Wooohooo! We’re on the end of Unit One! There are no readings in this chapter; instead, we’ll pull together all of the reflections you’ve done so far in this unit. By the end of this wrap-up, you should have a pretty solid handle on your own personal definition of social impact & your own values. These are of course up for change as you move through the rest of the guide, but the version here should be workable to move forward with.
Before looking back at your reflections from this unit, spend some time (~30 min) journaling on these questions. These questions provide a high-level reflection on what’s intuitively important to you. **
What one or two metrics would you want to look at as your north stars — how would you like to measure your own impact? (don’t worry about the metrics being easily observable right now)
How would you define “social impact tech”? What clearly counts; what clearly doesn’t; and what’s on the line for you?
What would one person “successfully” creating social impact look like?
What would one person “failing” to create social impact look like?
Are there any situations that might come up that don’t feel easily addressed by what you’ve outlined so far? You don’t have to “solve” these edge cases right now; it’s enough to just call them out. All frameworks we’ve looked at have limitations, and it’s helpful to be explicit about where your framework’s might be.
Broadly, do you think you would want to work in the ethical tech (making tech less harmful for users) or tech for good (making actively beneficial tech) field? Do you have a preference?
Of the different topic areas we read about, which one do you resonate with the most? Which problems do you feel are the most pressing?
Of the different topic areas we read about, which ones are more or less useful for technology to be an intervention method?