What the 1500s can teach us about Digital Enlightenment
There has been a lot of press recently around the 500 year anniversary of the Protestant Reformation in Germany. Parallel to that, we are seeing the omnipresent debates and discussions about the role of technology in our lives and the importance of educating more people in the field of computer science. You may now ask what the reformation of a religion 500 years ago has in common with the technology-driven world we live in today. I want to show how we can actually learn from the reformation movement and its critical examination of the religious status quo at the time in order to question our understanding, usage and often blind dependance on computer science and it's underlying frameworks and codes. Quick note on my intentions here: This is not meant to be a pessimistic take on technology or the internet or computers, nor should it be understood as promoting any religious beliefs. I just want to use the historical context in order to encourage us to question and learn more