Xastol – ManifestoReading

From the manifesto reading, Tenet #1 is the most compelling to me. Tenet #1 says that the Critical Engineer looks at technology and its effects on the well-being of society. If this technology proves to be a possible threat to said society, then the Critical Engineer’s job is to evaluate the threat and propose a change/solution regardless of any legal protections. I think this is interesting because a Critical Engineer could be anyone in society. I feel like this tenet says it’s up to the people that make up the social structure to determine if the technology is a possible threat and whether to abolish, change, or keep it.

An example of this tenet is obvious in intellectual property laws. Although the entire point of intellectual property laws are to give ownership to technology/work, there are cases where information/technology is seen as public domain and deemed imperative that citizens have access.