Hacker Philosophy

In the original meaning of the word, hackers are enthusiastic computer programmers who share their work with others; they are not computer criminals. This is the book that cracks the stigma of the hacker and articulates their invaluable role in the information age.

The Math Myth expands Hacker's scrutiny of many widely held assumptions, like the notions that mathematics broadens our minds and that the entire Common Core syllabus should be required of every student. He worries that a frenzied emphasis on STEM is diverting attention from other pursuits and subverting the spirit of the country. In fact, Hacker honors mathematics as a calling (he has been a professor of mathematics) and extols its glories and its goals.

The Moral Powers: A Study of Human Nature is a philosophical investigation of the moral potentialities and sensibilities of human beings, of the meaning of human life, and of the place of death in life. It is an essay in philosophical anthropology: the study of the conceptual framework in terms of which we think about, speak about, and investigate homo sapiens as a social and cultural animal. This volume examines the diversity of values in human life and the place of moral value within the varieties of values.

What every human wants is fairness, a chance to belong that offers everyone opportunities to get ahead by our own merit and a say when decisions are made. Even before the global upheavals, our system was failing - it wasn’t fair at all. Now that it’s unraveling, it’s time for a new arrangement that’s actually sustainable on our resource-depleted planet that doesn’t favor wealthy insiders. Those gorging on inequality will never accept reforms that strip away their unearned privileges, and so the only practical way forward is a Hacker’s Teleology.

Este libro pinta un vívido retrato de un movimiento internacional impulsado por ideas y prácticas extrañas y frecuentemente inquietantes, pero cuya obsesión por trascender las limitaciones humanas puede verse como una especie de microcosmos cultural, una intensificación radical de nuestra fe más amplia en el poder de la tecnología como motor del progreso humano. Es un estudio de carácter de la excentricidad humana y una meditación sobre el deseo inmemorial de trascender los hechos básicos de nuestra existencia animal, un deseo tan primordial como las religiones más antiguas.