"I think we have a listening problem" -Stephanie from NYC (name changed)

I interview six people, explore expert opinions (and share my own) re: why it can be tough to have difficult conversations today.

Can scrolling be good for you? Yes, if you take out the doom. I explore different perspectives on scrolling, based on Harvard Medical School research, and a perspective from a UVA Professor on 'hope scrolling'.

• NYC volunteer opportunities
• Boston volunteer opportunities
• LA volunteer opportunities
• Amsterdam volunteer opportunities
• London volunteer opportunities

In this season two trailer, I share milestones and insights from season one including:

• ​Several keynotes, seminars, and talks across the U.S. and Europe, centered around Progression to Analog and related ideas
• ​Upcoming speaking engagements, including World Summit AI and Brain Bar
• ​The growth of Progression to Analog

I recap the first season of Progression to Analog and its three core themes:

1. ​Sociotechnical AI & Communication
2. ​Emotional Techscapes
3. ​Innovation Through Imagination & Failure

AND... I outline some of the upcoming topics for season two!

Book recommendations; out-of-print technology magazines across nine decades; the spectacular and the everyday; what's next? (in terms of our relationship with tech); general reflections after getting home from doing one of the keynotes at AESC's Global Conference at Cornell Tech. My talk was called "From AI to Analog: A Balanced Approach to the New Digital Landscape".

On 26 April 2024, I delivered an educational seminar at Columbia University. This episode of Progression to Analog is an audio / video (slides) transcription of this talk on Neurodiversity in the Workplace!

By some estimations, neurodiverse people make up ~17-20% of the workforce. A myriad of studies and outlets such as Harvard Business Review highlight neurodiversity as a competitive advantage to be embraced in the future of work. For example, neurodivergent people tend to have higher chaos tolerance. In my seminar, (among other topics) I discussed how the unique abilities of neurodiverse individuals, such as hyperfocus, creativity, and exceptional pattern recognition, can dramatically enhance team performance and drive innovation.

I also highlight how "Progression to Analog" as a tool for neurodiverse workplace success. I will be following up with more tips related to this in a future episode of this podcast.

If you're listening to this via Apple Podcasts and want to see the slides, the talk may also be accessed on YouTube via this link.

On 28 May at re:publica in Berlin, Harvard Business School Professor Amy Edmondson and I (Caitlin Begg) will be speaking together in a joint talk called "Freedom to Fail".

Amy is 2x #1 Management Thinker in the World Per Thinkers50 and author of "Right Kind of Wrong," 2023 Financial Times and Schroder's Business Book of the Year.

In this short episode of Progression to Analog, we speak more about re:publica and our upcoming talk, which centers around who has the freedom to fail, failure as a privilege, technology's tendency to exacerbate these issues, and what to do about them. More about our upcoming talk here.

Founded in 2007, republica GmbH's re:publica Berlin is Europe's largest digital society festival. re:publica participants represent a cross-section of (digital) society, which include professionals from economics, politics, business, hacker culture, NGOs, media, and marketing, as well as bloggers, activists, artists, and social media experts.

Invented by French writer Alfred Jarry in early 20th century France, ‘pataphysics is often defined as the science of imaginary solutions, the realm beyond the possible (additional to metaphysics), or as a way to describe a universe supplementary to this one.

In this episode of Progression to Analog, Apocraphyl Pataphysics author Peter Clarke and I discuss the influence of pataphysics on art (Surrealism, Dadaism, etc.), creative outputs, perceptions of reality, futurism, and more. We also speak about portals, shadow worlds, syzygy, clinamen, pseudo-cyclical time, psychogeography (upcoming episode on this!), non-places, and urban mythology.

Some of the articles referenced in the episode:

• Pataphysics: A Tool for Creativity by Peter Clarke
• What Happened to Patapsychology? by Peter Clarke
• What the Suburb Haters Don't Understand Julie Beck, the Atlantic

Recommended Reading:

• ⁠Apocraphyl Pataphysics⁠⁠
• 'Pataphysics: A Useless Guide
• 'Pataphysics Wikipedia Page

Peter Clarke:

• Personal Website
• Podcast - Team Futurism

I felt an inexplicable feeling a few weeks ago, and turned to GPT-4 to help explain it. I was feeling nostalgia for a time I've never known, a longing for an unexperienced past. GPT identified this as "anemoia".

In this episode, I explain anemoia, relate it to technology (as it pertains to childhood, college, etc.) and especially to NYU Professor Jonathan Haidt's book "The Anxious Generation", a paradigm-shifting book calling for a move away from a phone-based childhood and back toward a play-based childhood. A PROGRESSION TO ANALOG.

"The desire to play returns to destroy the hierarchical society which banished it" -Raoul Vaneigem

In this episode, I speak with Zurich-based entrepreneur, author, speaker, and scientist Dr. Christian Hugo Hoffmann. We first speak about Christian's entrepreneurial and professional endeavors, including House of Lab Science AG and TECHNOPARK® Zürich, and then (~18 min in) about his book "The Quest for a Universal Theory of Intelligence: The Mind, The Machine, and Singularity Hypotheses".

Dr. Christian Hugo Hoffmann's book proposes a universal theory of intelligence which is based on causal learning as the central theme of intelligence. The goal is not just to describe, but mainly to explain queries like why one kind of intelligence is more intelligent than another, whatsoever the intelligence. Shiny terms like "strong AI," "superintelligence," "singularity" or "artificial general intelligence" that have been coined by a Babylonian confusion of tongues are clarified on the way.

Learn more about Christian on his personal website and on his LinkedIn.

Radical futurist, tech critic, independent industry analyst, and interdisciplinary researcher Sara M. Watson and I discuss "A People's History of Technology" in this episode, which she co-founded and curates (with Emily Best). Recently featured at SXSW and Sundance, A People’s History of Tech is a collective storytelling project. Popular histories of technology often focus on lone inventors or technical innovations. A People's History of Tech wants to capture the full spectrum of the lived experience of technology.

We also speak about Sara's prior research at Oxford Internet Institute re: data privacy and social impacts of technology.

Additionally, I reference University of Cambridge Professor Caroline Bassett's "Anti-Computing".

You can learn more and submit your story to A People's History of Tech here, and you can keep up with Sara via her LinkedIn and website.

A People's History of Tech will also be at The Conference 2024 in Malmö, Sweden (27-28 August)!

One issue organizations are dealing with right now: how do we move AI from a buzzword to something that actually impacts our organization?

Along these lines, in this episode I discuss the importance of a sociotechnical (think: joint optimization of people + technology) approach in workplace AI adoption as well as in sales and communication strategy.

Gordon Tobin and I speak about insights regarding the social and technical sides of sales, how to avoid 'spam culture', Gordon’s life philosophies, Irish culture and the ‘nation of storytellers’, the Dublin tech ecosystem and European tech ecosystem more broadly, tips to approach sales in this over-saturated digital age, ways to stay present in everyday life, and more. 

Gordon is a Dublin-based global sales leader, having successfully run and managed sales teams across NAMER, EMEA, and APAC. He was employee number ten at LinkedIn, and was there for over eight years. He was a founding member of the first sales development team at LinkedIn, and after time as an account executive in Dublin, he relocated his life and bult out LinkedIn’s Perth office as their first employee there. He also helped to build out LInkedIn’s early in career talent programs, including the (now sunset) Business Leadership Program, where I started my career. 

Gordon was at G2 for four and a half years... from starting at  G2 in San Francisco as VP of Commercial Sales, to moving to North Carolina, leading americas Mid-Market Sales and Customer Success, and finally wrapping up his time there in his hometown of Dublin as VP & General Manager of EMEA.

Gordon just announced his "next play" (LinkedIn terminology for next career move at TestGorilla, an Amsterdam-based company that prides itself on identifying the best talent faster, easier, and bias-free. TestGorilla says that their "affordable tests replace subjective, incomplete, and often inflated resumes with objective, reliable, and fair results that measure aptitude, practical job skills, culture add, and motivation".

From a ⁠Baudrillardian (versus ⁠Bostrum-esque)⁠ angle of simulation theory, I discuss why we live in a simulation, what that means in terms of everyday life, and how we can deal with it.

"THE SIMULACRUM IS NEVER WHAT HIDES THE TRUTH—IT IS TRUTH THAT HIDES THE FACT THAT THERE IS NONE. THE SIMULACRUM IS TRUE."

-Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation (1981)

I discuss why you should stop checking your phone when you wake up, benefits to ditching your smartphone in the bedroom, sleep inertia and sleep drunkenness, how I decreased my screen time by 65%, and more.

Some references from the episode:

• MindBodySpace podcast episode: Two Simple Steps To Ditch Your Phone From Your Morning Routine So That You Can Focus and Be Happier
• MindBodySpace podcast episode: How to Decrease Anxiety and Get Focused in a Hyper Texting Digital World with Caitlin Begg
• Waking up is the hardest thing I do all day: Sleep inertia and sleep drunkenness (2018 US study)
• Using Wake-Up Tasks for Morning Behavior Change: Development and Usability Study (2022 Korean study)
• Sleeping with the frenemy: How restricting ‘bedroom use’ of smartphones impacts happiness and wellbeing (2018 UK study).
• Beginning the workday yet already depleted? Consequences of late-night smartphone use and sleep (2014 US Study)
• 
  Everyday Conversation: The Effect of Asynchronous Communication and Hypercommunication on Daily Interaction and Sociotechnical Systems
  

Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and I discuss his new book Guardrails: Guiding Human Decisions in the Age of AI (co-written with Urs Gasser, who I also had the pleasure of meeting at his book talk at NYU). In Guardrails, the authors suggest that in the age of AI, a focus on data is mistaken, or at least dangerously incomplete. Because AI's real promise isn't better access to insights; it is improved decisions. The more we realize humans' cognitive flaws and experience the power of data-driven machine learning, the more we are tempted to delegate decision agency to the machine.

What we need to focus on is no longer network governance, nor data governance, it's decision governance. And for this focus, we are conceptually ill prepared. To jump-start the discussion, Guardrails puts forward four design principles for decision governance and suggest that the real innovation we need to make it happen is less technical than social.

--

Viktor Mayer-Schönberger is Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at the Oxford Internet Institute / Oxford University. He is also a faculty affiliate of the Belfer Center of Science and International Affairs at Harvard University. In addition to "Guardrails: Guiding Human Decisions in the Age of AI", Mayer-Schönberger has published nine books (including “Framers”, international bestseller "Big Data" and the awards-winning “Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age” with Princeton University Press) and is the author of over a hundred articles and book chapters on the information economy.

After successes in the International Physics Olympics and the Austrian Young Programmers Contest, Mayer-Schönberger studied in Salzburg, Harvard and at the London School of Economics. In 1986 he founded Ikarus Software, a company focusing on data security and developed the Virus Utilities, which became the best-selling Austrian software product. He was voted Top-5 Software Entrepreneur in Austria in 1991 and Person of the Year for the State of Salzburg in 2000. 

He is a frequent public speaker, and sought expert for print and broadcast media worldwide. He and his work have been featured in (among others) New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Economist, Nature, Science, NPR, BBC, The Guardian, Le Monde, and WIRED. He is also on the boards of foundations, think tanks and organizations focused on studying the information economy, and advises governments, businesses and NGOs on new economy and information society issues. 

More about Guardrails

2x #1 management thinker in the world (per Thinkers50) and Harvard Business School Professor Amy Edmondson and I speak about her new book Right Kind of Wrong, centered around the science of failing well. We uncover the secrets behind intelligent failures, social media's impact on our views of success, and how we can befriend failure (specifically referencing entrepreneurship, athletics, parenthood, and more).

Amy Edmondson is the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School, a chair established to support the study of human interactions that lead to the creation of successful enterprises that contribute to the betterment of society. 

Amy has been recognized by the biannual Thinkers50 global ranking of management thinkers since 2011, and most recently was ranked #1 management thinker in the world in 2021 and 2023.  

Amy’s latest book, Right Kind of Wrong, builds on her prior work on psychological safety and teaming to provide a framework for thinking about, discussing, and practicing the science of failing well. 

The book is due to be translated into 24 additional languages, and in December 2023, was the first mainstream management book ever to win the Financial Times and Schroders Best Business Book of the Year award.

More about Amy

Right Kind of Wrong

In this episode, I discuss practical sociotechnical approaches to enterprise artificial intelligence adoption (especially for small and medium sized businesses) with Helsinki-based Dr. Anna Lahtinen.

Curiously, artificial intelligence could lead us toward a more human everyday—Anna outlines how we may approach this.

We also discuss:

• Empowering SMEs with Artificial Intelligence - 173 page free guide written by Anna and her colleague Iris Humala
• aistories.fi - AI stories of companies
• AI in business free course from Anna and her team at Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences; target group is management and representatives of SMEs (small and medium enterprises) who are interested in developing business with the help of artificial intelligence

Dr. Anna Lahtinen, DBA is a Senior Researcher at Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences in Helsinki, Finland. Anna specializes in the transformation of work life from the perspectives of the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI), evolution of psychological contract, gender roles and women careers. 

Anna has over 20 years of industry, entrepreneurial, startup and academic experience in Finland, across Europe and globally. Anna is an internationally published scholar and a Recipient of “Academic Paper Most Relevant to Entrepreneurs Award” presented by United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship. 

In the research and development projects led by Anna, over 150 companies and organizations have been supported in the past three years to explore AI opportunities and develop AI solutions tailored to their business needs.

Anna and I first met at WORK2023, a future of work conference in Turku, Finland this summer. At the conference, Anna presented alongside Martti Asikainen and Eija Kärnä in the digitalisiation and robotics in working life track, "AI and Robotics in Knowledge Work: Towards Sustainable Value Co-Creation".

My presentations at WORK2023: "Everyday Conversation: The Effect of Asynchronous Communication and Hypercommunication on Daily Interaction and Sociotechnical Systems"; "Joint Optimization of Social and Technical Systems to Effect Organizational Change"; "A Sociotechnical Approach to Digital Communication Dysfunction Avoidance in Remote and Hybrid Work Settings".

In this episode, I discuss my research on the immediacy-driven and self-referential nature of digital communication—which short-circuts attention spans, desire, and anticipation.

I also reference Max Fisher's "The Chaos Machine" and Schmargendorf, Germany; more specifically, German researchers who proved a link between Facebook use and violence.

Additionally, I speak about French sociologist Jean Baudrillard's "hypercommunication" (excess inbound or outbound communication, often precipitated by technology) and South Korean/German philosopher Byung-Chul Han's notion of "pornographic communication" (communication that reveals everything, eliminating mystery and depth) and what we can do to avoid both.

Follow Progression to Analog on Instagram @progression2analog

progressiontoanalog.net

caitybegg.com

In this "Progression to Analog" episode, we dive into the heart of love and technology with London-based journalist Ria Wolstenholme. We unwrap the digital dating dilemma, reminisce over analog allure, and share secrets from our digital detox diaries—focusing on how to balance our screen-saturated lives with the craving for genuine human touch. Join us for an intimate journey from swiping screens to sealing letters, all while navigating the tightrope of today's tech-tangled relationships. This episode is perfect for those who cherish depth, authenticity, and a touch of old-school romance in the digital age.

Ria Wolstenholme is a freelance journalist and editor, writing for the likes of BBC Storyworks, GLAMOUR UK and Mashable with a background in news and broadcasting journalism as well as public relations. She grew up in Jersey, Channel Islands and is now living in London and building her portfolio as a writer.

• Ria's Substack "In Order to Bloom"
• Ria's Instagram (@riawolstenholme)
• Ria's Mashable article on cuffing season
• Ria's BBC article on the hidden victims of gaslighting
• Finding the magic: the comfort in nostalgia

Follow PROGRESSION TO ANALOG on Instagram: ⁠@progression2analog⁠

progressiontoanalog.net

authentic.social

caitybegg.com

Combining my research from the Responsible Artificial Intelligence Forum (Munich, September 2023) with actionable insights and 'PROGRESSION TO ANALOG'.

I aim for you to emerge from 'Progression to Analog' not only with practical strategies for a more human-centered and technologically balanced personal and professional life, but also with a nuanced comprehension of the underlying structures shaping the broader aspects of technological modernity.

My name is Caitlin Begg and I’m the founder of Authentic Social and sociological researcher. I wrote my 2016 Harvard sociology thesis on technology’s effect on relationships, and since 2022 I’ve been conducting independent research on technology’s effect on conversation, sociotechnical systems, and ethical AI - essentially, how technology shapes the way we speak to each other, form relationships, build organizations, and how we can take a more proactive approach to constructing everyday life amidst technological modernity. I’ve presented my research at conferences across the US and Europe, and my work is grounded in European sociology and philosophy. On the PROGRESSION TO ANALOG podcast, I’ll be speaking with academics and practitioners across Europe about ways to explore a more human everyday. Episodes will come in two formats - first, a more academic and philosophical conversation with experts, followed by a simplified, practical, shortened version. My hope is that these podcasts will help you to create an everyday life, both personal and professional, with a more balanced approach to technology. The transformation of everyday life toward a more human daily existence filled with unmediated experiences begins with a PROGRESSION TO ANALOG. 

A year ago today, I launched the trailer for Progression to Analog. Twelve months later, I'm reflecting on what a year it was—speaking about Progression to Analog at conferences and universities across the United States and Europe.

From Columbia University and keynoting AESC in New York; to re:publica and Tech Open Air in Berlin; to MOME and Brain Bar in Budapest; to World Summit AI in Amsterdam, I shared the core tenants of Progression to Analog and sociotechnical design with thousands live, as well as listeners across 39 countries. I can't wait for what's ahead! Tune in next Wednesday for more.

I explore how phones have shifted the modern concert experience, as well as attending a concert in 2024 without documenting it. I also explore artists' and music lovers' opinions on the matter.

Some of the references from the episode:

The unexpected social consequences of diverting attention to our phones (2022 Princeton Psychology, NYU, and Princeton Neuroscience Institute Study)

fallingforyou - Live from the O2. London. 16.12.16. (Matty Healy / the 1975)

Are You Really There? The Mediatized Experience of the 21st Century Concert-Goer (Erica Felice Melamed)

Just as hostages affected by Stockholm Syndrome may rationalize their captor’s actions, we often rationalize inappropriate or manipulative behaviors related to screens. 

This is a phenomenon that I call “coincé dans l’écran”, or being “stuck in the screen”.  

I explore blocking from a sociological perspective.

References:

• ⁠⁠Block Party: How Blocking Someone Became a Dating Power Move⁠⁠
• ⁠⁠Psychopolitics⁠⁠ by Byung-Chul Han
• ⁠⁠Simulacra and Simulation⁠⁠ by Jean Baudrillard

Episodes every Wednesday, welcome to season two!

In this episode, Amsterdam-based Senior Principal at Software Improvement Group (SIG) Rob van der Veer and I discuss AI readiness.

Rob is an experienced technologist, advisor, successful entrepreneur, and keynote speaker. He is the author of AI standards including ISO/IEC 5338 and the EU AI Act security standard.

We discuss the importance of buy-in, learning, a sociotechnical approach to AI adoption, guardrails, the GAIL method, and more.

Rob is the author of SIG's recent AI readiness guide, which you can download here for free. SIG's AI readiness guide equips organizations with practical steps to navigate challenges and capitalize on opportunities with AI.

Rob is also the author of Luna and the Magic AI Paintbrush, a children's book about AI available in English, Spanish, and Dutch.

Other resources:

• Connect with Rob on LinkedIn here
• My talk with HBS's Amy Edmondson (referenced in the episode)

In this episode of Progression to Analog, listen to Harvard Business School Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management Amy Edmondson & Authentic Social Founder and Sociological Researcher Caitlin Begg speak about who has the freedom to fail, failure as a privilege, technology's tendency to exacerbate these issues, and what to do about them. This video is from their joint talk together at re:publica in Berlin on 28 May 2024.

Edmondson and Begg will explore the paradox of failure in the context of technological advancements, highlighting how digital platforms and AI can both facilitate and hinder equitable opportunities for failure and growth.

They'll address the critical role of organizational culture in creating spaces where failure is not merely tolerated but is seen as a vital component of learning and discovery.

The dialogue aims to dissect the mechanisms through which technology perpetuates workplace inequality and propose actionable strategies to mitigate these effects, fostering a more inclusive environment where all individuals have the liberty to fail and learn.

In this mini episode, I speak about the contents of my ⁠masterclass at MOME⁠ (an art an design university in Budapest) and ⁠session at Brain Bar⁠ (Europe's largest festival on the future).

Full-length season two episodes begin Wednesday 2 October!