Foundations Session 8: Seeing Technology Like a State - Charles Yang (in-person)

​What role does the state play in shaping technology? And correspondingly, how can we think about the different roles and positions from which we might want to shape the development of technology?

​In this session, we'll discuss, debate, and discourse about:

• ​Who drives technological change — the state, or the market?

• ​Who is a "public technologist" and how are they distinct from the other shapes a technologist can take? Who are examples of effective public technologists?

• ​miscellaneous topics, such as: what we can learn from DOGE, what do think tanks actually do, and what does it mean to be politically affiliated with one party?

​Optional pre-read: a speech by Admiral Hyman Rickover, Father of the Nuclear Navy, on "Administering A Large Military Development Project"

​(If you wanna come to the remote session instead, click here)