tools for thought

Updated 10 months ago

writing in progress

“tools for thought” is a term that proceeds from a relatively simple notion: that the tools we use can affect, shape, and interact with the way we think. taken seriously, this concept encompasses a broad range of technologies, practices, and techniques, including language, writing, the printing press, and so on—it could even be expanded to consider the ways in which technology as a whole affects and mediates our understanding, interpretation, and interaction with the world.

in practice, however, this label often refers to computer software built with the intent of facilitating intellectual labor—writing, research, and so on. most narrowly and reductively, it refers to “personal knowledge management” tools—effectively note-taking software—where the hottest new software release ends up being peddled by productivity influencers as a catalyst for lifestyle change (e.g., people who use productivity tools to plan videos talking about productivity tools—specifically how those tools are helping them to plan videos about…).

can tools shape the way we think? can they create types of thinking that were not possible before? can they forclose ways of thinking? to say yes to this question, i think, is not controversial. perhaps the better question to ask is: in what way?

a tool, stripped of its relationship to its user, its practices, and its socioeconomic context, is inert. it is not the tool on its own, but instead the relationships that tool is implicated in—the dynamic, push, pull—where in a tool shifts and shapes us, as we also shape it.

it should be said very clearly that this dynamic, in reality, is often not equaninmous. tools are implicated in large social dynamics and economic behaviors, where users are frequently shaped and shifted at the behest of the larger pressures.

this lack of equanimity remains relevant at the level of a single individual’s behavior, which cannot be separated from these larger considerations. our cultural obsession with convenience, productivity, speed, and scale all impact and affect how we choose to use our tools and the kinds of tools we choose to make—which then, in turn, re-encode and re-inforce these embedded values as they become broadly adopted within society.

does culture drive the tools, or do the tools drive the culture? this is a false dichotomy—but that is not the same as saying that technologies are somehow neutral, or blameless.

but relevant, too, is the concept of a gradient of effort.

for example—

cameras introduced a new way of seeing, experiencing, and interacting with the world: this is true. buying an expensive camera will not make you any better of a photographer: this is also true.

true growth as a photographer comes from diligent practice of photography as a craft: understanding and applying composition, lighting, mastery of camera control, how to relate your subjects, story-telling, and so on. it will not come from equipment on its own.

to grow, you have to do the hard things first.