, Princeton University Press.
Williams, J. (2018) Stand out of Our Light: Freedom and Resistance in the Attention Economy, Cambridge University Press.
Postman, N. (1987) Amusing Ourselves to Death, Mentheun.
