Reading 01: Identity

Readings

The readings for this week revolve around identity, culture, and the general meritocratic ethos of the tech industry. In particular, we will focus on the Hacker Culture and how that has had an impact on the perception of what it means to be a computer scientist or engineer.

  1. Programmers: Stop Calling Yourselves Engineers

  2. Bridges, Software Engineering, and God

  3. Hackers and Painters

  4. Mark Zuckerberg's Letter to Investors: The Hacker Way

  5. The Capitol of Meritocracy is Silicon Valley, Not Wall Street

  6. The Dehumanizing Myth of the Meritocracy

Optional: Hackers

These additional readings further explore what it means to be a hacker and the culture that has been built up around this image.

  1. The Conscience of a Hacker

  2. A Portrait of J. Random Hacker

  3. The Word "Hacker" and Great Hackers

  4. How yuppies hacked the original hacker ethos

  5. The Unexotic Underclass

Optional: Meritocracy

These additional readings further explore the notion of meritocracy, which is a central tenet in the technology industry.

  1. The Post-Meritocracy Manifesto

  2. Naive meritocracy and the meanings of myth

  3. Why hiring the ‘best’ people produces the least creative results

  4. Silicon Valley Isn't a Meritocracy. And It's Dangerous to Hero-Worship Entrepreneurs

  5. How Life Became an Endless, Terrible Competition

Quiz

Once you have completed the readings, fill out the following quiz:

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