Very thought provoking interview and follow ups: are we modifying our cognition? For example, will people (mostly the current younger generation) who are used to high quality predictive services (Amazon, iTunes Genius) see the world differently? Given what we know about priming, can intelligent agents help guide our behaviour in ways we don’t really notice? (See the discussion of Demand Media which is trying to create mini How-Tos for everything we might ask for but haven’t yet.)

Tools shape the humans that use them, and there is some thought that trying to teach people how to use tools helped accelerate the development of language. What does this mean for the internet / world wide web as a tool

I liked Pinker’s method to see whether new technologies are upholding our priorities or no: imagine running the clock backwards: “we’re closing Wikipedia, so here is your Britannica in 20 cloth covered volumes”. Good or bad thing?

Read the EDGE discussion with Frank Schirrmacher and some of the discussions that emerged from it.