The Large Problem With Medium
On changing the narrative of ourselves
My resume does an okay job communicating myself: I’m a Public Policy major, but I also have experience in product design, marketing, photography, etc. And yet, my business card can do more in a single word: “Storyteller”. The word always sparks a conversation about why I chose it. Many think it’s artistic, or just plain vague. For me, it’s a way to explain why I do what I do, rather than simply what I do. I know how to use policy, software, and photos to write a narrative, but the point isn’t the tools — it’s my love for stories. Categorizing myself by my tools is to risk defining an author by her pen.
As I progress through my third year of college, I’ve done a lot of reflecting on questions society seems particularly keen on my answers to right about now: Who am I? How do I become that person? In my own thoughts and speaking with peers, I’ve noticed that we’re very concerned with what others want to do, rather than why. As a result, we tend to define them in terms of tools—”He’s into finance”, “She works in medicine”—rather than their motivations. Whether we do this because it is simple, comforting, or otherwise, I’m not sure, but it’s problematic in a way that extends beyond pure semantics. Our propensity to understand ourselves in terms of media distracts from our objectives because it invites us to create categories that divide and oversimplify our world. It’s easy to get trapped in confining yourself to your medium, to believe that you and others are fundamentally opposed despite sharing a common mission.
I myself am a victim of labels. For my abilities in software, friends often call me a “tech person”; I also self-identify as a “hacker”. I’m really quite proud of these monikers, but to embrace them I often feel as if I have to distance myself from those who don’t see themselves the same way. In the way people around me speak and act, there appears to be a rift between technology, hackers, and the rest of society—including storytellers.
But dividing “tech people” from other people, misrepresents the world as it is. Technology is not a vacuum solution, or an end in itself—technology represents a means to an end. Those working to solve “tech problems” are indirectly pursuing answers to problems in the natural world, which is why many designers of technology will claim the best design is “invisible” or “natural”. In short, the point of technology is not its medium. It’s the purpose of that medium, the problem it’s trying to solve. “Tech people” are just people, solving problems with a particular medium. Likewise, Mark Zuckerberg isn’t so different from a relative trying to organize a family reunion; in the end, they’re both trying to solve a need for connection.
This leads me to the label “Hacker”: popular culture tends to associate this label to images of covert spies cracking bank passwords. Less popular culture, still, confounds the term with the use of computers. These too are misleading. As sites like Lifehacker.com illustrate, hacking is not about the medium but rather how resourcefully it is used. One can hack everything from cooking food to tying shoes. Hackers tend use technology as a medium because it happens to be a resourceful medium for solving problems.
Just as the significance of technology and hacking extend far beyond their media, the point of this essay (rant) extends beyond correcting the stereotypes of any one concept. We all inhabit a similar planet with similar constraints; inevitably, we’re probably after some of the same answers. Life cannot be solved through a single medium, which is why as a society we need to deconstruct the labels which constrain our minds and limit our collaboration. As a smart boss of mine once said, “Always look for the intent, behind the intent.” We can all become greater problem-solvers when we look past the tools of others and instead concentrate on their purpose. In doing so, we might just find ourselves united in a cause greater than any one of us alone can challenge.
Whether or not you’re intrigued by anything you’ve read here, please check out the Hackathon Hackers movement. For more on me, visit my website.
