THE AV INTERVIEW #136

Conducted by: Troy Anderson

Owner/Editor-Chief of AndersonVision (www.andersonvision.com)

Subject:

Charlie Boswell

(author GLOBAL NERDING AND THE AUTISTIC PLANET)

 Global Nerding and the Autistic Planet © – 2007 Charles R. Boswell Jr.

The mind should be able to soar high like a bird without any frameworks.  This graphic from the book is intended to illustrate the end result of Global Nerding if left unchecked.   Our minds will behave like blind birds in wheel chairs no longer able to fly or even walk.   The planet will reach nerd equilibrium…..The Autistic Planet is a world where social intelligence is endangered and Global Nerding is the system depleting that resource.

For more on Charlie Boswell check out his blog at http://blogs.amd.com/boswell/default.aspx

1.       What caused you to discover “Global Nerding”?

Some context…My background and career experience have had a lot to do with shaping my views.  I dropped out of music school to become an engineer so I entered the technology world with a purely artistic bent.    I grew up in a farming community in North Missouri which was actually the boyhood home of Walt Disney.   Self entertainment was a necessity.  My mother was a Barrelhouse piano player and my father was military and an engineer.  So I’m a bit of a hybrid.   I’ve been a musician and film maker since my teens.  I became an engineer probably to prove something to my father.    During the latter half of my 25 years in the tech industry I began to become interested in why it’s crowning creation, the PC, is so arcane and non-intuitive.  I’ve struggled with this question.  “If we technologists are such mental wizards, then why is the industry incapable of designing technical solutions people resonate with…on a more regular basis”.     I’m troubled when society generally accepts the fact PC technology “solutions” are non-intuitive.   It’s always fascinated me that whenever some high-tech device comes along that’s actually easy for people to use, the media hails it as miraculous..  Comparatively speaking, they are right.   Why are these devices the exception and not the rule?   Why have most user experiences with the PC been only tolerable?  Why is the PC sullied by pundits incessantly? 

While working as an engineer at AMD I was asked by our CEO to help evangelize our technology to the creative content market.   This opportunity happened purely by accident in 2000 after I caught his attention by writing a film score for a low budget movie in Austin in the late 1999.    Over the past 8 years I’ve worked with some top directors and rock stars and their teams.   All of which use technology in their creative pursuits.   In my discussions and interactions with many artists, they have all shared their stories of struggling with technology.   I’ve witnessed the struggle first hand as my team and I work directly with them to provide solutions.  Their experience is roughly the same as many non-technical people.    It was during this period of observation I began to organize my treatise on Global Nerding.  

Global Nerding is a planetary trend in which mankind is systematically adapting his behavior to technology and its frameworks.   The geek culture has flourished under Global Nerding while non-technical mainstream society has accepted a very non-optimal user experience…as stated specifically from the average user’s point of view.  

If you’re an industry executive, it’s hard to look smart if the numbers don’t support your glorious plans.   The nerd market has almost reached a saturation point and now corporations are competing for more typical users and new user markets.  The average non user segment of society says, “I’m just not a computer person” as they struggle and doubt their own intelligence.   I’ve never liked that for many reasons.   It doesn’t make good business sense either. 

The personal computer, along with its macro economics, is the most tangible agent of Global Nerding because it has become the ubiquitous hub for productivity, communication, commerce, and “creation” in our daily lives.    There is no escape from getting jacked full-into the MATRIX now.   

Pervasive high technology along with its culture and macroeconomic systems began shifting mankind steadily toward a nerd utopian society or a society where individuals with autistic attributes are favored, in fact cultivated.     This is helping melt the social mind of the planet.

Impacts of Global Nerding are manifold…culture, language, and art.   The economic success of the nerd culture has established an infrastructure that encourages us to all to behave like nerds or worse,  conditions us to accept a less than stunning user experience .…in addition, is there a secondary effect of Global Nerding where the nerd gene pool has been cultivated?   Does the autism explosion signal the tipping point in Global Nerding? Is life beginning to imitate technology?    I’m simply asking questions. 

Watching many artists invite technology and the nerd culture into their creative environments, I began to notice some similarity to what I observed watching regular non-technical people use technology.  The artist desires to create at the speed of thought while the consumer desires to become immersed in those creations without becoming an IT professional.    The experiences of both groups are far from optimal.  Who cares?  I care and anyone else who cares about art and commerce.   I have witnessed an almost chronic lack of empathy for most non-tech savvy end users by the high-tech sector.  

Why Does Boswell make reference to Autism?

I sit on the board of advisors for a team of researchers and physicians who treat autistic children.  I met this organization at a movie premier through the director Robert Rodriguez.  Their website is www.thoughtfulhouse.org.   When I met the staff at Thoughtful House, I was not just a dabbler in the topic as I had been doing my own research.   I had become interested in autism after reading an article on an airplane describing the autistic as suffering from a chronic lack of empathy for other minds.  This lack of empathy is exhibited by many individuals diagnosed with either autism or Asperger’s Syndrome.  Asperger’s Syndrome is used to describe the higher functioning end of the autistic spectrum where one of the most disabling characteristics in a sometimes brilliant or gifted individual is a lack of empathy with others. In many instances the autistic person is literally medically incapable of empathy with another mind.   This condition is called Mind Blindness and is common in all forms of autism.  The severity depends upon where the person is within the spectrum.  I saw a similar lack of empathy within the high tech industry…lack of empathy for the end user that is.   I also noticed the language of corporate America to be very machine like.   High-tech language is very “bare-message” oriented.   Autistic minds cannot deal with ostensive forms of communication and rely upon bare message styles.  Metaphor and analogy are completely out of reach for many of these individuals.  Overtime I became more involved with some researchers in the field of autism here in Austin and I began support their research and their work with the families of autistic children.    My personal mission is to help raise awareness on the plight of autistic children and their families and also increase the level of empathy for end users of technology.   This is my cause celeb.