The Hackerspace

Hello World, I'm Tomasino.

This is SolarPunk Prompts,

a series for writers where we discuss SolarPunk,

a movement that imagines a world where technology is used

for the good of the planet.

In this series,

we spend each episode exploring this single SolarPunk story

prompt.

Adding some commentary, some inspirations,

and some considerations.

Most importantly,

we consider how that story might help us to better envision

a sustainable civilization.

If this is your first time here,

I'd recommend checking out our introduction episode first,

where we talk about what SolarPunk is, why you should care,

and why this series came into being.

Let's take a look at today's prompt.

A hackerspace sits within a city,

still clinging to their own ways while the rest of the

world changes.

Activists, technologists, inventors, and educators,

trying to show the communities around them that it's

possible to live differently,

while actively squabbling over who's plan is the best.

To really understand this prompt,

we need to unpack a few terms and ideas first.

The first is the term hacker,

which comes with a bit of controversy.

The term originates from MIT in the 1950s and 60s.

Historically, a hacker,

someone who is part of hacker culture,

can be best thought of as a creative problem solver and

tinkerer.

Specifically, the act of engaging in activities,

such as programming or working in other media,

with the spirit of playfulness and exploration,

is termed hacking.

The term was, and continues to be,

misused to describe people who break into communication.

computers or networks,

whether ethically to work in security or for personal gain

in criminal activity.

Computer specialists are still trying to reclaim the term

and differentiate between true hackers and what they would

call crackers, security hackers, or simply cyber criminals.

In this episode, and indeed in this entire podcast,

if I ever refer to hackers, hacking or hackerspaces,

I am most emphatically meaning the community of people who

live an ethos of information sharing, cooperation,

and clever, playful discovery.

In his 1984 book, Hackers,

Heroes of the Computer Revolution,

Stephen Levy traces the roots and development of hacker

culture across three decades of its inception.

He begins his book with a list of principles of the

culture.

Sharing.

Openness.

decentralization, free access to computers, information,

etc.

and world improvement.

In our prompt, we're told to envision a hacker space.

These are the playgrounds of the playful tinkerer.

Hacker spaces are community -operated physical places where

hackers come together to work on projects and socialize.

And since hackers have such a diverse set of interests,

those projects can vary tremendously.

If you were to walk into a hacker space,

it would be common to find a well -lit space with many

workstations, desks, and a plethora of machinery.

The walls would be a hodgepodge of shelving, pegboard,

mounts, lighting, whiteboards, and art.

And computers.

Many many computers.

The shelves would be covered in books, electronics,

components, but also with duct tape, hand tools, drills,

and textiles.

Their place is filled with well -organized messes.

Everything in its place,

but also filled to the brim with everything.

You may encounter someone building a community mesh

network, or somebody building LEDs into textiles.

Some hackers work exclusively in software,

and others never touch a computer at all.

The spirit of tinkering and playful exploration infuses it

all.

Let's look at some real -life examples for context.

Noisebridge, a hacker space in San Francisco,

teaches circuitry hacking on Mondays.

A writer's workshop on Tuesdays,

video game development on Wednesdays and Thursdays,

and host a sewing night every Friday.

In addition to those, and many other regular events,

they also undertake larger efforts in groups,

like monitoring the status of trees around the city,

or the construction of their massive wall made from LED lit

bottles.

which they use to display animated artwork.

Games, fabrication, music events, hacker spaces do it all.

Omnicommons in Oakland is home to nine collectives working

together in a massive shared space.

They offer open education programs to the public,

urban farming, DIY biology labs, film, video,

and I have a collective focused on providing free food.

Yet there's so much more they do,

we could spend the rest of this episode covering just their

community.

I'll share some links to these and other hacker spaces like

Hack Lab so you can explore their wikis and see what they

do, and also a virtual tour to get a look inside.

All right, with that vision in mind,

we're now returning to the prompt.

I've just spent the last several minutes painting you a

picture of these amazing places of discovery,

yet the prompt.

talks about the community squabbling over which plan is

best, and to be honest,

it's not unusual activity for a hacker space either.

This is a convergence of highly motivated people who excel

at and enjoy breaking things down to see how they work.

They spend their free time putting things together in

interesting ways.

Opinions are really not hard to find.

As writers,

what's difficult is to place ourselves mentally and

emotionally into each of these characters and fully embody

their passions.

These are not like the path seekers from our previous prom.

They aren't looking for their calling.

They've found it.

What will create conflict between them isn't the goal,

but the means.

One difficulty will be in capturing the different flavors

of these shared values to keep your characters unique and

avoid painting them all with the same brush.

It may be helpful to revisit a list of character archetypes

first.

Then without a mind,

you can turn and aim them back toward their shared problem,

let their values and hacker ethics pull them together,

and exploit their core differences for the squabbling

drama.

Another option is to consider a community like Omnicommons,

which houses several different collectives.

Each will have their own focus and want to push that method

forward.

The biggest difference in this setting versus a singular

system, like in the library we've discussed before,

is that these people, activists, technologists, inventors,

and educators, are already part of different communities.

They'll be here to meet an interface,

but they'll be focused on which is the best way to go

forward.

These interactions within the groups and between the groups

will bring new angles for social situations.

It's not just individuals who are bickering, but clubs,

workshops, educational institutions, and maybe even...

even outside groups.

Of all the prompts we've discussed so far,

this one is probably the easiest to use in a present -day

setting.

The recipe for everything is already here.

The world is moving on,

and this community wants to show everyone that it's

possible to live differently while they still struggle

internally, not with deception or intrigue,

but with the politics of a group who all wants what's best

and simply can't agree on where to start.

They know that there are movement making a world where

technology is used for the good of the planet.

Surely others will see that too, right?

If only they can decide how.

I'll caution you here to remember our SolarPunk guidelines.

The community as protagonist means that whichever way your

story goes and whatever the community decides to do,

it's the process that matters.

The defining characteristic of a hacker is not the

activities performed themselves,

but how it's done and whether it's exciting and meaningful.

When we say infrastructure is sexy,

but there are no simple solutions,

this is the essence of what we mean.

That solar -powered,

vertical farming robot harvester didn't just show up one

day.

There was sweat and tears.

But perseverance and shared values make for a resilient

culture.

And finally,

don't lose sight that this is all about the human

environmental context.

This hackerspace is there to save the world by showing

everyone else how to live in balance with it and how

technology can help.

Now if I've done my job right,

you're probably sitting there thinking about how cool

hackerspaces sound and wondering whether there's one near

you.

I'd start by checking out hackerspaces .org.

They keep a very up -to -date list of locations all around

the globe.

Once you find something nearby,

check out their website to find out if they're into the

same things you are.

And then join them for an open meeting.

Most hackerspaces have a regular meeting that's open to the

public where you can meet other hackers and try things out,

see if you're interested.

And if you're ever in Iceland,

come check out ours in Reykjavik.

Alright, thanks for joining me.

I'll talk to you next time on the next SolarPunk prompt.

Music in this recording is Astro Botany by Your Discovery

from Global Patterns Compilation,

SolarPunk of Brighter Perspective.

from Global Patterns Compilation,

from Global Patterns Compilation,