james williams

CRASSH is delighted to invite you to the book launch for Stand Out of Our Light: Freedom and Resistance in the Attention Economy by James Williams, winner of the inaugural Nine Dots Prize. This event is free and open to the public, and a drinks reception will follow the event. Author: James Williams (University of Oxford) Discussants: Maria Farrell (Writer and Technology Consultant) John Naughton (The Observer's Technology Correspondent) WINNER OF THE INAUGURAL $100,000 NINE DOTS PRIZE Stand Out of Our Light: Freedom and Resistance in the Attention Economy Published by Cambridge University Press on 31 May 2018 Paperback or Open Access Former Google advertising executive, now Oxford-trained philosopher James Williams launches a plea to society and to the tech industry to help ensure that the technology we all carry with us every day does not distract us from pursuing our true goals in life. As information becomes ever more plentiful, the resource that is becoming more scarce is our attention. In this 'attention economy', we need to recognise the fundamental impacts of our new information environment on our lives in order to take back control. Drawing on insights ranging from Diogenes to contemporary tech leaders, Williams's thoughtful and impassioned analysis is sure to provoke discussion and debate. Williams is the inaugural winner of the Nine Dots Prize, a new Prize for creative thinking that tackles contemporary social issues.

CRASSH is delighted to invite you to the book launch for Stand Out of Our Light: Freedom and Resistance in the Attention Economy by James Williams, winner of the inaugural Nine Dots Prize. This event is free and open to the public, and a drinks reception will follow the event. Author: James Williams (University of Oxford) Discussants: Maria Farrell (Writer and Technology Consultant) John Naughton (The Observer's Technology Correspondent) WINNER OF THE INAUGURAL $100,000 NINE DOTS PRIZE Stand Out of Our Light: Freedom and Resistance in the Attention Economy Published by Cambridge University Press on 31 May 2018 Paperback or Open Access Former Google advertising executive, now Oxford-trained philosopher James Williams launches a plea to society and to the tech industry to help ensure that the technology we all carry with us every day does not distract us from pursuing our true goals in life. As information becomes ever more plentiful, the resource that is becoming more scarce is our attention. In this 'attention economy', we need to recognise the fundamental impacts of our new information environment on our lives in order to take back control. Drawing on insights ranging from Diogenes to contemporary tech leaders, Williams's thoughtful and impassioned analysis is sure to provoke discussion and debate. Williams is the inaugural winner of the Nine Dots Prize, a new Prize for creative thinking that tackles contemporary social issues.

James Williams, winner of the inaugural $100,000 Nine Dots Prize, Oxford doctoral candidate and former Google employee, explains his answer to the set question, 'Are digital technologies making politics impossible?'. Here's a sneak peek. James Williams, a former Google employee and doctoral candidate researching design ethics at Oxford University, won the inaugural US$100,000 Nine Dots Prize with his entry, Stand Out of Our Light: Freedom and Persuasion in the Attention Economy. Challenged to answer the question 'Are digital technologies making politics impossible?', James argued yes, digital technologies are making all forms of politics worth having impossible as they privilege our impulses over our intentions and are 'designed to exploit our psychological vulnerabilities in order to direct us toward goals that may or may not align with our own'. In this event, he will cover: How the 'distractions' produced by digital technologies are much more profound than minor ‘annoyances’ How so-called 'persuasive' design is undermining the human will and ‘militating against the possibility of all forms of self-determination’ How beginning to 'assert and defend our freedom of attention' is an urgent moral and political task This event is organised by CRASSH in collaboration with the Nine Dots Prize and Cambridge University Press.

James Williams, winner of the inaugural $100,000 Nine Dots Prize, Oxford doctoral candidate and former Google employee, explains his answer to the set question, 'Are digital technologies making politics impossible?'. Here's a sneak peek. James Williams, a former Google employee and doctoral candidate researching design ethics at Oxford University, won the inaugural US$100,000 Nine Dots Prize with his entry, Stand Out of Our Light: Freedom and Persuasion in the Attention Economy. Challenged to answer the question 'Are digital technologies making politics impossible?', James argued yes, digital technologies are making all forms of politics worth having impossible as they privilege our impulses over our intentions and are 'designed to exploit our psychological vulnerabilities in order to direct us toward goals that may or may not align with our own'. In this event, he will cover: How the 'distractions' produced by digital technologies are much more profound than minor ‘annoyances’ How so-called 'persuasive' design is undermining the human will and ‘militating against the possibility of all forms of self-determination’ How beginning to 'assert and defend our freedom of attention' is an urgent moral and political task This event is organised by CRASSH in collaboration with the Nine Dots Prize and Cambridge University Press.